News

News

HOOP Launches Urban Bioeconomy Network For Cities And Regions


28 Mar 2022


HOOP Launches Urban Bioeconomy Network For Cities And Regions

The EU-funded H2020 project HOOP has launched the Hoop Network of Cities and Regions to facilitate exchange of knowledge and mutual learning among cities and regions willing to recover valuable resources from urban biowaste and wastewater. Cities and regions joining the network will have the chance to access information on innovative bioeconomy solutions, exchange with their peers and learn from leading technical experts.

The network is open to organisations that plan or operate municipal waste management or wastewater treatment (for instance local or regional authorities, or waste management companies). Activities foreseen within the network include:

  • HOOP lunch talks: monthly 30 minutes online exchanges about the urban circular bioeconomy involving an expert from the HOOP team, who will share information and practical solutions with the members of the HOOP Network. The first episode will be held on 31 March at 2 pm CET focusing on the 8 technologies being implemented by the HOOP Lighthouses.
  • Knowledge exchange programme: cities and regions will be invited to take part in various activities such as working groups and study visits, and even one-on-one capacity building activities, allowing connections with local waste experts and HOOP partners to discuss specific aspects of their system and obtain first-hand information on good practices.
  • Circularity label: a circular ranking system to serve as the baseline for green policies and to boost investment projects for the production of urban biowaste & wastewater-based products.
  • Urban Circular Bioeconomy Hub (UCBH): an online platform to foster knowledge exchange and replication in cities and regions across Europe. The Hub will also be the place where members can connect with other cities and regions part of the network, interact with the HOOP partners, and access the different services offered by HOOP. It will be launched in the second semester 2022.
  • Virtual Academy: an online space hosted on the UCBH providing cities and regions with access to resources and interactive services related to Urban Bioeconomy. Furthermore, all the results developed by the Lighthouses in the pilot sites will be integrated in the Virtual Academy.

The network will be managed by the  Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+). The 8 lighthouse cities and regions, and founding members of the HOOP Network, are Albano-Laziale (Italy), Almere (The Netherlands), Bergen (Norway), Kuopio (Finland), Münster (Germany), Murcia (Spain), Greater Porto (Portugal), and Western Macedonia (Greece).

To read more on how to get involved in the network, click here



All news