Second day of the BeCircular’s project final meeting

Photo 20 10 23 12 14 17 PM

The second day of the BeCircular’s project final conference, organised by GAUSS Institute, was held on 20th October at Hotel Millenium, Shirok Sokak 48, 7000 in Bitola. Project partners’ representatives (from DIADYMA, CluBE, Gauss Institute and ZMAI), stakeholders from the Pelagonia region, and representatives of relevant projects under the EU’s Interreg IPA programs attended the conference.
Dr Igor Nedelkovski, Rector of the University “St. Kliment Ohridski” emphasized the role of education in circular economy processes, highlighting the significant role of BeCircular, which integrates circular economy topics into certain university courses.
During the conference, a book entitled “Managing Changes in a Circular Economy through Circular (business) Models,” developed as part of the project, was officially presented. This book will serve as a textbook for master students.
The conference also showcased the platform and a promotional video developed by GAUSS Institute, introducing the circular concept of “Rent (don’t buy) everything you need.”
ZMAI association representatives highlighted activities, particularly the newly refurbished Entrepreneurial and Creativity Center in Prilep, which serves as a hub for circular economy ideas. Business ideas generated there have turned into real businesses, attracting third-party investors and entering the startup phase.
The open session concluded with questions and discussions, while the closed session, dedicated only to project partners, focused on the projects results, their dissemination and the potential future cooperation.

 

8 7 6 5 4 Photo 20 10 23 12 14 10 PM1 2 3

 

Final Meeting in Florina on 19th October 2023

Photo 30 10 23 2 53 46 PM

The 2-day final meeting of the BeCircular project took place at the completion of the project, making it a great opportunity for all the partners to meet in person, discuss operational topics present the projects outcomes to the local society and leverage ideas for new collaborations. The first part of the meeting was held on 19th October at the Lynx Mountain Resort, Hill of St. Panteleimon, Florina, and comprised of an open and a closed session.
Dr. Ioannis Fallas, Director of CluBE, welcomed the participants and started the closed session, which aimed at the detailed overview of the project and all the activities, accomplished throughout the project’s implementation, where each project partner presented the activities related to their organization.
The open session summarized the project’s activities and bridged them with other European and national projects. Mr. Vasileios Balachtsis, Project Manager at CluBE, opened the session with the project’s video, summarizing the project activities, and briefly presented the project outcomes. Afterwards, Dr. Vasileios Ambas, regional counselor, with his presentation pointed out the significant role of the Interreg programme in the Region of Western Macedonia and referred to the new programming period 2021-2027, while Dr. Athina Krestou, assistant professor at UoWM, explained the role of the University as a development pillar in the region of Western Macedonia.
Dr. Elpida Samara, assistant professor at UoWM and business consultant, presented 3 business plans on circular economy, developed as part of the project, that has been used to train local entrepreneurs on bio-waste management and utilization and inspire them to develop their own business, boosting employment.
Finally, an open discussion among project partners, speakers and participants from the local society took place, leveraging ideas for new collaborations.

Photo 30 10 23 2 53 10 PM Photo 30 10 23 2 53 58 PM Photo 30 10 23 2 53 52 PM

2nd Periodic Meeting of BECircular Project

4

The 2nd Periodic Meeting of BECircular project was held in Prilep on the 23.02.2023, in the Entrepreneurship and Creative center in the Faculty of Economics of the University of Prilep.
In the framework of the meeting, 12 participants from all 4 project partners had the opportunity to meet in person, introduce new project team members, participating in the project, agree on how to work together effectively, consolidate the project background as well as its requirements, as well as to meet in person and discuss with representatives of the Joint Secretariat.
Specifically, each partner held a presentation of all Work Packages (WPs) in relation to activities, implemented so far, potential deviations and corrective measures and activities foreseen in the next 6 months.
In conclusion, all partners agreed that the project’s implementation is on schedule concerning the project scope and deliverables. However, a 1-month extension has been requested in agreement with the Joint Secretariat to achieve higher participation rates related to the final event in September 2023.
You can see bellow some meeting photos:

1 2 3 4

BECircular – 5-day “train the trainers” workshop on Bioeconomy

Photo 8

Within the framework of the predetermined activities related to the successful implementation of the BECircular project, a 5-day “train the trainers” workshop on Bioeconomy was organized and implemented.

In the first part of the interactive workshop, started in Kozani between 24 and 25 November 2022, CluBE having the role of the trainer covered the introductory theoretical part combining it with an event in the city’s central square, related to the European Week for Waste Reduction. In the context of this event, the partners gathered in the city’s central square to witness some actions towards climate neutrality, recycling and citizens’ engagement.

Photo 3 Photo 5 Photo 6 Photo 9 IMG 6520

The first part of the workshop completed some days later, on 12.12.2022, in Amyntaio, where the partners met in a hybrid form. The partners had the opportunity to visit DETEPA’s facilities (the municipal district heating company of Amyntaio) that covers the whole biomass supply chain, using biomass to heat its district heating network, and its operation is an ideal example to move from theory to practice.

Screen Shot 2022 12 12 at 12.39.40 Screen Shot 2022 12 12 at 12.37.08

The second part of the workshop took place remotely (videoconference) between 19 and 20 January 2023 and provided the trainers with detailed information related to EU and national projects on bioeconomy that CluBE is implementing. The workshop ended with a wrap-up discussion summarizing all the activities.

BeCircular 10 Άρθρο BeCircular 12 Άρθρο

BECircular – 5-day “train the trainers” workshop on Entrepreneurship

IMG 8d00155e2892b5fbbfb548ca1fb99930 V

Within the framework of the activities of BECircular project, a 5-day “Train the Trainers” workshop was organized and implemented in Bitola, between 14 – 15 – 16 and 19 – 20 December 2022.

The workshop completed successfully. ZMAI and their partners, having the role of the trainers, delivered a high-quality intense training seminar on the two basic concepts of the project. The foundations were laid for a more in-depth analysis to be made in the future regarding the Reuse–Repair and the Biomass Centre.

It was a great experience for all the participants!

20221216 122139 20221216 122210 20221215 135732

1st Periodic Meeting of BECircular Project

IMG 20221031 142138 1 4x3 1

The 1st Periodic Meeting was held in Florina, on the 31st of October 2022, in the conference room of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Western Macedonia. It took place at a pivotal point for the project, as it was the first meeting taking place with the project running at full capacity, making it a great opportunity for all Project Beneficiaries to meet in person and discuss operational issues regarding the project as well as the next steps they need to take and how they wish to do it.

Its purpose was to introduce new project team members that will participate in the project, agree on how to work together effectively, consolidate the project background as well as its requirements, discuss about activities implemented so far, potential deviations and corrective measures and activities foreseen in the next 6 months. Moreover, an agreement among all Project Beneficiaries was reached on the upcoming common activities that will take place in the next (6) months of the project and the milestones were decided.

Representatives of all the four beneficiaries participated in the meeting. More specifically, the meeting was attended by twelve (12) participants. At the end, they concluded into 4 final agreements which will play an extremely important role for the smooth continuation of the project.

You can see bellow some meeting photos:

IMG 20221031 102656 IMG 20221031 111254 

After the meeting, the Project Beneficiaries had a coffee break which was a great opportunity for team building. After that, they had an extensive tour at the premises of the UoWM, where the project office will be located. They had the opportunity to visit a large part of the School’s facilities, to closely observe several laboratories and specialized equipment and finally to visit the room that will house the project’s office.

IMG 20221031 133431 IMG 20221031 133945 IMG 20221031 131346

Finally, the Project Beneficiaries had the chance to visit the repair & reuse center of DIADYMA SA and discussed the implementation of the project. They toured the facilities, observed the products that have already been collected at the site, were informed about the progress so far and were given the opportunity to talk with the site manager. After that, the tour and the meeting ended with a wrap-up discussion finalizing the next steps.

IMG 20221031 140120 IMG 20221031 140155 IMG 20221031 140400 IMG 20221031 140144 IMG 20221031 140221 IMG 20221031 141003  IMG 20221031 142138 1 4x3

Kick off meeting in Greece

1

The kick-off meeting of BeCircular Project “Boosting Employment Through Entrepreneurship in Circular Economy” was held in Kozani, in the 10th of May 2022, from 10:00 am to 14:00 pm. The meeting took place in the Lead Beneficiary’s premises, DIADYMA SA. The project of BeCircular is implemented within the “INTERREG IPA Cross Border Cooperation Programme Greece-Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020”.

All partners of the project were present:
1) Waste management of Western Macedonia – DIADYMA S.A. (http://www.diadyma.gr/)
2) Bioeconomy and Environment CLUSTER of Western Macedonia – CLUBE (http://www.clube.gr)
3) GAUSS INSTITUTE – Foundation for new technologies, innovations and knowledge transfer (http://gaussinstitute.org)
4) Association for Research and Analysis – ZMAI (http://www.zmai.mk)

More specifically, the meeting was attended by thirteen (13) participants. Project Partners discussed about the analytical project’s plan, roles, responsibilities, expected results and deliverables.

Below you may find a series of photos regarding the Kick-off meeting:

Picture1 Picture2 Picture3