Creation of a Quebec circular economy platform joining the circular economy network
Paris, March 7, 2018
On the occasion of the arrival in France of Quebec Prime Minister Philippe Couillard for one of the alternate meetings of Quebec and French Prime Ministers, a three-year initial cooperation agreement was signed for the creation of a circular economy platform which will be integrated into the international network of "economiecirculaire.org” web platforms in December 2018.
This agreement is the result of collaboration between the Institut National de l’économie circulaire (INEC) and the International resource and innovation centre for sustainable development (CIRIDD) in France and their Quebec partner, the Institute of the environment, sustainable development and circular economy (Institut de l’Environnement, du Développement Durable et de l’Économie circulaire - IEDDEC ) (IEDDEC). The resulting Quebec web platform will help to speed up Québec's transition to a circular economy.
The inescapable transition to a circular economy is taking shape everywhere on the planet, and France is one of the leading countries. In Quebec, IEDDEC has played a pioneering role in both research and training, as well as mobilizing key people. Collaboration between the leaders of this transformation on both sides of the ocean has been in place for several years.
Implementation of the circular economy involves sharing knowledge and networking with all of the vital forces of society. “Integrating a Quebec platform into our international network of circular economy platforms was a wonderful opportunity”, says Denis Cocconcelli, Director of CIRIDD. “This international network is asserting itself as a forum for promoting projects and meeting the people involved”. Since 2015, it has been able to highlight feedback from over 380 projects and as many project promoters in different areas.
“Integrated into an international network that is set to grow, this Quebec platform represents the ideal collaborative tool to encourage those involved to join a movement and create a sense of belonging that is essential to setting up a strong, dynamic dialogue, such as requires an efficient transition to a circular economy”, said Daniel Normandin, executive director of the EDDEC institute. “We have already identified many Quebec initiatives that will inspire other leaders and stimulate innovation”, he adds.
Photo above: Christophe Debien, Director General of INEC, Denis Cocconcelli, Director of CIRIDD and Daniel Normandin, Executive Director of the EDDEC Institute, sign the cooperation agreement. With Isabelle Melançon, Quebec Minister of Sustainable development, Environment and the Fight against climate change, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State to the Minister of Europe and Foreign affairs (France)
This partnership with the international network will:
- Help to share news and initiatives led by the other regional platforms of the Network on the Quebec platform;
- Give visibility to Quebec news and initiatives by promoting them on the Network's central platform;
- Allow people involved in the circular economy in Quebec to benefit from sharing the Network’s tools.
For Christophe Debien, Director General of INEC, “integrating Québec into the International platform network is another milestone in the large-scale cooperation that is essential to setting up a global circular economy”. The ability to share documentary content and tools, and to share ideas with initiative leaders is crucial for stimulating innovation, creating partnerships and accelerating the implementation of new initiatives.
It is with this in mind that CIRIDD and INEC, with the support of l’Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maitrise de l’Énergie (ADEME-the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and the Ministère de la Transition Écologique et Solidaire (the French Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition), created the International network of circular economy platforms in 2015. This currently includes four regional platforms (Eclaira.org in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Genie.ch in the Canton of Geneva, RECITA.org in Nouvelle Aquitaine, and the Normandy circular economy platform NECI), based around an international platform https://www.economiecirculaire.org. Two new platforms will be launched in 2018, including the Quebec platform.
The creation and running of the Quebec platform are financially supported by the Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation (Quebec), Recyc-Québec and five other founding Quebec partners (Association de l’aluminium du Canada, Eco Entreprises Québec, Fondaction CSN, Groupe Optel and Réseau Environnement).
The collaboration between the EDDEC institute, CIRIDD and INEC was made possible thanks to support from the Quebec ministry of international relations and La Francophonie, and the ministry of foreign affairs and international development of the French Republic (Consulate General of France in Quebec City) as part of the 66th session of the permanent commission for Franco-Quebec Cooperation.
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About the international network of circular economy platforms
By developing the international network of circular economy platforms, the National institute for the circular economy (Institut national de l’économie circulaire - INEC) and the International resource and innovation centre for sustainable development (Centre International de Ressources et d’Innovation pour le Développement Durable - CIRIDD aim to set up a common forum with the commitment of everyone involved in the circular economy. This ecosystem helps to develop the circular economy in regions and companies through multi-stakeholder cooperation and action combining efficient resource use, creation of economic value, well-being and the protection of biodiversity. The network now has nearly 3,000 members grouped into four regional portals.
Contacts: Denis Cocconcelli – Director of CIRIDD - denis.cocconcelli[ @] ciridd.org
Christophe Debien – General manager of INEC - c.debien[ @] institut-economie-circulaire.fr
Download the Network brochure: http://bit.ly/ecocir2017 http://www.economiecirculaire.org
About the Institut National de l’Économie Circulaire, INEC (France)
Founded in 2013 by François-Michel Lambert, deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône, INEC is a national multi-stakeholder body, a circle for thinking and actions, whose vocation is to promote the circular economy. As a collaborative initiative, it unites and involves nearly 200 members composed of companies, local authorities, NGOs, universities, and qualified individuals such as experts, researchers and parliamentarians). Its ambition is not only to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience among all its members but also to communicate on the circular economy in order help as many people as possible know about it and understand it.
Press contact: Stéphane Murignieux, Communication director - Tel: 33 (0)1 84 06 33 16 s.murignieux[ @] institut-economie-circulaire.fr
About the Centre International de Ressources et d’Innovation pour le Développement Durable, CIRIDD (France)
CIRIDD, an association constituted in accordance with the French law of 1901, was created in 2005 and is recognized as being of general interest. It aims to contribute to the emergence of new models for society, respectful of living beings in all their diversity, future generations and the planet. It aims to engage economic stakeholders, local authorities and networks in the appropriation and implementation of collective processes of change for sustainable development. Innovation and the right to experiment are CIRIDD’s spearheads for encouraging discussion, decompartmentalising points of view, co-building solutions and obtaining commitment from those involved. CIRIDD develops and runs collaborative platforms to promote projects, positioning itself as a structure for managing knowledge on an international scale.
Contact: Denis Cocconcelli – Director - denis.cocconcelli @ ciridd.org - Tel : 33 (0)4 77 92 23 40
About the Institut de l’Environnement, développement durable et économie circulaire, IEDDEC (Quebec)
The EDDEC Institute was founded in April 2014. It’s mission is to support and promote training, research, action and outreach of the Université de Montréal, HEC Montréal and Polytechnique Montréal, in terms of the environment, sustainable development and circular economy, in a spirit of partnership and interaction between the three institutions and the community. Having access to the largest pool of French-speaking scientists in Canada in EDDEC, the Institute covers the entire spectrum of scientific disciplines, from humanities and social sciences to economics, natural sciences and engineering. The collective work published in 2016, “Économie circulaire, une transition incontournable - Circular Economy, an unavoidable transition”, is available for free download here: http://bit.ly/2cY5Jqc
Contacts: Daniel Normandin, Executive director - Tel: 1 514-340-4711, ext. 2152 [email protected]
Stéphanie Jagou, Project manager stephanie.jagou[ @] instituteddec.org
