KARMA presentations at Interreg event in Vienna (May 2024)
Promoting sustainable materials and circularity in construction – that was the focus of a workshop organised by the Interreg Europe policy Learning platform in Vienna on the 22nd of May 2024. Among the speakers at the international event with participants from all over Europe were two representatives of the KARMA project.
Christoph Petry (City of Hamburg) presented recent experiences and ongoing developments on circular economy and construction in Hamburg. In his presentation he outlined experiences from the completed EU Horizon project CIRCuIT, the certification system for sustainable construction that is applied at the Hafen City, ongoing discourses on circular economy as well as from the Pop-Up Circular Hub that opened at the end of April 2024 next to the city's main train station.
Elmar Willems (Circular Flanders, Belgium), gave a keynote speech on the Green Deal Circular Construction in the region of Flanders. His presentation highlighted how the Green Deal aimed to strengthen cooperation and knowledge sharing, promote partnership and participation in the period 2018 – 2022, and outlined the strategic agenda on circular construction until 2030.
The presentations by the two KARMA project members were part of two working sessions on bio-based materials for construction as well as on circularity in construction. In addition to various inputs on projects, regional policies and strategies from all over Europe. The workshop participants were able to exchange experiences on barriers and ideas on policy interventions for circularity in construction during interactive world café sessions.
The venue itself was a highlight of the workshop. The Interreg Europe policy learning event took place at Seestadt Aspern in Vienna, which is one of the largest ongoing urban development projects in Europe. Accordingly, a site visit was also part of the programme: the workshop participants visited the housing complex Forum am Seebogen. The building not only combines housing and working labs – it was also mostly made out of wood. Just as the HoHo Dormero Hotel, where the workshop took place: it is one of the largest wooden constructions in the world, with a proven carbon capture record from locally sourced wood.
