Getting together for one last time in Norway
The sixth partner meeting was held in windy and autumnal Bodø
CIRCNETS team met up once more, this time in the city of Bodø, in northern Norway. Besides the partner meeting, the group also participated in the Interreg NPA Conference Connecting the Dots, which celebrated 25 years of cooperation in the region.
The partner meeting was held on Tuesday 30th of September, arranged in the facilities of the Nord University. With only three months left of the project, many important things were discussed and the progress in each of the work packages was checked. With WP1 being nearly concluded, the main focus was on WP2 and WP3.
Both work packages include outputs, which were the main focus of the discussions. Through these outputs, CIRCNETS will present the main findings of the project and provide a set of recommendations for stakeholders. These recommendations and how to present them were worked together in a workshop and discussed lengthily. Besides the outputs, both WP2 and WP3 still have some reports to be published so keep an eye out for them!
Some dissemination activities were also discussed, and the final webinar of the project was decided on. The final webinar will be held on 27th of November so you can already mark this in your calendar and look out for more information coming out soon!
The next two days, 1st and 2nd of October, were spent at the NPA conference. In addition to panel discussions, research presentations, and reminiscing about the program history and presenting the future steps, both days included parallel sessions in which projects of the program presented their work. CIRCNETS was part of a parallel session called “From Awareness to Action: Ten Years of Tackling Marine Plastic Pollution in the NPA Region”, held on the first day of the conference. The session presented four projects, each leading up to another and all dealing with marine pollution. The session was hosted by Dr. Neil James who has been part of various NPA projects and presented the project Circular Ocean. Other participants were Dr. Richard Glavee-Geo, presenting Blue Circular Economy, Niko Hänninen, presenting POPCORN, and Charlotte Berg and Paula Costa Domech, both discussing CIRCNETS and their part in it. As was said in the session: “Like threads in a net, each NPA-funded project has built on the last— strengthening a network of innovation and policy that advances circular solutions and extended producer responsibility in tackling marine plastic pollution”.
Besides the fully packed conference days, a conference dinner was organized after the first day. During the dinner, an award session was held, recognizing projects and people that have contributed to the program over the years. CIRCNETS was rewarder in the category "Achieving synergies - Transnational projects that make the most of our resources for a resilient Northern Periphery and Arctic". The award for these projects was accepted by the CIRCNETS lead manager Niko Hänninen, who has been a part of various NPA and NPP projects.
All in all, the autumnal Bodø provided the group another chance to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas and plan the last steps of the project, as well as a chance to meet other NPA people and see what other projects have been up to!
Interested in seeing more pictures from Bodø? Head to Resources!
