EUSAIR - Final Report

14.30–15.50
TOWARDS A GREEN
AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
IN THE ADRIATIC AND
IONIAN REGION
Panel discussion:
• Peter Grk, National Coordinator
for Western Balkans, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Slovenia
• Ladeja Godina Košir, Director
of Circular Change & Chair of
the European Circular Economy
Stakeholder Platform, Slovenia
• Aleš Gnamuš, Senior Policy Analyst,
Joint Research Center of the
European Commission
• Tomaž Rodič, Director, Centre of
Excellence for Space Sciences and
Technologies Space-SI, Slovenia
• Denis Jahić, General Manager,
AquafilSlo, Slovenia
• Marija Raspopović, Senior Advisor,
Chamber of Economy of Montenegro,
BlueFasma Interreg
MED Programme
• Roberto Sandrini, Project Manager,
Technology Park Ljubljana,
Circular 4.0 Interreg Alpine Space
CAN RADICAL COLLABORATION ENABLE
SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION?
Peter Grk: Slovenia is going to take over the Presidency of the EU Council from
the 1 st of July. One of the most important priorities of Slovene Foreign policy is EU
enlargement to the Western Balkans, not becuase we are an altruistic country,
but because this region is vital for our stability and prosperity. One of the symbolic
things that we will do in Slovenia is an EU-Western Balkans summit in October
2021. Why is the Summit important? Because we can somehow streamline
and synchronise all the activities that EU and WB countries are doing together.
One of the things that is going to feature most prominently at the Summit is the
whole agenda of connectivity, and especially the Green Agenda, meaning the
transition from coal to green.
Ladeja Godina Košir: In the circular economy, we are aiming to maintain
value as long as possible. We need to think about design. So as not to produce
things that can’t last. We want to get to the point at which waste is integrated
into the system as a resource. We therefore need creativity, we need innovation,
not only in products but also in services. Radical collaboration is of crucial
importance. Each of us has knowledge, each of us is somehow integrated into a
certain area – but we need a systemic approach. One sector or one country cannot
solve problems alone: our continent is so small that we need to work hand
in hand. Networks are the key. We are used to public governance, but without
network governance, change cannot happen. Only with a combination of the
two can we get tangible results.
58 | EUSAIR Slovene Presidency