WCEF2019 Side Sessions

There will be 12 side sessions held alongside the World Circular Economy Forum 2019. These side sessions include workshops and networking activities around a specific topic related to the circular economy, or this year’s theme the next era of the circular economy and scaling up the transition.

All side sessions will take place during the forum on 3-4 June, and are accessible exclusively to WCEF2019 participants.

Please note that a registration is necessary to each side session, and that they only have room for a limited number of participants.

Side sessions

Closing the loop in textiles – How to boost a more sustainable and circular textile value chain

The side session will present, discuss and learn from examples of better policies, new business models and other initiatives to help achieve a more sustainable and circular textile value chain. Through an interactive round-table setting, the session will identify recommendations for promoting sustainability and circularity, from both a policy and business perspective, and will highlight the next steps for a systems approach to closing the loop in textiles.

Time: Monday 3 June: 9.30-11.00
Location: Veranda 2, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: Ministry of the Environment, UN Environment, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and European Environmental Bureau

Scaling up innovative circular solutions for plastics

The session is now fully booked. This side session aims at bringing together innovators, researchers, companies, public authorities and policymakers. It will feature new and ongoing projects funded under Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, which are addressing innovative solutions to boost the circular economy for plastics.

Time: Monday 3 June: 9.30-11.00
Location: Veranda 1, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: EASME – Executive Agency for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Scaling up the circular economy in cities

This side session will share lessons and best practices from eight Circular Economy Hubs from all over the world.

Time: Monday 3 June: 9.30-11.00
Location: Veranda 4, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: Holland Circular Hotspot, Circle Economy

The circular economy in developing countries

This session will consider the importance of a global narrative on the circular economy and will explore opportunities to harness existing circular practices in developing-country settings and to scale up circular value chains at the regional and global level.

Time: Monday 3 June: 9.30-11.00
Location: Veranda 3, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, UNIDO

Can outcome-based contracting add value to the circular economy?

Sitra and European Investment Bank (EIB) would like to welcome you to brainstorm how outcomes-based contracting can play a role in promoting circular economy and create more sustainable societies.

Time: Monday 3 June: 14.30-16.00
Location: Veranda 1, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: Sitra and the European Investment Bank

Restoring Europe’s agriculture soils

European agriculture is losing soil health and fertility, with significant costs to farmers and society. It is possible to turn this around and restore soil health through regenerative agricultural practices which provide benefits to farmers, consumers and the environment.

Time: Monday 3 June: 14.30-16.00
Location: Veranda 3, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: SYSTEMIQ, Soil Capital, SDSN and Sitra

The circular economy and planetary boundaries:
opportunities and challenges for enhancing human well-being, the protection of nature and scaling up green markets

This side event explores the links between the circular economy and the planetary boundaries, including the drivers of biodiversity loss. It highlights the recent results of the IPBES Global Assessment report and the safe operating space within planetary boundaries for ensuring that circular economy activities do not cause adverse impacts on nature and people.

Time: Monday 3 June: 14.30-16.00
Location: Veranda 2, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: Ministry of the Environment of Finland and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) 

Circular city actions in the EU

The Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy presents some of their 12 actions that seek to identify innovative, feasible solutions supporting the circular transition in cities.

Time: Tuesday 4 June: 9.00-10.30
Location: Veranda 2, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: The Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy

Consumer and behavioural insights into the circular economy

Despite the importance of consumer insights, there is little research or action on behaviour change with specific regard to the circular economy, and the need to consider behavioural and consumption aspects is still largely overlooked within circular strategies.

Time: Tuesday 4 June: 11.00-12.30
Location: Veranda 1, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) and Sitra

Innovative circular procurement in cities

Circular procurement can be the instrument to leverage many of the pressing waste and circular challenges facing growing cities today, including waste reduction, resource use and green growth. What needs to be done on a municipality level to turn theory into practice, and how can current policies, alongside business and civil society initiatives, contribute to a circular transition?

Time: Tuesday 4 June: 11.00-12.30
Location: Veranda 2, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: EIT Climate-KIC 

Tackling manufacturing-based pollution in SA and SSA: the SMEP research programme

UK-DFID and UNCTAD launched the Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) programme in 2018. This is a 20 million-pound research programme which will run until 2023.

Time: Tuesday 4 June: 14.00-15.30
Location: Veranda 2, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: UNCTAD

The circular economy and inclusive employment: modelling key sectors and products

This event will present the results from a study carried out by Sitra and IISD to attempt to estimate the impacts that the adoption of a circular economy would have on employment in Finland, with broader lessons for the EU and other countries also looking to adopt circular economy approaches but who are also interested in job growth potential and concerns about job shifts within the economy.

Time: Tuesday 4 June: 14.00-15.30
Location: Veranda 1, Finlandia Hall
Organisers: Sitra and IISD