FENIX manages the Czech Living Lab in collaboration with the Institute of Circular Economy. The Institute of Circular Economy has unique experiences and relevant connections in the field of circular economy and is thus a valuable partner. Since industrial symbiosis falls under the umbrella of circular economy, the Institute became significant actor for spreading the ideas of the FISSAC project to their clients, i.e. the FISSAC target audience.
So far, one workshop was organized by the Institute of Circular Economy, and it aimed at mapping and surveying relevant stakeholders’ needs and wishes. A group of different stakeholders – representatives of SMEs, construction company, Ministry of Environment, municipality, associations, and media – actively participated during the workshop. The workshop did not touch topics only regarding the industrial symbiosis but also legislation and finances, science and research, education and sharing of best practices, and marketing and use of eco-innovation on the market. The results of the workshop are summarized as follows:
1. Legislation and finance
It has been concluded that there is a need for action plan to be developed by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Industry and Trade. It is necessary that the management of resources and options for use of secondary materials are addressed by Ministry of Industry and Trade and disseminated to relevant audience. As general public is currently rather hesitant to the use of secondary materials, new standards should be assessed.
2. Cooperation / Construction material recycling / Marketing and use of eco-innovation on the market
In order to successfully introduce eco-innovative products on the market, it has been concluded that municipality and public authorities should be targeted first as part of the green public procurement activities. Once the benefits are demonstrated on the public buildings, it is expected that private building owners will be more approachable and more likely to consider eco-innovation in their houses. Another conclusion revolved around the agreement on the development and use of informative software and platform supporting the industry symbiosis. In this manner, a “waste” is transformed into usable resources with economic value.
The next workshop is planned for April/May 2018. Until then, stakeholders were asked to come up with ideas regarding which materials from construction sector would be the most suitable for the exchange on the platform developed within the FISSAC project. The upcoming workshop aims at discussing and finalizing the structure of the Czech Living Lab as well as agreeing on the materials that will be exchanged on the platform. These conclusions will then serve as a basis for the establishment of the Living Lab with operating industrial symbiosis platform. The final workshop planned for December 2019 is expected to collect experiences of stakeholders with the platform and formulate the benefits gained through the platform.
