The provincial government and the Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL) held the First Meeting on Circular Economy, as part of the Circular Economy Lecture Series organized by the Faculties of Economics, Chemical Engineering and Water Sciences of the UNL with the support of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. It should be noted that "circular economy" is the paradigm that aims at modifying the way in which production and consumption are carried out. The key is to take advantage of resources to reduce, recycle and reuse what is discarded and extend its useful life.
The activity took place in the auditorium of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the city of Santa Fe, to commemorate the World Day of Responsible Consumption, something that "is not casual", said the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Enrique Estévez, who stated: "We must rethink the way we consume, the way we produce, how we become responsible for the things we generate on a daily basis, it is part of the challenge we have as humanity".
"These are objectives that are being set at a global level, and there is nothing more important than being able to work together, in this case with the UNL, but also with local governments and civil society organizations that contribute with their perspective and different experiences that are being carried out", acknowledged the governor, and highlighted: "This gives us the chance to add views, add commitments, and have a planning and a medium-term view. None of this can be done with improvisation or voluntarism, we need to have a planning based on an awareness that we are generating through this type of activities", he concluded.
No one is a spectator
Meanwhile, the undersecretary of Waste Management and Circular Economy of the province, Juan Martín, explained: "Part of this cycle has to do with changing practices in our way of consuming, thinking about the materials that are part of the products we purchase; how each entrepreneur, each business, each industry, rethinks their production processes and we do it with that perspective of sustainability".
In this sense, he stated that "no one here is a spectator, and that is why this is a first meeting that focuses on responsible consumption, but we want it to cover topics such as the dynamics of urban waste pickers, the potential of green employment, the dynamics of the production of companies and industries that have to change their habits. Part of today's conversation is along these lines".
Finally, the UNL Vice Rector, Larisa Carrera, stressed the importance of "addressing a topic such as circular economy, in which many challenges arise, mainly how to think about human development in a sustainable way without affecting our natural resources, taking care of the environment, thinking about the needs of human beings, generating sustainable business models", and remarked that the UNL "has been working since its institutional strategic plan on numerous actions that go across all substantive functions, such as research, teaching, outreach, extension, where the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development proposed by the United Nations is present, and this is one more activity that shows the commitment of the University in this regard".
Del encuentro participaron también la decana de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Liliana Dillon; el decano de la Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Adrián Bonivardi; la decana de la Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas, Marta Paris; legisladores provinciales y concejales, entre otros.
El contenido de las charlas está relacionado al paradigma de la economía circular y los desafíos vinculados al desarrollo sostenible. También detallan modelos de negocio en general y circulares, y las principales herramientas y métricas para medir el progreso de la Economía Circular a nivel de empresa. Finalmente se abordará el emprendedurismo en clave de
Economía Circular.
The dean of the Faculty of Economics, Liliana Dillon; the dean of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Adrián Bonivardi; the dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Water Sciences, Marta Paris; provincial legislators and councilors, among others, also participated in the meeting.
The content of the talks is related to the circular economy paradigm and the challenges linked to sustainable development. They also detail general and circular business models, and the main tools and metrics to measure the progress of the Circular Economy at the company level. Finally, entrepreneurship in terms of Circular Economy will be addressed.
