“I don’t like the word ‘recycling’. What I want to recycle are the mindsets, not materials” (Joslin Faith Kehdy, Recycle Lebanon).
On June 19th 2024, the Community4Innovation, one of the two governance project of the Innovative Sustainable Economy Mission of the Interreg Euro-Med program, organized the 1st edition of the MedInnovation Days, an event that aims to enhance the vision of a desirable sustainable Mediterranean.
On this occasion, Karim El Arnaouty, project Officer at AViTeM, moderated the roundtable “Scaling up innovative solutions: pathways to achieve zero waste in the Mediterranean”. The following speakers were invited to share their insights and on the ground experience on how to shape a better, more sustainable Mediterranean:
- Richard Sempéré, Director of the Ocean Science Institute, CNRS (academic research sector)
- Cristina Colonna d’Istria (Casian) Director of Éa éco-entreprises, (privat sector)
- Joslin Faith Kehdy, founder/director of Recycle Lebanon awarded by the Euro-Med Week for Waste Reduction for her project TerraPods (NGO, civil society).
Speakers emphasized the need to encourage creativity, collaboration, and cross-sectoral engagement to foster experimentation and innovation for a just and sustainable Mediterranean. Cristina Colonna d’Istria highlighted the importance of collaboration among all stakeholders – private sector, public authorities, and civil society – by creating spaces for meeting and exchange and anticipating legislation as crucial for success. Richard Sempéré stressed the importance of bridging research with the socio-economic world and Joslin Faith Kehdy, through her awarded TerraPods initiative, showcased the potential of experimenting with low-tech practices that are often intrinsic to Mediterranean territories and local communities.
The launch of the Community4Innovation and the 1st edition of the MedInnovation Days took place in parallel to a series of European events on innovation and waste reduction: the European Week of Waste Reduction (EWWR) 2023 Awards ceremony, the ACR+ 30th General Assembly, and the LIFE IP SMART WASTE Project closing seminar. It was a great opportunity to get to know other European projects and initiatives working on similar topics and to see how REPper’s activity gets to be part of a broader transnational dynamic effort.
