The Horizon Europe project CIRCONOMY – Unlocking the Potential of Circularity with Smart Indicators officially kicked off on 11-12 June 2026 in Rome, with the first consortium meeting hosted by UnitelmaSapienza, the project coordinator.
Over two intensive and inspiring days, representatives from the project’s 17 partner organisations gathered for the first time to lay the foundations for the next three years of collaboration. Discussions focused on shaping a shared roadmap to achieve CIRCONOMY’s ambitious objective: accelerating Europe’s transition towards a sustainable circular economy through the development of a harmonised and operational framework of micro-level circular economy indicators.
The meeting opened with welcoming remarks from Project Coordinator Piergiuseppe Morone and Bruno Botta, Rector of UnitelmaSapienza, who expressed his pride in the university’s growing success in coordinating and participating in high-profile European research projects, highlighting CIRCONOMY as an important opportunity to contribute to advancing circular economy practices in Europe. The opening session was followed by an overview of the project’s goals, structure, and expected impacts. Consortium partners then presented their expertise and discussed the activities planned across all work packages, covering the review of existing circular economy frameworks, the development of a monitoring framework and digital tool, pilot testing, refinement processes, replication and scalability, policy integration, capacity building, dissemination, communication and exploitation, as well as project management.
The kick-off meeting also benefited from valuable exchanges with representatives of the European Commission. The consortium welcomed an online contribution from Hans-Christian Eberl, CIRCONOMY Policy Officer at DG RTD, and had the opportunity to receive guidance and recommendations in person from Vessela Stoyanova-Monteleone, CIRCONOMY Project Officer at the European Research Executive Agency (REA).
Beyond the technical discussions, the meeting marked the beginning of a collaborative journey built on trust, shared experiences, and meaningful personal connections. A social dinner in Rome’s historic Garbatella district provided an informal setting for partners to get to know each other better and strengthen the relationships that will support the project throughout its implementation.
With the kick-off meeting successfully concluded, CIRCONOMY is now fully underway and ready to contribute to more robust, evidence-based approaches for measuring and accelerating circularity in Europe.
Stay tuned to our website and social media channels to follow CIRCONOMY’s journey and discover the project’s latest activities, results, and opportunities for engagement!
