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Eco-industrial parks as an approach for an industrial circular economy

Eco-industrial parks (EIPs) have emerged as an approach for increasing the sustainability, competitiveness and resilience of industrial parks while ensuring social and economic considerations. This workshop will introduce the concept and tools for enhancing the circular economy as part of EIPs. Case studies will be addressed interactively through interactive discussion. Come and learn from the international framework and tools developed for facilitating the transition towards EIPs.

Key drivers for EIPs include:

  1. The need to move towards a circular economy, climate change commitments at the national level, and reducing environmental footprints and GHG emissions.
  2. Resource-efficiency gains and cost effectiveness of infrastructure adapted to climate change.
  3. Enabling community cohesion.
  4. Resilience to climate change and various other types of risks, greening the supply chain through circular economy practices and achieving synergies with existing financial and economic incentive systems and technical support.
  5. Enhancing competitiveness.

Organiser: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Target audience (max. 50 participants*): circular economy practitioners engaged with manufacturing industries

*Please note that workshops are not livestreamed, and they are only available for those in-person participants who have registered to take part in them.

Programme

Welcome by UNIDO Global Eco-Industrial Park Programme (GEIPP) team

Smail Alhilali

Smail Alhilali

Chief, Division of Circular Economy and Green Industry
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Smail Alhilali joined UNIDO in 2007, serving in different positions including chief of division for responsible materials and chemicals management (2020-2023), and chief of division for emerging compliance regimes (2018-2020). He was responsible for the implementation of the global resource efficiency and cleaner production programme and the technical lead of the global eco-industrial parks programme. Before joining UNIDO, Smail was the director of Morocco National Cleaner Production Centre (2003-2007) and served in different positions within the National Centre for Nuclear Energy, Sciences and Technology (CNESTEN) in Morocco (1994-2003). Smail holds a master’s on nuclear safety engineering (France, 1994) and a master’s on mechanical engineering (Morocco, 1993).

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Nadine Stöcker

Nadine Stöcker

Technical Advisor
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Nadine Stöcker has been working for GIZ since 2017 and is currently advisor in the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3). During the past four years, Nadine coordinated a company-wide working group on sustainable industrial areas, fostering knowledge management and networking between member projects in close exchange with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Bank Group. She holds a bachelor’s in retail management and a post graduate double degree in natural resources management and development. Nadine gained six years of regional experience in Latin America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico), working for the sustainable management of natural resources.

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Nani Pajunen

Nani Pajunen

Leading specialist
Turku University of Applied Sciences

Nani Pajunen is a sustainability and carbon neutral circular economy specialist with over 25 years’ experience in industry and research. She was one of the authors of the Finnish national circular economy road map in 2016. Nani works enthusiastically to make a systemic change from the linear economy towards a sustainable and fair global economy. She develops solutions for an economy based on the sustainable use of natural resources and carbon-neutral circular economy business. One of her primary goals is to help different sectors of society, public and private organisations to succeed in an uncertain market situation when the sustainability crisis and lack of energy and raw materials are reality. Nani’s specialty is to create the vision of a sustainable and fair future and build the path how to get there. She has a DSc (Tech) and has worked in industry, academy and as a management consultant.

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Christian Susan

Christian Susan

Industrial Development Office
UNIDO TCS/CCM/CER

Christian Susan is an Austrian national. He holds an MSC in integrated water resource management and an MSC in environmental economics. He joined UNIDO in 2008 and has since worked as project manager on a wide array of environmental projects in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin and Central America. The main objectives of the projects include promoting public-private-partnerships for water stewardship, circular and sustainable industrial approaches, facilitating resource efficient and cleaner production, the transfer of environmentally sound technologies and supporting the transition towards eco-industry. In 2018, he assumed management responsibility for the Swiss-funded Global Eco-Industrial Park Program (GEIPP) as well as for the GEIPP country-level interventions in Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, South Africa and Vietnam. The GEIPP is one of UNIDO’s flagship projects promoting the adoption of circular economy approaches in industries.

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Interactive discussion: Eco-Industrial Parks (EIP) as an approach for an industrial circular economy

Klaus Tyrkkö

Klaus Tyrkkö

Chief Technical Adviser
UNIDO

Klaus Tyrkkö has worked for the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme (GEIPP) implemented by UNIDO since 2020. GEIPP is a 7-country programme advancing the uptake of eco-industrial parks (EIP) practices and creating an EIP-conducive policy environment. Klaus served previously as division chief at UNIDO and has held a policy advisory role at UNDP and the European Commission. Klaus started his career in the manufacturing industry and has also served as a consultant in more than 20 countries.

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Results from group works

Example of GEIPP implementation of industrial synergies

Closing

Related UN sustainable development goals