The Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) held its first General Conference in Brussels and online on 8 November 2023. Entitled “From vision to reality: Cities and regions drive forward Europe’s circular transition”, the event gathered around 200 on-site and 400 online circular economy stakeholders.

The first conference of the EU’s flagship circular economy initiative brought together stakeholders such as the CCRI Pilots, Fellows, Projects and Associated Partners, the European Commission, and wider members of the circular economy community. Those in attendance included representatives of business, industry, academia, research, associations and non-governmental organisations. 

Through various sessions, it provided a forum to discover opportunities to scale-up circular solutions and share concrete examples of how cities and regions are already boosting the circular transition, stimulating social innovation, and paving the way for Europe's circular transition.

An exhibition area and networking breaks also provided opportunities for attendees to present their initiatives and exchange ideas with other stakeholders.

In this report, you can find summaries of the main themes and takeaways from the day’s sessions. It should be noted that this report is not intended to provide a comprehensive summary of every presentation and discussion that took place, but rather an overall summary of the main themes and conclusions of the conference’s sessions. Please note, also, that the views documented in this report do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Commission. 

If you are interested in watching back the conference, you can find the replay on the website.