World Circular Economy Forum 2024 – Brussels
Circular and Regenerative Design – Accelerator Session

18th April 2024
3.30 – 6.00 PM CET

European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, CDMA Building, Rue du Champ de Mars 21, 1050 Brussels, Belgium and Online Participation via Teams

Organised by:

The event is a Accelerator session of World Circular Economy Forum

Background

The WCEF2024 Accelerator Session will be led by Professor Martin Charter and Dr Patrick Schröder with invited speakers focused on circular and regenerative design (CRD) and product circularity (PC). CRD is design that encourages the use of non-toxic, renewable materials, and seeks to restore and improve the natural environment while also providing benefits to society. The aim of CRD is to put design to work as positive force to repair, restore and regenerate natural and human systems based on intelligence, learning and autonomous approaches. CRD and PC are newly evolving in commercial design and development (D&D) practice – at product/service level. Furthermore, the potential applications of regenerative design and materials to technical products such as electronics or machinery are currently underexplored.

The event will: bring together design and development (D&D) practitioners, industry stakeholders, policymakers and other experts to discuss the state-of-the-art in CRD and PC; provide insights into how CRD and PC is understood by industry and experts; identify implementation barriers; share expert knowledge, highlighting gaps in current design and development practices; and potentially contribute to new methodologies that might be used in D&D, PC and measurement. Finally, the event will explore the policy and standards context/implications including Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

The WCEF2024 Accelerator Session builds on a webinar organised with WCEF on 11^th July 2023 and an expert workshop held with Royal Society of Arts on 29^th January 2024.

Agenda *

3:30 – Welcome and Introduction

Welcome
European Commission
Professor Martin Charter, Director, The Centre for Sustainable Design ®, UCA

3:45 – 4:40 Speaker Presentations

3:45 – Principles of Circular and Regenerative Design (CRD) and recent EU policy developments
Dr Patrick Schröder, UCA and Chatham House

4.05 – Apple: Longevity and Circularity by Design
Jonas Dreger, Senior Manager, Strategic Engagement, EMEIA, IEI, Apple

4:25 – Policy and regulatory frameworks supporting CRD
Martin Policar, Policy Officer, DG RTD – B1 Green Transitions, European Commission

4:45 – Open Floor for Audience Questions and Comments
Participants (both in-person and online) ask questions to the speakers

5:00 – Closing Remarks and Next Steps

5:15 – Networking (Optional)
In-person attendees can network and engage in further discussions

6.00 – Close

* Programme may be open to change

Registration

The event is free of charge, but you need to register via rcarruthers@uca.ac.uk by sending your name, job title, and organisation. On receipt, you will be sent instructions to join the webinar.

Further information

Ros Carruthers
Email: rcarruthers@uca.ac.uk
The Centre for Sustainable Design ® 
Business School for the Creative Industries
University for the Creative Arts