Green Deal Circular Construction; successful collaboration and experimentation
The Green Deal Circular Construction is an initiative of Circular Flanders, OVAM and VCB. We started in February 2019 and more than 330 organizations have now joined this 4-year Green Deal. The Green Deal is growing thanks to the input and exchange in the learning network. We do this through live meetings, webinars and an online learning and networking platform exclusively for the participants.
In 2019, four broad-based inspiration days were organised, focusing on learning, getting to know each other, networking and, of course, gaining circular inspiration. In order to keep the link with the practice, these days were organized on location at one of the participating organizations. With an average of 250 enthusiastic participants, inspiring key notes, interactive workshops and site visits, we were able to conclude the first year successfully.
Pilot projects: learning in practice
From 2020 we will change our focus on more 'action' related days and will continue to work on the experiments and pilot projects that the participants have set up themselves. There remains a thematic interpretation in which the different facets of 'circular construction' are discussed. We demonstrate practical examples and zoom in on the levers, opportunities and challenges.
During the action days, the focus is on translating circular concepts into practice. The pilot projects of the participants themselves play a major role in this, because they make a concrete contribution to the faster application of circularity in the construction sector. In total, more than 134 projects have now been registered, submitted by individual organizations, but also from collaborations between the various participants.
Circular Building work agenda
In the meantime, a Circular Building Work Agenda is being prepared together with all relevant stakeholders. This agenda will be given concrete content on the basis of all lessons learned and bottlenecks identified from various initiatives that are currently running: including previous Circular Flanders Open Call projects, this Green Deal Circular Construction and the related 'experimental lab construction', as well as the current expiring Policy Program 'Material-conscious construction in cycles'.
The pilot projects also play an important role here, because within this Work Agenda the results and learning lessons of the pilot projects can be included, with the ambition of removing bottlenecks and strengthening levers.
Action days and participation
The following Green Deal Circular Construction action days will fall on October 8, 2020 and December 3, 2020. This will continue in 2021, with four new meetings, digitally or physically, at one of the participating organizations.
In fact, registrations and participation in the Green Deal have been concluded because other participants have already gone through a whole learning process. Organizations that still want to participate are welcome, provided that time is planned to get to the same level of knowledge by going through the online teaching modules and webinars and immediately defining a pilot project. Please contact us via gdcb@vlaanderen-circulair.be.
For more information follow our LinkedIn page and visit our website (in Dutch).
