National Conference Circular Economy
The Sustainability University kicked off the Circular Economy week by hosting a session on Circular Economy (CE) competences during the National Conference Circular Economy in The Hague. During the interactive session, participants joined to learn about the necessary competences and roles to accelerate CE in organizations.
A double race in Circular Economy
The aim of the conference, organized by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, was to gain knowledge, to be inspired, to share knowledge with each other and to connect people. During the plenary session, the Minister for the Environment and Housing, Stientje van Veldhoven, emphasized the importance of acceleration in CE. “The need is high if we want to reach the objectives of the Climate Agreement”, said Veldhoven. “With Earth Overshoot Day coming sooner each year, we are racing a double race.” According to the keynote of Frans Timmermans, the most important factor is that society’s citizens are going to embrace the concept of CE. “To the people who think we’re too late, I would like to say: we’re going to make it!” thus the motivational words of the Vice-President of the European Commission.
Different behaviour, different role
The Sustainability University was selected out of many proposed ideas to host one of the part-sessions. In an interactive work form, participants exchanged what circular roles and competences entail and shared their experiences. The objective of the session was that participants could take this into account in their own development and discuss this in their company or environment. The varied group existed amongst others out of consultants, sustainability managers, programme managers and people working in education. Carola Wijdoogen confirmed their positive idea about the level of sustainability in companies during her presentation. “But CE must be embedded to a lower extent in companies, because it’s so different and so much harder?” one of the participants ask. “Exactly, we need different behaviour!”, Wijdoogen responded. She followed up with the current research by the Sustainability University on CE roles and competences, supported by the Goldschmeding Foundation. The participants showed their interest in the outcomes of this research and were eager to share their experiences and questions with their fellow participants.
Join our peer-to-peer learning events!
Would you also like to join one of the sessions of the Sustainabilty University and learn from your peers? During our CE-matching sessions small groups of sustainability professionals visit a company that effectively implements CE. The objective is to get inspired and to find solutions for your own CE-challenges. You are also more than welcome to join our The State of the Sustainability event on the 15th of September, the peer-to-peer learning event for sustainability professionals. For more info, contact: info@sustainabilityuniversity.org
