Two months before its end and the launch of its Industrial Symbiosis Facilitator online training course, the ERASMUS+ INSIGHT project is sharing recommendations on how to promote the application of industrial symbiosis and its facilitation to various stakeholders.
For more than two years, the partners of the ERASMUS+ INSIGHT project have been building the foundation of a future where Industrial Symbiosis (IS) is recognized as a key resource strategy and disseminated throughout Europe, to achieve a circular and regenerative economy. To realise this vision, it is necessary to increase awareness raising, capacity building, financing, and connecting stakeholders and to create the right framework conditions. At the core of this system, a network of IS Facilitators orchestrate the transition at local, regional, national, and European levels.
As a key steps towards this future and for the role of IS Facilitator to take off, the INSIGHT partners worked on a framework for cooperation between key stakeholders that encourage the uptake of already proven methods in IS facilitation and much more. As a conclusion of this work, they gathered their recommendations in a Blueprint for Industrial Symbiosis. The document provides a roadmap of actions to be taken by organisation to apply the industrial symbiosis principles, by making use of educational specific inputs and resources.
The INSIGHT Blueprint focuses on five priorities: Inform/Train/Finance/Connect/Frame and proposes a set of recommendations at EU, national, regional, local, and company level. Those are intending to increase IS awareness across a diverse group of specialists and stakeholders, including ministries, regional and local authorities, industrial parks owners, SMEs, industries, academia, VET providers, business associations, development agencies.
This new framework for strategic cooperation between key stakeholders will stimulate investment and encourage the strategic use of EU and national funding opportunities. It will also enable further refinement of policy recommendations and guidance for other enabling factors and tools of circular economy. This should encourage national states, regions, cities, industry and business to formulate practical strategies that are aligned to local context, incentives, markets and mandates.
As a next steps, organisations that support the priorities of the INSIGHT Blueprint for Industrial Symbiosis and its facilitation are invited to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. By doing so, they commit to using the levers at their disposal coherently to empower industrial symbiosis facilitators as key enablers of EU circular economy.
The INSIGHT Blueprint for Industrial Symbiosis can be read online. A summary in five languages is also available.
The two upcoming and last months of the INSIGHT project will be high in activities. Local events will take place in Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, and Italy to present the project’s outputs, including the Blueprint. The highlight will be the launch of the Industrial Symbiosis Facilitator online training course, before the end of February.
