Workshop on Innovative Practices in Waste Management

The ECOLivingLab project was one of the selected cases presented at the Lisboa E-nova this past thursday, in the context of the workshop in innovative practices in waste management.

The focus of the presentation was on the incentives for the emergent network of industrial symbiosis in the Eco Industrial Park of Relvão, an important piece in the ECOLivingLab project.

Attending the workshop were several experts in the field of waste management (such as Valorsul) private companies and local government representatives.

The powerpoint presentations and podcasts will soon be available at the Lisboa E-nova internet site (http://lisboaenova.org) (in portuguese)

ECO LivingLab@Chamusca member of the ENoLL

The ECO LivingLab@Chamusca was accepted by the ENoLL as one of the new members. This communication was received in the beginning of October and the project will be represented in the 17th October event in Brussels, where it will be publicly announced as one of the new Living Labs of the network.
We believe that this participation in the Living Lab Network will allow the overcome of initial challenges in networking and communication, and that it will be a win-win situation for all the intervenient parts, thus gathering momentum towards a System of Innovation in Europe.

From Chamusca's EIP to the ECO LivingLab@Chamusca

Although EIP projects are scarce in the EU, Chamusca’s EIP differs from other similar endeavours by following the same principles of Open Innovation projects: the assembly of the necessary conditions in a participated network that seeks to overcome concrete problems, of the community but also of the country, through a process of collective innovation.

Thus, the services offered by the EIP to the companies are mainly focused on R&D in recycling technologies, IS facilitation, certification provider (e.g. ISO and EIP certification), monitoring, data base collection and handling, business start up services, environmental education and training and centralized logistics.

According to this reality, it seemed natural to the project's stakeholders to develop a Living Lab's approach, launching the ECO LivingLab@Chamusca initiative, that was presented to the ENoLL as an application to the 2nd wave call.

ENoLL: the 2nd wave

In this year of 2007 was decided by the ENoLL to launch a call to select a 2nd wave of projects (Living Labs), as a driver to enlarge and strenghten the network. So, in May, in an event that took place in Guimarás, Portugal, this 2nd wave call was formally presented. The applications were received from June to September, and the public presentation of the selected Living Labs will take place in a Portuguese Presidency Living Labs event, in the 17th October, in Brussels.

The European Network of Living Labs

In November 2006, during the Finnish Presidency of the EU, was formally created the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL).

This network was initially composed by a set of 19 projects, from several European countries. It began based on the will and necessity to organize an articulated movement of Living Labs, not only to allow them to cooperate among themselves but also to become an essencial part in the European Innovation System. To see more about the ENoLL and its members go to http://www.openlivinglabs.eu/.

The Living Labs concept

The concept of a Living Lab doesn't have only one definition. According to that reality, we present some possible definitions:- “A Living Lab is a system for building a future economy in which real-life user-centric innovation and research will be the normal co-creation technique for new products, services and societal structures.”;- “A Living Lab instruments and stimulates ”pilot users” to take active part in, and leverage from, research and innovation in their normal real life/work contexts.”;- “Pro-active facilitating environment to foster the open innovation approach.”;- “Promote and support the co-creation of products and services, user centric oriented.”;- “Facilitate Public/private partnerships to achieve optimum results.”.

Industrial Symbiosis

As it is recognized that the interconnectedness of communities within an ecosystem is determinant for its sustainability, the latest IE research has been focusing on how to promote these linkages, which have come to be loosely known as Industrial Symbiosis. According to Chertow (2000), IS “…engages traditionally separate industries in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and/or by-products”, the keys being collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity. This approach allows an increase in the resource use efficiency through the system, considering the cluster of existing industrial processes, thus diverging from more “traditional” within company environmental management strategies, such as cleaner production or pollution prevention.