On 13th November 2019, the first Valencia stakeholder meeting of REDUCES project took place in the Assembly Hall of La Marina de València, Spain, within the framework of the public open session: Circular Cities. Circular Economy and Habitat.
The vicepresident and Minister of Housing and Bioclimatic Architecture Rubén Martínez Dalmau inaugurated the session and expressed the will of the Valencian Government to "accelerate the implementation of a transversal green policy in all areas of the Generalitat". He also stressed other initiatives that are being implemented related to the circular economy: "in fact, we are dealing with issues such as the creation of a register of companies with social and environmental commitment or the implementation of a green procurement guide".
Experts from the national and regional level participated in the conference presenting the state of circular economy in our country and region, to continue later on talking about the state of circular economy in the construction sector. The main already existing challenges, barriers and opportunities were identified, as well as different initiatives and working groups that are working for the implementation of circular economy criteria in different areas were presented: public administration, business environment and habits of society in general.
Nuria Matarredona, General Director of Ecological Innovation in Construction presented REDUCES project (REthinking Sustainable Development in European Regions by Using Circular Economy Business Models) and its main objectives, which among others aims to assess the impacts derived from the circular economy so that different regions promote the business models most appropriate to their context from an economic and environmental point of view.
During the session there were also several business initiatives presented whose business models focus on the identification of opportunities associated to the application of circular economy principles, not only as the main value proposition, but understood as a holistic system that provides benefits in all aspects of the business.
