The CE2019 conference was organized to compile the latest developments in the low carbon, climate-resilient circular economy, and to enhance networking, sharing information, and to boosting related activities in research, policies and business. The following themes were the conference topics: I) systemic change to circular economy at different sectors and operational levels, II) trade-offs between circular economy and other environmental goals, and III) low-carbon circular economy in cities. The aim of the project was to organize a conference “The sustainable transition to a low carbon, climate-resilient circular economy: Creating the knowledge base, CE2019” in cooperation with the Finnish government. The CE2019 conference was be part of European Days for Sustainable Circular Economy 30.9.-1.10.2019 Presidency Event Finland that was organized partly jointly and partly in parallel with two conferences that were ManuFuture and Sustainable innovation (SI).
The opening session on the first day of the two-day EDSCE19 conference was organised jointly by the three separate conferences, while the second day programs are conference-specific, taking place in parallel and in the same venue. The second day ended to a joint adjourn, that summarised and concluded the main findings and messages of the opening session and the three conferences, as well as draft key messages and recommendations for future actions on sustainable transitioning towards low carbon, climate-resilient circular economy in the European Union. Organising the three conferences jointly and in parallel brought several benefits, in particular as regards the visibility, spreading the information and invitations, management of the events, as well as the impact, networking, and sharing and dissemination of knowledge and resulting in common learning. Altogether almost 700 persons attended the EDSCE19 as a whole and around 200 participants attended the CE2019 conference.
One of the goals of the CE2019 conference was to ensure the engagement of all stakeholders and interested parties. This was guaranteed by the organizational structure of CE2019 being part of the wider EDSCE19 covering a wide range of target groups involved in the same premises. The participants signed up for one of the three conferences, yet were freely able to change sessions and thus have a possibility to interact with participants of other conferences. We invited internationally outstanding top politicians, scientists and thinkers who would discuss the role and influence of circular economy solutions in societies.
The CE2019 conference addressed the state-of the art of science in circular economy. Presentations, panel discussions and the poster session identified policy options, shared information and compared the viewpoints, enabled efficient networking of various stakeholders, including natural scientists, social scientists, businesses, investors, local authorities, policy-makers, environmental organisations and schools.
