Promoting the Circular Transition in Asia and Europe
ENVforum Annual Conference 2023 and Follow-Up Dialogues
ENVforum Consortium Partners at the Annual Conference in Brussels
HSF
From 21st to 22nd November, Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) and other partners under the ENVforum - namely the Asia-Europe Foundation, ASEM SMEs Eco-Innovation Center, and the Institute for Global Environment Strategies jointly hosted the ENVforum Annual Conference 2023 “Empowering Innovation in Asia & Europe – SMEs at the Heart of Circular Transition” in Brussels. The organisation of the event was supported by ASEANCham and the Confederation of European Senior Expert Services. This year, the ENVforum Annual Conference took place completely offline again for the first time after three years since the out the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. For the special occasion of the 20th anniversary, the ENVforum partners and its supporting organisations renewed their commitment and mutual bound to foster CE in an Asia-Europe perspective and more generally work together towards achieving the SDGs.
Group photo at ENVforum 2023
HSF
During the 2-day conference, nine overarching priorities were pointed out as crucial to enhance the circular transition for SMEs in Asia and Europe. The main enablers were agreed to be the following: 1) access to knowledge and information to orient strategic business decisions; 2) access to funding and capacities to scale up successful models; 3) support and incentives from governments and all levels of public administration; 4) simplification of regulations and compliance mechanisms; 5) advocacy and support from business associations; 6) transformation in consumers behaviour privileging sustainable products; 7) platforms and networking opportunities to exchange best practices; 8) representation of SMEs all along the decision-making process; 9) timely and systematic involvement of all stakeholders at all stages of the market transition to sustainability.
Workshop on "Circular Business Models: SMEs and Startups as Frontrunners in the Circular Transition" as part of ENVforum 2023
HSF
In particular, on the first day of the conference, HSF facilitated a workshop on "Circular Business Models: SMEs and Startups as Frontrunners in the Circular Transition", which attracted great interest from the participants. The highly interactive workshop provided a platform for experts, innovators and climate start-ups to share insights on the challenges faced by startups and SMEs in both Asia and Europe in applying circular business models, as well as the support mechanisms needed to accelerate the transition.
This year, HSF led a delegation of climate start-ups within the network of ClimateLaunchpad Vietnam to join the conference. As the main speakers in the workshop on circular business models, the Vietnamese delegates had a great opportunity to describe the challenges facing SMEs and start-ups in Vietnam as well as issues of the economic transition to a circular system in this Southeast Asian country.
Vietnamese delegation at Yes!Delft
HSF
After two days of interesting discussions and great networking opportunities in Brussels, the Vietnamese delegation traveled to Delft to meet with the Climate-KIC and ClimateLaunchpad team and to reflect on the achievements of ClimateLaunchpad Vietnam over the past years. Through the visit to YES!Delft - a leading technology incubator in Europe, the delegation learned how YES!Delft as a non-profit organisation could mobilise resources to provide tech start-ups with full lifecycle support. Other highlights of the study tour included visits to two field labs at Delft University of Technology - The Green Village for sustainable innovation in the urban environment and RoboHouse for high-end robotics solutions for organisations.