On 27 May 2026, the RISERS project participated in the Final Conference of the Hubs4Circularity Community of Practice (H4C CoP) in Brussels, bringing together representatives from industry, regional authorities, policymakers, research organisations, and industrial symbiosis practitioners from across Europe.
The event marked the culmination of four years of collaboration within the Hubs4Circularity Community of Practice and provided an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the initiative while discussing future directions for circular industrial ecosystems in Europe.
The conference programme featured contributions from the European Commission, industry representatives, regional hubs, and innovation projects, highlighting practical experiences and lessons learned from implementing circular economy and industrial symbiosis solutions. Discussions focused on the role of industrial and regional hubs in accelerating resource efficiency, improving industrial resilience, and supporting the transition towards more circular value chains.
Particular attention was given to the future development of the Hubs4Circularity Community and Knowledge Platform, which aims to facilitate knowledge sharing, collaboration, and replication of successful circular solutions across Europe. Participants explored how industrial symbiosis, digitalisation, stakeholder cooperation, and supportive policy frameworks can help scale circular practices and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.
RISERS team contributed to the conference through participation in the poster exhibition, which showcased ongoing European initiatives supporting industrial symbiosis, circular economy, and resource efficiency. We presented 2 posters:
- A general poster promoting RISERS IS Standardisation Roadmap and its development presented by Izabela Ratman-Klosinska from IETU
- Poster on Standardisation and policy support to promote industrial symbiosis: current needs and good practice presented by Simone Wurster from Fraunhofer ISI developed in cooperation with RISERS partners : Sebastian Vogel (CEN-CENELEC), Christian Grunewald (DIN), Lieven Demolder and Greet Van Eetvelde (UGENT), James Woodcock (ISL), Yotam Yosef Avital (ENSPIRE)
The posters are available here:
- Standardisation and policy support to promote industrial symbiosis: current needs and good practice
- Roadmap for Industrial Symbiosis Standardisation – Building the foundations for scalable Industrial Symbiosis in Europe
The poster session provided valuable opportunities to exchange ideas with stakeholders from industry, research, standardisation, and policymaking communities, as well as to discuss current challenges and future needs for scaling industrial symbiosis across sectors and regions.
The conference also served as an important platform for networking and collaboration, enabling RISERS partners to engage with industrial symbiosis practitioners, regional hubs, policymakers, and fellow European projects. These discussions reinforced the importance of coordinated action across industry, research, public authorities, and standardisation organisations to create the conditions needed for wider adoption of industrial symbiosis.
The insights gained during the event will contribute to RISERS’ ongoing activities aimed at supporting industrial symbiosis implementation and strengthening the framework conditions needed to enable more resource-efficient and interconnected industrial systems across Europe.
