ACEN June 2023 Newsflash!

ACEN Member’s Contributions to the Event:

Day Zero

Chatham House: Global Circular Economy Roadmap Initiative - Visioning Workshop

Before the real action kicked off, Kiera Crowe Pettersson, circular economy consultant for ACEN and member of the roadmapping ExCo, took part in this workshop. This was alongside other Global South and as well as Global North representatives who jointly looked at the next steps that need to be taken to develop a cohesive and inclusive vision of a global circular economy. Chatham House is seeking more stakeholder input to their survey on the process, which can be found here.

Day One

Welcome Meeting for African Participants

On the first day, ACEN and other African organisations and representatives were welcomed by the MFA Finland Department for Africa and the Middle East to a meet and greet meeting prior to kicking off the official WCEF2023 conference proceedings. In this session, Hon. Elias Mubanga, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises of Zambia gave a short keynote on our commitment to the partnership between Africa and Finland.

At the end of the official programme, ACEN’s co-founder and director, Susanne Karcher took the opportunity to remind all participants that based on the internationally recognized CE value hill business model, focussing and limiting CE on finding “waste” solutions is the least innovative and effective approach to address the much bigger systemic issue of resource overconsumption and growing environmental pollution. She shared her plea with the audience: “I hope that by the WCEF2023 we dare to ask the difficult questions and start pushing ourselves to find solutions that will truly and entirely disrupt systems at source, especially those that don’t serve us.”

Regenerating nature with the circular economy

In the second session of the day, Elisée Bahati Ntawuhiganayo, of the ACEN Rwandan Chapter introduced how subsistence farmers in Africa are applying regenerative agricultural practices that help with export requirements. Elisee also highlights the importance for the continent to adopt farming practices that aid nutritional security and combat soil erosion and landslides in mountainous areas. Read more about the session here. 

Day Two

Designing food for nature to thrive

On the second day of the Forum, Katharina Gighring, ACEN executive member and project coordinator served on the panel promoting two initiatives of South African businesses using dehydration methods, 1) to preserve and extend the shelf life of food for low-income communities, and 2) create health supplements and foods for middle- to high-income groups. Read more about the session here. 

Day Three

Day 3 was the big day for ACEN, where a whole range of ACEN members lead or participated in 3+ Accelerator Sessions as well as other WCEF2023 Side Events.

African Voices – Showcasing Circular Economy Ambition in Africa

This Accelerator Session consisted of 3 topics, with a short closing topic on the ‘just transition to a circular economy’ by Katharina Gigiring. The session was opened by the African Development Bank and Dalberg’s Bonmwa Fwangkwal.

For the first topic, Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency in Africa’s raw materials, mining and Nature-based sectors, ACEN’s director Susanne Yvonne Karcher promoted Materials as a Service (MaaS) as an opportunity for Africa to create smart trade agreements with the Global North during this energy transition that are based on African governments retaining ownership of minerals and selling contract based user rights instead linked to royalties that are ringfenced towards mining rehabilitation and mining community upliftment programs. During the third topic, Circular food systems in Africa, Lara Maritano presented ACEN’s work and impact in Africa, introducing ACEN representatives to share case studies and projects. Elisée Bahati Ntawuhiganayo, ACEN Rwanda, gave an overview of Rwanda’s Agri-SME landscape introducing the Circular Food Systems for Rwanda project where ACEN is implementing the SME Development Fund. Elisée also touched on the objectives of the recently launched Rwanda National Circular Economy Action Plan and Roadmap. Following his presentation, Oluwakemi Ajakaiye, ACEN Nigeria chapter lead and executive member, presented some business opportunities in the agricultural sector for Nigeria and Africa, giving some best practice examples and steps forward.

Africa’s Circular Journey: Unleashing the Power of Circular Economy Hubs

Chris Whyte, Katharina Gihring, Kiera Crowe Pettersson, and Abayomi Magbagbeola engaged in hotspot discussions, reflecting on the outcomes of WCEF2022 in Kigali, Rwanda and outlining the significant role Hubs will play in accelerating and enhancing the circular economy in Africa and globally through South-South and North-South collaborations. The recording will be available in a couple of weeks. Please follow our LinkedIn page or Holland Circular Hotpot’s website for updates.

Our Shared Understanding: A Circular Economy in the Built Environment

For the launch of the report, Kiera Crowe Pettersson spoke on the significance of the Global South and Africa in the transition, and the need to bridge the gap between interim solutions and long term-thinking - balancing the current crisis with some much-needed optimism. The recording for this event will be available in a couple of days on the WCEF2023 website. 

Roundtable: The role of the Global South in enabling a Global Circular Transition

In this WCEF2023 Side Event, ACEN director Chris Whyte spoke to the shifts that are underway and still need to occur in recognition of the Global South’s significance in the success of the circular economy. The event was a collaboration with ACEN for Africa, IC-CE in India, CIEC and E4CB and CECOLAB representing Latin America. ACEN representatives Katharina Gihring and Kiera Crowe Pettersson also took part in the engagement.

Kenyan Studio

On June 8th, ACEN HQ and ACEN's newly formed Kenya Chapter organised a WCEF2023 Studio in Nairobi, Kenya. The event was a great success with the attendance of over 110 people, 11 exhibitors showcasing their beautiful local circular products as well as various radio stations and local media houses ready to capture some of the interesting and circular ideas that came out during the event. The Studio was also honoured with the presence of representatives from the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Nairobi City Council, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, the Finnish Embassy and the EU delegation.

Creative Exchange | CX

On 6 June, ACEN co-hosted an event with the Craft + Design Institute (CDI), GreenCape, Cape Town City of Design, City of Cape Town and #COCREATESANL. This session looked at ‘How can we co-create new ways to produce, consume and live while respecting our limited natural resources’ as part of this year's theme: South Africa’s future is circular, Reimagining our world: Circular Designing in SA. ACEN South Africa’s chapter lead, Ntobeko Boyana spoke, among others, about how we might need a new metric to measure economic progress as “GDP” is failing us and how circular economy principles should be engrained in all businesses.

#COCREATEmycity Durban

Newly launched Circular South Africa (CSA) hosted a session ‘How to make the circular economy work for water? during the #CoCreateMyCity Durban event on 8 June. ACEN’s Chris Whyte moderated the session alongside the University of Kwazulu Natal’s Mendy Z. Shozi. South Africa’s chapter lead, Notobeko Boyana, presented “The importance of Circular Water Economy in South Africa”. Marlies den Boer, climate counsellor for the Dutch Embassy stated “It was a great session, we heard a lot of positive feedback from the participants. And also a big ask for a follow-up meeting to dive a bit deeper into the matter”

Zero Waste Toolkit: Educational Video Series Event

Plant the Seed is hosting an event on 14 June from 18:00 to 21:00 CAT in Woodstock, Cape Town. The event will showcase short clips and discussions for businesses and corporates to learn more about recycling, the circular economy, and how they can take a holistic approach to waste management to turn the tide on the waste crisis.

Lagos Circular Economy Hotspot 2023

The Circular Economy Hotspot is in Africa for the first time! The Lagos State Government in collaboration with the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN), and the Circular Economy Innovation Partnership (CEIP), are organizing the Lagos Circular Economy Hotspot 2023 #LCEH2023. Lagos will welcome delegates from across the globe and showcase groundbreaking innovations and initiatives driven by talented Nigerian and African innovators. The event takes place in a hybrid format from 20 -23 June 2023. For further information, please contact Kemi from ACEN; Yomi from CEIP; or the hotline.

Big Food Redesign Challenge

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in partnership with the Sustainable Food Trust, recently launched the Big Food Redesign Challenge. This challenge represents a unique opportunity to demonstrate that food products can be designed to help nature to thrive. Participants will become part of a community seeking positive change that spans retailers, producers, farmers, start-ups and experts in circular design. To read more about the requirements and deadlines, visit the website here and read the study.

The Playbook for Textile-to-Textile Recycling

Accelerating Circularity just launched its Playbook for Building Circular Textile-To-Textile Recycling Systems. The playbook is a culmination of ACP's work on the Textile-To-Textile trials combining the results from successful trials of every part of the textile supply chain. It answers questions such as: What will it take to scale collection and sortation strategies? When should mechanical versus chemical recycling technologies be applied? How can existing systems transition feedstocks and fibres?

Design and copy by Tashma Kritzinger