As cities and regions across Europe embrace the circular transition, one challenge persists: how to measure where a territory stands, and what to do next. Instead of tackling this alone, Alcoi and Pardubice are collaborating through the CCRI Twinning Programme to co-develop practical tools for assessing and accelerating circularity. 

Although operating in different contexts, both share a strong culture of public-private collaboration, one of the key reasons they were matched as CCRI Twins. 

Alcoi’s involvement is led by the municipality’s Innovation and Intelligent City Department. The department fosters multiactor partnerships to address urban challenges, and for this twinning they have mobilised the city’s broader ecosystem: the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), the Chamber of Commerce, and research centres AITEX and AIJU. The city has developed an urban agenda with circular economy components, including innovation procurement for organic waste management and initiatives around industrial symbiosis. This gives Alcoi strong experience in mobilising stakeholders and turning circular strategies into practice. 

Pardubice’s participation is led by the CEHub within PPINK, acting on behalf of the regional government. The Pardubice Business Incubator (P-Pink) operates the first Circular Hub in the region, a publicly funded organisation dedicated to helping cities and micro-regions implement circular economy principles. The CEHub is part of the Interreg CHEERS4EU project, which supports regional circular hubs across Europe.  

These complementary structures, municipal leadership in Alcoi and business-driven leadership in Pardubice, create an ideal testing ground for shared learning. 

P-Pink has developed the Circular Scan, a methodology that maps a municipality's circularity performance across areas such as waste management, water, mobility, biodiversity, construction, and energy. The tool is designed to be practical and quick, producing clear visuals and benchmarking that support decision-makers in setting priorities.

Building on each other’s experience and expertise, the Twinning journey focuses on two pathways:  

• The replication and transfer of the Circular Scan methodology to the Alcoi context,  

• The joint improvement of the tool by incorporating an industry dimension, drawing on Alcoi's expertise in material flow analysis and industrial symbiosis. The textile sector, significant in both territories, offers particularly promising common ground for this collaboration. 

Alcoi’s strong policy and strategy framework for the circular economy also serves as a useful reference for Pardubice. 

This collaboration demonstrates how cities and regions, regardless of size or starting point, can accelerate their circular transition by finding a partner with complementary experience and shared ambitions. 

Applications for CCRI Twinning are open on a rolling basis. Once you apply, the CCRI team matches you with a peer with similar challenges and ambitions. Together, you start with a facilitated kick-off exchange to agree on your shared focus. From there, the learning path is yours to shape. 

Apply to become a Twin: Application form 

[Image: Alcoi (Left) – Pardubice (Right)]