Day 1: Focus on regional perspectives

The first day of the symposium focussed on regional perspectives. The afternoon began with a philosophical introduction by Lukas Bärfuss, followed by three presentations on the circular economy approaches of the cities of Basel, Zurich and Amsterdam. Particularly noteworthy was the presentation on the city of Amsterdam, which aims to become fully circular by 2050 as part of the ‘Amsterdam Circular’ programme.

This was followed by an exciting exchange between the audience and the speakers in a panel, during which questions from the audience were answered. At the end of the afternoon, there was an aperitif, organised by Catering Du Cœur, where only food that had been rescued by the Swiss food bank was used. This culinary highlight impressively illustrated how enjoyable and sustainable the circular economy can be.

Day 2: Perspectives from business, research and civil society

The second day focussed on the perspectives of stakeholders from business, research and civil society. In addition to exciting lighthouse projects that are already being implemented by renowned companies such as Roche and Habö, Prof Dr Claus-Heinrich Daub presented an inspiring input. He showed how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can successfully implement the circular economy with internal support. This day was also followed by another fascinating panel, in which the audience had the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers.

During lunch, participants had the opportunity to network before moving on to the individual workshops in the afternoon. In ten ‘deep dive’ sessions, participants had the opportunity to immerse themselves intensively in specific circular economy topics. In collaboration with Ralf Michel from the FHNW, we organised a workshop on ‘Regulators and Innovation’ for our roundtable. The workshop offered an in-depth insight into the regulatory framework and innovative approaches in the circular economy. This interactive exchange enabled participants to discuss challenges and opportunities in areas such as mobility, food, energy, waste management, materials, product design, textiles, architecture, pharmaceuticals and regulation. At the end of the workshops, the presented goals, challenges and wishes for the circular economy in the individual areas were shared in the plenary session.

Conclusion and outlook

The symposium offered a balanced mix of inspiring keynotes, interactive workshops, discussion panels and plenty of space for informal dialogue and networking. As a roundtable network, we had the opportunity to express our wishes and challenges in the area of the circular economy, especially for SMEs, and to share them with other stakeholders. We were also able to gain valuable insights into the upcoming regulations in the area of sustainability that will affect SMEs in the future.

Finally, we rounded off the symposium with another aperitif from Catering Du Cœur. We look forward to the next roundtable and are excited to continue working on this important and inspiring topic.