SARA GRASSI 
Head of “Territory and Environment” office
ANCE Lombardia – Association of costruction companies of Lombardy (Milan)
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +39 02 86454640
1. Who are you? Introduce yourself and your functions in your company in a few lines.
I’m Sara Grassi and I work for ANCE Lombardia, the Association of costruction companies of Lombardy, since 2008. I’m the head of “Territory and Environment” office and the role that I play concern:
- development and coordination of lobbying and representation activities before political authorities;
- definition, development and sharing of policies, strategies and solutions with the technical structures of public bodies and other associations for the growth and innovation of the sector.
2. Explain us your circular project in a few lines?
The topic developed within the CIRCE project concerns the C&D waste management and the use of secondary raw materials (recycled aggregates). About this theme, I presented some good practices of Lombard companies, for example, for the road sector and the waste management, but the most representative one, I think, is the the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Lombardy Region the last year. This collaboration stems from the need to promote, at all levels and at all operators in the chain, the development of knowledge of the inert waste management processes produced by construction and demolition activities, ie from the waste production phase to reuse as new material after the treatment process in the recovery plant.
(We also know that the waste management represent one of the items for the circular economy development in the built enviroment sector).
3. Did the CircE project allow you to meet interesting partners to optimize / go on / develop / even sell your project?
Yes sure, and I promise myself to contact them, as soon as possible, to share activities and good solution or strategies to solve common problems. For example, I became aware of interesting projects in Lubiana (e.g «Cinderella» project), in Lille (e.g «La lainière» project) and in Arnhem (e.g. «Pioneering» organization).
4. Which other positive output is offering to you the CircE project?
The compilation of the tool, although it may have been complex, has allowed me to deepen the status of good practices and policies in progress at regional and national level, with regard to barriers and opportunities, and compare them to the activities underway in the others countries partner.
5. Have you joined the Policy Learning Platform?
Not yet, I have come to know it recently. I’ll do it because I think it can be an important channel to get in touch with realities inherent to my sector (good practices, others stakeholders, etc.) and share knowledge to be part of this important change.
6. How did you know about the CircE project?
Through the Lombardy Region because ANCE Lombardia is an institutional stakeholder often involved in the definition of built environment policies that affect the construction sector, such as urban planning, energy, innovation and the environment.
