| Posted November 12, 2019

INHERIT Publishes 3 Policy Briefs on Integrated Governance, Health Equity, and Behaviour Change

How can policymakers promote interventions that foster a “triple-win” — a benefit for environmental sustainability, health and health equity? Our INHERIT project’s new policy briefs suggest ways forward for integrated governance, behaviour change, and health equity, and cover the areas of living, moving, and consuming. They also include recommendations for actions and set out concrete examples of what can and has been achieved in different contexts across Europe, highlighting possibilities for scaling-up. The briefs have been developed by the Horizon 2020 INHERIT research project (2016-2019). The problems are clear: chronic diseases are increasing, the environment and the climate are under threat, […]

| Posted November 11, 2019

Digital Transformation and Sustainability: The Mittelstand 4.0 Kompetenzzentrum eStandards Zooms in on These Megatrends

87% of companies believe that digital transformation is a competitive opportunity*! Climate change, digitalisation, blockchain and new work environments have already arrived – How is your business affected? The Kompetenzzentrum eStandards event presented answers to these questions during insightful, practice-orientated workshops. Digital transformation and sustainability present a wealth of opportunities and challenges for Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME’s). Crucial for the global agenda, these two major topics were the focal point of an event hosted by Mittelstand 4.0 Kompetenzzentrum eStandards on 10 October 2019. The keynote speeches and active workshops enabled participants to consider how their companies could benefit from becoming […]

| Posted October 29, 2019

The CSCP Hosts Round Table at DiKomm – Future Digital Municipalities fair on 5 November in Essen

Cities have great creative potential and can facilitate societal transformation for sustainability in the public and private sector. The CSCP will be hosting a roundtable discussion titled “Circular City and Digital Community – interlocking developments” at dikomm, where we will be sharing more concrete examples of circular cities and urban digitalisation. Dikomm is the side event during the DIGITAL FUTUREcongress for municipalities. For cities, the circular economy approach not only offers completely new paths to a sustainable future and a better quality of life for their citizens but also unimagined economic potential. According to EU figures, net savings of 600 billion […]

| Posted October 23, 2019

Accelerating Change Towards the Sustainable Behaviours That Really Matter – The Academy of Change Publishes Final Report

At the end of July 2019, the Academy of Change (AoC) completed the final milestone of the first round – a capacity building programme on behaviour change for more sustainable living patterns. The results of the programme have been impressive as we have been able to narrow down the elements of a successful behaviour change intervention as well as design, implement and test three pilot interventions on the ground. This journey and other learnings from the project have been captured in AoC’s recently published final report. AoC is a unique professional development journey to help NGOs build their skills to enable […]

| Posted October 22, 2019

Textiles, Electronics, Plastics/Packaging Sectors Come Together at the CSCP Workshop on Circular Business Models

What can we learn from companies who have successfully transitioned to circular business models? If closing the loop is the way forward, what are the many benefits in transitioning to circular economy? The answers to these questions were discussed in the workshop with insights from 20+ case studies on the benefits, enablers and barriers of circular business models. The CSCP organised this workshop as a part of the R2Pi project on circular economy – funded by the EU and Horizon 2020. “What steps can businesses take to contribute to a more circular economy, and how can I encourage them in my […]

| Posted October 17, 2019

The CSCP Heads the First-Ever Centre for Economics and Digital Responsibility in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

How can companies contribute to improving the quality of life for everyone in times of digitalisation? How can companies successfully adopt sustainability as a part of their digital strategy? The new centre aims to answer these questions by encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to introduce a long-term concept on economic, ecological, digital and social issues and to develop innovative products, services and business models. The centre is also an important component in the implementation of the strategy for digital transformation in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). This project is a collaboration between the CSCP and its networking partners the […]

| Posted October 15, 2019

GOALAN Project Organises a 3-Day Train the Trainers Programme for Women and Youth Entrepreneurs in Kenya

Can ‘imperfect’ fruits and vegetables be recycled and given new life? Also, can the ‘agents of change’, help pass on the information about sustainable methods of farming? In the training programme organised by the Switch Africa Green ‘GOALAN’ project in Njambini, Kenya, over 40 women and youth entrepreneurs learned through practical demonstrations how they can apply sustainable horticulture practices and add value to their produce of potatoes and Brassicas. The micro-, small- and medium-sized horticultural enterprises (MSMEs) around the Lake Naivasha Basin in Kenya face a range of challenges from a dry climate to limited water resources. The unsustainable horticultural practices […]

| Posted October 10, 2019

BMWi’s AI Innovation Competition – The CSCP Is the Proud Partner of A Winning Consortium

16 consortiums won the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Competition run by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) and will have the chance to start implementing their AI-related project ideas from early 2020 onwards. Among the 16 winners is the project “REIF: Resource-efficient, Economic and Intelligent Foodchain”, which aims to revolutionise the food industry in Germany to guarantee a supply that is as waste-free as possible. The CSCP is a partner of this research project which investigates the potential of AI to optimise the planning and control processes in the food industry. The CSCP will support the effective and efficient […]

| Posted October 2, 2019

Dr Klaus Töpfer — Founding Member of the CSCP — Awarded the Prestigious State Prize

Prime Minister Armin Laschet awarded the State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia to Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer on 16 September for his decades of outstanding commitment to international service in environmental protection, nature conservation and global sustainable development, as well as for his service to his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The award ceremony took place in the former plenary hall of the German Bundestag in Bonn, and the encomium of the event was held by Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel, who was the successor to Prof. Klaus Töpfer in 1994 as Federal Environment Minister of Germany. Executive Director of the CSCP, […]

| Posted October 1, 2019

The CSCP Contributes to Recent EEA Report – ‘Paving the Way for a Circular Economy: Insights on Status and Potentials’

While circularity can minimise waste and resource extraction, improve resource efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to conserving biodiversity, a recent report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) states that the circular economy initiatives in Europe are still in their “infancy”. In its report titled ‘Paving the way for a circular economy: insights on status and potentials’ (published on 1 October 2019) the EEA points out: it is too early to evaluate the overall economic and environmental impacts of the circular economy, since initiatives are young and diverse, and relevant harmonised European-level statistics are still largely lacking. The good news is […]