From March 11 to 13, the partners of the Interreg project Circ@Home met in Riga, Latvia, to kick off the project’s second year and mark the transition to Circ@Home’s implementation phase. As the lead partner, Kiel University (CAU) organized the meeting in close collaboration with the Riga City Council and Zero Waste Latvija, and coordinated the on-site program. In addition to Prof. Dr. Stefan Hoffmann (Chair of Marketing), Marie Tebel (Ph.D. candidate), and Marie Berner (Ph.D. candidate) from the Chair of Marketing, 35 other representatives from academia and industry participated in the intensive in-person meeting.
During several workshop sessions, participants reviewed the first year of the project, reflected on key findings, and strategically prepared for the transition to the upcoming practical phase. The focus was on discussing planned pilot measures in the participating countries, identifying context-specific similarities and differences, and coordinating concrete implementation steps.
The program was complemented by two excursions that illustrated how the circular economy is being implemented in Riga at the municipal level: The first visit took participants to “Sadarbnīca,” a community center and venue for educational programs focused on sustainability and circular practices. The second stop on the itinerary took participants to the Sarkandaugava district, where an “Urban Circularity Hub” is being established in a former municipal school building as part of the Circ@Home initiative. In the future, this hub is intended to bring together circular services such as swapping, repairing, and lending. Discussions with local stakeholders made it clear that such places not only promote sustainable consumption patterns but also serve as social gathering spots that help strengthen neighborhoods.
With a clearer understanding of the upcoming pilot activities, clearly defined research questions, and new insights from the field, the Circ@Home consortium is continuing its work and is now moving into the next phase of the project. In the coming months, the circular economy solutions developed during the conceptual phase will be tested across national borders and scientifically monitored by Kiel University (CAU).