Circular Economy - Network Workshop in Stockholm

The Circular Economy - Network Workshop took place in Stockholm on October 18th and 19th 2022, organized by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. In addition to a representation of Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, it was attended by many of the businesses of the foundation's Network (including Coca Cola, Ikea, Nestlè, Danone, Novamont, H&M, Unilever, Zalando).

The aim of the event is to inspire participants, connect organisations to enable collaboration, and support participants to activate solutions and make tangible progress towards achieving their organisation’s circular economy goals.

The works began with the opening plenary. The network workshop picks up where Summit 2022 left off, diving into the critical issues that the Network needs to tackle and embrace to make the circular economy happen.

The following topics were covered:

• Why we need to raise our collective ambition levels and build towards a world where positive impacts on nature are the byproduct of our economic activity.
• How policy has a crucial role to play in making the economics of a circular economy work, and what’s needed from public-private collaboration to make that happen.
• What is needed from the organisations in the Foundation’s Network in terms of designing circular economy solutions together and activating change in the economy.
  
  

The day 1 of the agenda included a range of networking and collaboration sessions designed to unlock the collective potential of the Network and topic-focused sessions to advance specific programs and initiatives, such as design, fashion, food, and plastics.

The session Unlocking the potential of Circular Business Models saw the participation, among the speakers, of Gian Marco Salcioli - Head of Strategic Marketing of Intesa Sanpaolo IMI-CIB Division. Salcioli brought the experience of one of the top banking groups in Europe, with a significant ESG commitment, social impact and strong focus on climate. The Group Intesa Sanpaolo, in synergy with the activities of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, supports companies in identifying ESG/Circular Economy performance objectives that are more in line with the corporate features and the strategy to pursue, paying attention to market trends and comparison with other players in the sector.

The second day saw the participants, divided into groups by thematic areas, get involved in innovative design sprint to solve critical circular economy challenges facing the Network, aimed at creating a cohort of new collaborative projects.