1st Thematic Seminar on Waste Deposit

On 9 March 2017, the Municipality of Porto organised the 1st Thematic Seminar of the INTHERWASTE project. During this event, focusing on ‘Waste Deposit in Heritage areas’, several best practices from partners and invited guests were presented.

The seminar gathered the project partners as well as local and regional stakeholders coming from the partners’ countries. The topic of ‘waste deposit’ was chosen to discuss different types of waste collection areas and devices. For instance the installation of eco-points and underground waste containers which both have to be carefully thought in order to be easily accessed by collectors and citizens alike, avoid to damage the visual aesthetic and protected zones, both on the ground and underground.

During the opening ceremony, the Municipality of Porto presented the waste management in the city and the major changes that were undertaken in the last years. Porto has been a Heritage City for over 20 years and has therefore some experience in dealing with waste in specific areas.

Following this introduction, the project partner cities showcased a selection of best practices on waste deposit from their own heritage areas. An invited guest also presented two cases from the Heritage City of Florence. These cities are all Heritage Cities and have many similarities in this regard, but they also have specific characteristics which mean that all solutions cannot be implemented in the same way. This panel of best practices was therefore a very efficient way for each to discover a combination of solutions that allowed cities to discuss the most suitable solutions for their own environment. This led to fruitful discussion amongst the participants regarding the introduction of such methods within their territories.

Additionally, this seminar was a good opportunity to introduce the newly produced INTHERWASTE video which is an excellent mean of communication to present the project to external stakeholders. More communication material, including posters and brochures in various languages, can also be found on the project’s website.

Next seminar

The next thematic seminar will be held in Krakow on 7-8 June 2017 and will focus on “Selective Collection in Heritage Cities”. These seminars are part of the first step of the project aiming to learn and exchange best practices and policies.