Calling Innovators To Join The Circular Economy Challenge

Together with countries in the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region, UNEP is developing a project entitled “Reduce marine plastics and plastic pollution in Latin American and Caribbean cities through a circular economy approach” co-financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This project aims at facilitating governments and businesses at the city level in the region to address the plastic pollution through accelerating their transition to a circular economy for plastics. The project is planned to be implemented in 6 cities in Colombia (Cartagena, one more to be decided), Jamaica (Kingston, Montego Bay), Panama (Panama City, Colon). UNEP is issuing the following two types of posts to support the development of the project: Data collection consultancy: collection of data related with marine plastics and plastic pollution from the 3 target countries, in particular the 6 target cities; Policy consultancy: policy baseline identification and stakeholder engagement at national and local level related with circular economy, marine plastics, and plastic pollution from the 3 target countries, in particular the 6 target cities.

The current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic and its social, economic and environmental impacts has brought to the fore the importance of design and placemaking in creating infrastructure, places and buildings that will allow us to be prepared for, and make us less vulnerable to, future pandemics or crises. As the built environment sector innovates to overcome these challenges, there will be a remarkable number of opportunities when creating new buildings or retrofitting those that we already have, creating new places and rebuilding the economy. This has been reflected in the new Programme for Government, with a £100m Green Jobs Fund, the investment of £275m for the regeneration of communities and town centres and £500m to be invested in Active Travel infrastructure over 5 years (£100m to be spent in 2020/21) and the Infrastructure Investment Plan which amounts to £24bn over 5 years and includes investment to decarbonise business, industry and buildings, the provision of new health facilities, schools and homes. With this level of investment currently available, it is the perfect time for leaders and innovators in these fields to share their experiences, knowledge and best-practice with each other and with organisations that are perhaps less experienced in some of these fields. This event is an ideal opportunity for architects, planners, placemaking professionals, local and national government officers, elected representatives at local and national level, infrastructure providers, engineers and all other relevant stakeholders to engage with other thought leaders and potential partners to forge solutions to the challenges and explore what opportunities may be presented by the current situation. Event Agenda: 10:00 Introduction from the Chair – Christina Gaiger, President, RIAS Understanding the implications of covid-19 and lockdown measures for the future of the built environment – Prof. Ashraf Salama, Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde A planning and…

The annual Ocean Sustainability Bergen (OSB) Conference offers a platform for students, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to come together and discuss the biggest threats facing our ocean, and explore innovative and practical solutions to combat these threats. The conference also serves to promote knowledge and activities related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the work of the University of Bergen and other universities in Norway and around the world. This year, the OSB Conference aims to highlight one of the largest, and most complex, threats facing our ocean today: climate change.