This year, Wales is hosting the Circular Economy Hotspot, an international event which celebrates the progress being made in establishing circular economies.
The Circular Economy Hotspot Cymru 2024 is a major international event focusing on the circular economy, taking place in Cardiff from October 7-9, 2024. The Hotspot, which began in the Netherlands in 2016, rotates annually between countries known for their circular economy leadership. It draws delegates from a variety of sectors — industry, government, academia, and NGOs — to share expertise, insights, and best practice.
The event is an opportunity to gain key insights on how putting wellbeing of future generations at the forefront of decision making is shaping Wales’ journey towards a more sustainable, and circular society. And offers a chance to explore how Welsh policy, like the circular economy strategy, Beyond Recycling, is translated into action.
CERIG members will be well represented across all aspects of the event, from exhibition stands to site visits. CERIG will be hosting breakout three on the main day of the event on the theme, The Impact of Academia: How is research impacting the transition towards a circular economy in Wales and Beyond?. The breakout will be split into two panel discussions:
Panel 1 — Front End Circular Innovation
- Chair:
- Professor Gavin Bunting, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for Skills and Employability, Swansea University. Chair of the Circular Economy Research and Innovation Group Wales. Member of the Wales NetZero 2035 Challenge Group, and Co-lead for the “How Could Wales Feed Itself by 2035” theme.
- Panel Members:
- Professor Sandra Esteves, Director of the Wales Centre of Excellence for Anaerobic Digestion. Professor of Bioprocess Technology for Resource Recovery, University of South Wales.
- Professor Cameron Pleydell-Pearce, Tata Steel chair in steel processing at Swansea University. Director of the SUSTAIN EPSRC Future Steel Manufacturing Research Hub. Welsh Lead for The United Nations International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy.
- Professor Jas Pal Badyal FRS, Chief Scientific Advisor for Wales.
Panel 2 — Achieving Circular Economies
- Chair:
- Dr Katie Beverley, Human centred designer and Senior Research Officer at Ecodesign Centre, PDR, Cardiff Metropolitan University.
- Panel Members:
- Dr Kersty Hobson, Reader in Human Geography focusing on issues of social and environmental transformation, sustainable production and consumption, and multi-level environmental governance. Director or Learning and Teaching, Cardiff University.
- Maxwell Green, Research and Innovation Fellow, Swansea University. Delivery lead on the industry focused Circular Innovation Support programmes, Circular Revolution and Applied Research for Circular Solutions (ARCS). Secretary to the Circular Economy Research and Innovation Group Wales.
- Dr Nadine Leder, Lecturer in Logistics and Operations Management at Cardiff Business School.
CERIG has also supported nearly 15 Students, Doctoral Candidates and Early Career Researchers with free tickets to the event — helping to bring this important voice into the room.
For more details on The Hotspot, and tickets to the event, visit: https://circulareconomyhotspot.wales/
