On 24th October 2022, the 8th Conference on Circular Economy was held in Tbilisi City

On 24th October 2022, the 8th Conference on Circular Economy was held in Tbilisi City, in the conference hall of Courtyard Marriott hotel to accelerate transition to the circularity and efficient promotion of this system in Georgia.

The conference was attended by the Deputy Minister of the Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Acad. Solomon Pavliashvili, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Ms. Nunuka Mitskevich, SIDA’s Program Officer Ms. Khatuna Zaldastanishvili, as well as representatives of the universities and other educational entities of Georgia.

The conference was opened by the Chair of GSNE “Orchis” Dr. Mariam Kimeridze. The welcoming species were made by the Deputy Minister of the Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Acad. Solomon Pavliashvili, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Ms. Nunuka Mitskevich, and SIDA’s Program Officer Ms. Khatuna Zaldastanishvili.

The target audience of the conference included the universities and other educational institution of Georgia to again discuss with them what is the circular economy and how it links to the climate change, and what is the role of education sector in the transition to the circularity and addressing climate change. This was the second event organized for the higher education sector at their request after the 6th CE Conference held include necessary in March 2022, which raised a lot of interest and resulted in a stimulating discussion on how to incorporate circularity principles in educational curricula and provide information about circular economy in their training programmes.

The keynote speaker of the conference was Dr. Dariusz Edward Prasek, an International Expert in sustainable finance, environmental, social and governance areas and Circular Economy, member of the United Nations Advisory Board on Circular Economy, former Director of Operations in Environmental and Sustainability Department of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Independent Expert on Development Financing at IDB Invest, who delivered basic information together with practical examples how circularity principles could be implemented, particularly among small and medium sized enterprises, and what is the specific role of the universities in this process.

The conference was organized in the frames of the ongoing programme being implemented by CSO Georgian Society of Nature Explorers “Orchis” through funding of the Government of Sweden to raise awareness about circular economy in Georgia. In the frames of the programme, total eight conferences have been organized during 2019-2022 for key stakeholders and enablers of the transition process, including the state, regional and municipal authorities, policy makers and the Parliament, the National Academy of Science, financial sector, business sector in overall and SMEs of Georgia and Azerbaijan in particular, as well as universities and other educational entities of Georgia.

The Circular Economy programme has been designed through funding of the Government of Sweden with the objective to raise awareness about the circular economy among wide range of stakeholders and provide recommendations how to speed the adoption of circular economy principles at various levels of the national economy. Particular emphasis is put on recommendations such are: improving financing conditions, removing barriers for circular economy projects, identifying main areas where incentives should be provided, educating experts in variety of areas.

The 8th Conference on Circular Economy was organized commonly by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and Georgian Society of Nature Explorers “Orchis” in the frames of the Circular Economy Programme financed by the Government of Sweden and implemented by GSNE “Orchis” with the support of Georgian Ministries of Environmental Protection & Agriculture, Economy and Sustainable Development, Regional Development & Infrastructure, and Education & Science.