The launch event of the Urban Wins project held on September 27 at the Cremona Chamber of Commerce in Italy brought together members of the European Advisory Board of Urban_WINS and project partners, providing relevant discussions on the project and especially on the priorities of European institutions in terms of proper waste management.
Urban_WINS is a project funded by European funds, which runs for a period of 3 years and will develop and test eco-innovative strategies for waste prevention and management in 8 pilot cities in Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain.
Senior representatives of European organizations, members of the European Advisory Board of the Urban_WINS project, met for the first time in Cremona (Italy) to learn more about the project funded by European funds, which will run for a period of 3 years , and to convey strategic and political feedback.
The aim of the conference was to familiarize stakeholders in Europe (such as policy makers, public authorities, schools, local businesses or citizens) with the objectives of the Urban_WINS project and the concept that governs this project. The event focused on key topics such as waste prevention and the circular economy, which will help improve project results. The speakers present at the conference also presented how the Urban_WINS project contributes to the implementation of the European Commission's vision.
The Urban_WINS project aims to develop and test methods for designing and implementing eco-innovative strategic plans for waste prevention and management. During the first phase of the project, the Urban_WINS team will perform an in-depth analysis of waste management strategies in 24 cities located in 6 European countries - Austria, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden. These studies will be based on the approach of urban metabolism, which examines the flows of materials and energy in cities, by assimilating them to living organisms.
In the second phase of the Urban_WINS project, different stakeholder groups will be invited to participate in real or virtual meetings, such as “urban agora”, being encouraged to discuss and share ideas related to the theme of this project. These participatory platforms will be set up in 8 pilot cities: Cremona, Torino and 2 other cities that are part of the Metropolitan Area of Rome (Italy), Leiria (Portugal), Bucharest (Romania) and the cities of Manresa and Sabadell (Spain). As waste is a challenge that can be overcome through collective participation, stakeholder involvement is a key element of this project, to create and develop innovative solutions together.
The third phase of the project will focus on testing strategic waste prevention and management plans in 8 pilot cities. The recommendations and tools developed within the project will be monitored and evaluated. The Urban_WINS team will also study the possibility of replicating these strategic plans in other European cities.
The Urban_WINS project will help cities become more flexible, develop the circular economy and move towards sustainable production and consumption patterns.
For more information, we invite you to follow our project on:
Twitter: @Urban_WINS
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