Work Packages
The main innovation proposed by the project will be the development of a holistic approach for evaluating and realising the transition towards the Circular Economy, involving knowledge and methodologies from multiple domains (including Supply Chain Management, Environmental Science, Environmental and Ecological Economics, Science and Technology Studies, Innovation Studies) and addressing economic, environmental and social issues.
The trans-national, multi-disciplinary, multi-sector, multi-stakeholder approach proposed in this project aims to bridge the main gap in research dealing with the CE paradigm, that, to date has been characterised by a “silo” approach that has undermined theoretical development and knowledge transfer to practitioners.
To this aim, the project will be articulated in the following research work packages (WP):
WP1 - Assessing Environmental and Social-economic Performance of Circular Economy Practices
Led by UPN, this WP is aimed at identifying and evaluating the Circular Economy practices implemented in each stage of agri-food supply chain from primary production to consumption.
WP1 has a twofold objective. First, to investigate the different CE practices being implemented at each stage. Subsequently, to produce new high quality data for creating a performance evaluation framework which integrates the social, environmental and the economic aspect of sustainability in order to examine the level of CE integration.
WP2 - Drivers and Barriers towards CE implementation
It is imperative to explore the type and the ability of regional development policies to facilitate the transition to CE both from a free-market, bottom-up perspective (such as circular start-up models) as well as a top-down perspective (for instance Eco-Industrial Parks EIP).
WP2, led by SEERC, in order to facilitate this objective will conduct a critical review of the drivers and barriers in current CE applications in the food supply chains in the international context. Successively a critical analysis of CE legislative incentives being implemented in European and extra-European contexts (with a special emphasis on free-market contexts) will be carried out in order to establish a comparative point of transition between production models.
WP3 - Coordination and Management
Led by USFD, it will be mainly concerned with project management and coordination activities, including both economic and technical aspects. Management activities will be aimed at the delivery of all the objectives listed above; this will be overseen by the Coordinator in close cooperation with the SB.
WP4 – Dissemination
Led by USFD, it will be aimed at maximising impact and outreach of the results of the project.All the consortium members will be involved in the activities of the work-package.
Activities of the network will be disseminated through the website and the participation to regular open-days events happening at beneficiary institutions. Staff that have completed secondments will be actively engaged in presenting results of their research at international conferences and publications.
WP5 - Follow-Up
Led by USFD, it will work towards the identification of further funding calls and the drafting of project proposals as well as investigate the possibility of creating options in postgraduate training programmes at the involved academic institutions involving student secondment to selected stakeholders operating in the food industry.