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How Open Science and AI could Scale up the Circular Economy practice

This workshop stimulates the discussion on how AI and Open Science (OS) can be used to accelerate the transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) and will result in 10 Proof of concepts (POC) of a to be solution. We bring together different stakeholders that will continue the work after this conference. Challenges as transparency and reusability of project results should be considered and possible solutions will be discussed during this workshop.


This workshop stimulates the discussion on how AI and Open Science (OS) can be used to accelerate the transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) and will result in 10 Proof of concepts (POC) of a to be solution. We bring together different stakeholders that will continue the work after this conference. Challenges as transparency and reusability of project results should be considered and possible solutions will be discussed during this workshop.

The transition towards a CEis a priority for the European Commission and its member states. Goal is to extend the life cycle of products and to reduce waste to a minimum. Strategies and business models to realize this are sharing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products. This transition is necessary to protect the environment and to reduce raw material dependence. It also increases competitiveness, stimulates innovation, and creates jobs in Europe. [1]

To accelerate this transition the European Commission has invested over 10 billion € via several programs like Horizon, Cohesion Policy, Life Program and the European Fund for Strategic Investments. Also, at member state level and local authorities have invested large amounts in experiments and research on this topic.

To scale up and transform the economy, the research questions, the hypothesis, the insights, and results from all those projects and studies should be made queryable to form the bases for follow up research.

Which test-set do we need to pre-train an AI algorithm, to build a knowledge/Data insight graph / to apply big FAIR data to shift more to data driven science (4the paradigm[2]) for CE?

Only by building on the lessons learned a large-scale transition can be achieved.

SESSION CONTENT, FORMAT AND DRAFT AGENDA

Our approach is focused on collaboration and co-creation. We work with 10 groups of 6 people who can discuss and brainstorm on the given challenge. Each table will work out a concept of one POC, based on our workshop-template. Our method of work consists of the following steps: “intro on the challenges (to-be), intro to the current as-is, open contribution to to-be and as-is, stakeholder mapping (community assessment), and delivering: vision/solution draft and POC draft.

  • After an intro on the challenges, by an expert in the field the participants at each table get a clear definition of this problem and to the stakeholders needed to come to a solution. Goal is to get a common understanding on the topic so possible ideas and solutions in the follow up of the workshop are based on the same ground.
  • In a next step, a presentation is given by experts in the field of the current situation on AI&OS linked to our challenge, this will bring everybody to the same level of knowledge.
  • Next, the participants can add information (publications, experiments, reports, ...) they know of that can be helpful to tackle this challenge.
  • Subsequently is the stakeholder mapping. We create a community working on this huge challenge. During the first phase - problem definition - the specific roles needed to solve this problem were written down.
  • The two last parts of the workshop are focused on a concrete result: a first draft of a to-be solution, and what a first POC should look like to meet the needs to use the results, impacts and insights of the many experiments done in this field.
  • In the first brainstorm ideas on possible solutions will be discussed, to draw out a comprehensive future desired state
  • in the last part of this workshop concrete steps towards funding and the development of a first proof of concept should be clear. (e.g. similar projects: Public Service Platforms for Circular, Innovative and Resilient Municipalities)

Details

  • DATE:
    26 September 2023
  • ROOM:
    Sala Nouvel

Organisers


Speakers

Veerle Labeeuw

Vlaanderen Circulair, Belgium

Short Bios

  • Veerle Labeeuw

    Veerle Labeeuw works as a policy maker and facilitator for the public/private partnership Circular Flanders, which was initiated by the public waste agency of Flanders (OVAM). It serves as a hub, inspiration and matchmaker for the transition to a circular economy in Flanders. As a facilitator in Circular Flanders Veerle coordinated two communities of practices: the Green Deal on Circular Procurement (150 organizations) and the Green Deal on Circular Construction (360 organizations). In the past Veerle also coordinated a study on Smart Circular Cities. In this research project opportunities of new technologies were linked to circular strategies of cities and businesses. Veerle is also part of the coordination group of the European Circular Economy Stakeholderplatform in which she leads the Leadership Group on Circular Procurement. More on our organisation (public-private partnership): circularflanders.be Education: master in Communication and an Aggregation in Political&Social Science Further information on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%E2%96%B6-veerle-labeeuw/

    Agenda

    • 0-20min: Introduction & Challenge: How could OS and AI scale up the CE practices
    • 20-50min: Problem definition OS & CE
    • 50-65min: Current AI & OS situation
    • 65-85min: Stakeholder mapping to prepare the community
    • 85-105min: Call to action- Brainstorming
    • 105-120min: Next steps: project funding