Report from Vienna to discuss sustainable materials
“There is no doubt that many countries know what they want, and we could all benefit greatly from knowledge sharing across Europe to explore the possibilities of individual building materials.”
Being a stakeholder of INERTWASTE means having the opportunity to join the discussion and exchange with peers at local level but also at European level. The Transnational Learning Journeys organized by the project are not the only way to do so. Annica, a stakeholder of Guldborgsund municipality, representing Recycon Element, has been invited last May to join a workshop organized by the Policy Learning Platform of Interreg Europe in Vienna.
Under the title “Promoting sustainable materials and circularity in construction”, the workshop gathered representatives from 17 countries, all interested in integrating more sustainable materials and circularity into construction in their countries.
Even if a summary of the workshop is available online, we are bringing you Annica’s impressions on these two exciting and educational days focusing on sustainable building materials and a much higher degree of circularity in construction on the agenda.
Roland Starke from the Department of Environment & Circular Economy, Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology welcomed participants and shared Austria's thoughts on increased recycling and circularity in construction.
Following that, the first part of the workshop focused on bio-based building materials, presenting regional public procurement and other policy measures on sustainable construction by Valencia Institute of Building, and contributions from the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany.
The second part dealt with circularity in construction, including Annica’s presentation on construction with urban mining. Other presentations came from Sweden on increased focus on direct reuse by citizens at recycling centers and from Italy on the introduction of minimum environmental criteria for construction.
All the presentations hit the agenda directly. The practices presented often were mainly smaller projects or test projects, unlike the one introduced by Annica which operates on a large-scale business.
On the next day, Annica met with the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining, and Industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina during a session of smaller matchmaking meetings. Again a great opportunity for exchanging as Annica learnt about the work on a new strategic plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina while she shared about ways to increase recycling, what requirements could advantageously be integrated by the state, and what pitfalls to consider.
As a main take-away, Annica acknowledges the benefits of exchanging knowledge across Europe to explore the possibilities of individual building materials. And she could not resist commenting on the right choice of venue for the event: the workshop took place at the Dormero Hoho Hotel, located in the new district of Vienna and the second tallest wooden building in the world!