#ecologic development

What can local and regional authorities do as a response to climate change and that can be beneficial for the citizens ?

Sustainability in their economy is a direction that many countries wish to take. It can be felt both in an energy transition and in a way of behaving as a consumer. The first motivation to move in this direction is the all-encompassing fight against climate change. The sense of urgency regarding the latter is growing every year and it is clear that every inhabitant of planet Earth will suffer the consequences if it is not resolved. However, there is more to it. Since the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century, we have started to consume both energy and raw materials. In addition, the number of inhabitants on planet Earth grew exponentially as a result. After the Second World War, a trend arose to consume in an unbridled way and to shorten the lifespan of the objects, devices and machines that were produced. As a result, the multinationals were able to sell more and more and to an increasingly large group of earthlings.

The policy of globalisation initiated by neoliberals such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan has, on the one hand, led to the emergence of a middle class in many countries in the world that could live in a decent way. On the other hand, raw materials in the earth's soil were being consumed at an increasingly faster pace. Raw materials that have taken millions of years to arise and come to fruition.

These are finite. And on the other hand, the objects made with those materials were dumped at a rapid rate without recovering the raw materials. We therefore need to move away from that linear economy based on the principles: take, make, use and dispose (and pollute!) and move towards a circular economy. The older generation is still insufficiently aware of this behavioural change, the younger generation, the Z-Gen and the Millennials, all the more so.[1]

Everyone should therefore be involved in this cultural change: citizens, companies, knowledge centres and governments. In this last regard  the European  Commission has taken a bold decision in 2019 by inviting the entire European continent to go for a Green Deal and by supporting every country with a decent plan towards a green transition. We quote hereunder the Commission’s plan’s benefits[2] to ensure Europe becomes the first climate neutral continent: fresh air, clean water, healthy soil and biodiversity.

Every plan we have been reading so far includes that an important role is reserved for regional and local authorities. They are the closest to the people, they are directly confronted with their daily existence and can influence it. That's what this article is about. The ecological topics in which regional and local authorities have a role to play are not peanuts: (1) waste management, (2) local job creation thanks to the shift from linear to circular economy, (3) urbanisation measures and control, (4) education & awareness creation, (5) urban transportation management, (6) stimulation of alternative and eco-tourism, (7) contribute to a local embedding of sustainable energy, (8) stimulate Industrial Symbiosis . We tend to treat these various items during the following chapters and integrate ideas for circularity projects in a municipality.

1.     Waste management

In the context of ecology, waste management is a crucial activity in which a regional or local public administration, whether or not in collaboration with private partners, has an important role to play. Separate waste collection door-to-door is considered the most efficient way, but not all countries are already organized for this. Some countries have developed an interim solution whereby citizens can dump waste into small containers of various colours scattered around the city. In addition, a system must also be worked out so that separated fractions that cannot be collected from home, because they are too large or too sporadic, can still be collected in an efficient manner.

All this requires considerable financial resources for a municipality or for a group of municipalities that have set up an intermunicipal partnership for this purpose. In Belgium, this financing takes place in two ways: the citizen pays a specific tax contribution to ensure efficient separate waste collection by trucks. On the other hand, he can buy plastic bags of various colours to put various waste fractions in front of the door. Depending on the recyclability of the fraction, the bag will cost less or more. In Taiwan, waste is also collected by trucks, but citizens themselves have to throw the fractions into the truck. They are warned by a characteristic "tune" (such as "Für Elise"[3] for residual waste) and come out to throw their waste into the truck – apparently it is considered an appreciated moment for socialising-.

Waste collection and the development of a waste policy encompass various principles that we try to define below. The first one is economic sustainability, which is secured through an adequate price for the utility service and by applying the principle of extended producer responsibility[4]. The second factor is adequate infrastructure and equipment, namely sanitary landfills, recycling centres, waste treatment facilities and trucks. The third one is the enforcement of regulations, particularly penalties for negligent waste disposal, and the fact that 100% of municipal waste can be landfilled without any restrictions, or a mechanism that would make landfilling more expensive for those who generate waste (companies and the population). The fourth factor is qualified staff, and the fifth and last one is the political willingness to integrate all of the above. This last characteristic is predominant and distinguishes capable local politicians aiming the wellness of their fellow citizens and selfish politicians taking only decisions for the happy few and themselves. Making politically opportunistic decisions without realizing that garbage should be taken care of, has as ultimate consequence that it costs all much more to society, and that the bill is being paid even through the healthcare system.

If landfilling as a cheap solution to get rid of garbage had to be paid for, namely if there was an item on the bill for waste disposal per kilogram, utility firms would have an economic interest in lowering the quantities they landfill, which they could do, for instance, by separating waste at the source in order for it to be reused and recycled.[5]

The European Union has encouraged its member states to implement separate waste collection. This has resulted in the creation of a market for recyclable goods or materials. Various plastics such as PET bottles have found applications. When the national government moreover imposed to some objects to consist of wholly or partly of recycled materials, the circle is complete. The transition from dumping all waste in landfills to separate waste collection, whereby the percentage of residual waste is systematically reduced, is not yet a fact throughout Europe. We dispose of OECD figures for 2020, that give a overview per waste treatment type[6]:

There is still a lot of work to be done, especially when it comes to the Balkans and Türkiye. For the Balkans, the trend is positive, but the movement is slow. [7] Most collected waste is still dumped at a landfill, of which many are illegally organised and therefore not controlled.[8]

Turkey is at the top of the list as the least environmentally friendly waste management country – as it did three years ago. In fact, as recently as 2019, no waste at all was recycled in Turkey. Today, according to official figures, 47kg per capita is recycled. However, despite these visible improvements in recycling, the large amounts of waste disposed of illegally each year – a total of 176kg per capita – cannot be offset against this.[9]

It is striking that the implementation of separate waste collection often takes place at the local level: city authorities that are aiming to prepare for living in the twenty-first century are stepping in and also noticing that landfills and incinerators are no longer up-to-date. We give some examples that further demonstrate this:

The Croatian capital Zagreb recently took the step. The mayor was inspired by a method that has been in use in various parts of Western Europe for twenty years: citizens pay for bags that have a different price per fraction and that are put on the doorstep at various times. The truck infrastructure is financed by municipal taxes.[10]

Also in Southern Italy[11], where traditional landfills were run by the mafia, the approach is being changed and people are switching to separate waste collection, not only because the existing landfills are robbed but also because they are unhygienic and are therefore harmful to the residents in the meadow area.

An exciting example occurs in Greece where the Dodecanese island of Tilos reached the highest recycling rate of any island in the world. The waste recycling rate has reached an all-time high of 86 percent thanks to an innovative circular economy project which aims to transform Tilos into the first zero waste island. The “Just Go Zero Tilos” project is funded and supported by Polygreen[12] and is implemented in collaboration with the municipal authorities.[13]

An important change was made when countries started to adopt the "polluter pays" principle. This was done by introducing the EPR, the Extended Producer Responsibility, and forcing companies to take back products at the end of their lives and do something with them. EPR has been around for several decades in many Northern European countries. In Canada it is now being introduced systematically, in the USA a dozen states[14] - especially the progressive ones - are working on it.

Many cities and municipalities understand they have a fundamental role to play in avoiding waste. The most motivated ones organised themselves in Zero Waste Europe[15]. The motivation of that organisation is that Zero waste brings us into the 21st century by shifting the focus away from waste management and into proper management of our Earth’s valuable resources. A Zero Waste Europe is no longer seen as a visionary project to escape from a dystopian future. Instead, today the concept has sunk in: the question is no longer “if”, but rather “how” and “when” policy makers and influencers will accept it as a legitimate and desirable goal for our society[16]. Zero Waste Europe connects and supports a network of 33 local and national NGOs from all around Europe sharing common values and objectives and working together for a zero waste future. We invite the reader to examine the example of the German city of Kiel in the article hereby quoted: “What to do with the garbage?”[17]

2.     Local job creation in the framework of circular economy development

Waste collection and waste processing creates new jobs, at all levels. separate waste collection at home is done by people from the region; waste container parks are run by local people; waste processing centres must be constantly fed by waste from a particular region. After all, transport takes place along the road or - preferably - over waterways, and can therefore not exceed the day’s journey. The collection of separated waste at places in the city is also carried out by local trucks.

The recovery or recycling of materials takes place centrally, but still in a specific country or region. After all, it is an alternative to virgin materials that are mined in distant countries, often in unhygienic conditions, but especially with a lot of CO2 emissions because of the necessary -fossil- energy needed to extract them, but also because of the distant transport that goes with it. And then there are the start-ups that arise to process recycled materials or use them locally. They employ university graduates as well as specialized craftsmen as well as manual workers. We have already found dozens of examples of a drastic increase in regional and local employment resulting from the transition from linear to circular economy. As a result of this EPR principle, companies have started to think about the waste they produce and how they could reduce or reuse it. The easiest chunks of course came first: precious materials such as gold, silver, etc. that were used in electronic devices were soon mined in so-called "urban mining" sites[18]. The fact that in Brazil 98.7% of the 33 billion aluminium drinking cans produced in 2021 were returned and could be recycled[19] - aluminium is endlessly recyclable - is primarily due to the small reward of returning a drinking can, which resulted in the fact that thousands of people in the favelas had a certain income.

In Greece, the American company Envipco in a joint  venture with the Greek Texan started the production of public devices for returning plastic, glass and metal packaging, launched their portable automated machine that runs exclusively on a photovoltaic system. A pilot project with one hundred reverse vending machines in five municipalities, picked for low recycling rates, was launched by the Greek government. The spending package is intended to raise employment by 40,000.[20]

An hour by train from Stockholm, the former industrial Swedish town of Eskilstuna -100,000 inhabitants- has an unemployment rate that is twice the national average. In order to stop this seemingly inexorable decline the town adopted a radical strategy: to make Eskilstuna the greenest place on the planet, thanks in particular to recycling. Since 2012, Eskilstuna has rolled out a plethora of green initiatives. It has helped to revitalize Eskilstuna and created 50 jobs, raised awareness of the circular economy for a whole population and made a town hit by unemployment a model for the nation and even the world.[21]

In the UK, the start-up Clean Planet Energy was founded and registered in London in 2018. It turns non-recyclable waste plastic into ultra-clean fuels & circular naphtha, with proprietary ecoPlants and sustainable technologies. The company announced in 2022 to launch ten advanced factories in England, where plastic waste that is difficult to recycle will be converted into clean diesel for trucks and machines and circular naphtha to make new plastic. In this way it plans to convert and reuse some 1 million tons of non-recyclable plastic waste in the long term. The company announced also a partnership with BP to market the circular products of its ecoPlants. The new factories will create 750 new jobs [22].   

In Spain, a new approach to the circular economy, focusing on the calculation of the carbon footprint, on investigating how to convert waste into new resources, eco-design products, and on adapting a business model to European environmental policies or know about climate governance. already brings together 2% of jobs. [23] In the next decade, according to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge[24], another 70,000 new jobs will be created.

3.     Elements of urbanisation

Particularly in the construction sector, a great deal of CO2 emissions can still be reduced. In addition, a lot of building material can be reused.  Legislation often plays an important role in developing a circular economy. For example, circular construction is hindered by the fact that steel and traditional concrete are still exempt from CO2 emissions assessment. This entails a skew in pricing that often prevents -public- developers from favouring innovative techniques such as green concrete and wood construction, because they are more expensive as a result.[25] On the other hand, regional and local government can play a very important role, both by encouraging and by implementing intensive regulations at the local level.

In many countries, spatial planning is a combined responsibility of the national governments - which lay down the rules - and of the local authorities - which translate the rules to the local situation. Spatial planning means determining for the entire area of a municipality where residential houses can be built, where industrial zones can be planned, where agriculture can be done - including the boundaries where meadows and fields can be laid out -, where parks and nature areas can be built, where recreation may be done and as much as sports activities.

But there can be a lot of lobby pressure from certain professions, such as project developers who would willingly build all open spaces. Or from nature conservationists who prefer to keep the number of meadows and fields as small as possible. Or from multi-nationals who would like to make their companies as large as possible and therefore need to have a lot of industrial area, preferably as easily accessible as possible by potential employees. The example of the arable zone of the city of Barcelona[26] near the airport where vegetables are grown for the metropolis of Barcelona is striking. This is a large contiguous area that the city must fight to preserve against the lobbying practices of both developers and multinationals.

Spatial planning is then translated at the local level into the granting of building permits and settlement permits for industrial companies and agricultural exploitations. In an ecological policy, this translates into obliging new homes to be thoroughly insulated in order to consume as little energy as possible, imposing cisterns to flush toilets with rainwater, installing sewers to evacuate dirty water and sewages to waterways for the evacuation of rainwater from the roofs, and of course for connecting homes and businesses to the electricity grid, preferably powered by renewable energy. Local authorities also unite to engage in water management. This means that polluted water must be purified before it is returned to waterways; that historical groundwater pollution must be remediated - preferably by the polluter - and that new groundwater pollution should be avoided as much as possible and certainly should be detected and contained quickly.

In the framework of introducing a circular economy in cities, the latter started to redesign its urban environment in such a way that the citizen, and not the vehicle, becomes -again- the centre of everything. That makes them redesign the circulation issue, parking lots, community mobility, electrification… The urban centres of many large cities are being redesigned to accommodate this new mobility. In Spain, Barcelona seeks a reorganization of the city by limiting motorised traffic and giving space to pedestrians and bike lanes, which have increased by 72% since 2015. Other cities such as Madrid restrict access to the most polluting vehicles. The same trend is followed in capitals such as London, Berlin, Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen despite the fact that, in many of them, this type of new mobility requires a redesign of cities and is not always entirely feasible, since many times the city is built in a very specific way through which there are limitations. These limitations are though minor when it comes to expanding a city. [27]

In countries such as the Mediterranean countries Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece that limit separate waste collection to the installation of coloured containers[28] in various parts of the city - possibly with an incentive to encourage depositing by citizens - spatial planning is also passed on. necessary to reach everyone as well as to avoid stench and other inconveniences.

And then there is of course the whole problem of mobility in the city, led by the the car as king of the road, which -because of the CO2 emissions of petrol or diesel- is one of the main drivers of climate change. With trucks delivering downtown as even bigger culprits. Cities and municipalities are also working on this. Some of them united in the zero-carbon cities and municipalities.

However, where regions, provinces, cities and municipalities can play the most decisive role is in imposing ecological standards in the construction of government buildings[29], hospitals, schools, homes for the elderly, etc. We find numerous examples in various Northern European countries that encourage private construction companies to innovate in their materials and construction techniques. This concerns both the production of concrete without cement[30], the use of recycled concrete[31], the rethinking of the architectural output so that all parts of a building can be demolished and reused, etc. We quote various articles from our blog below for inspiration. We would like to point out to the realisation of ‘t Centrum in the Belgian municipality of Westerlo, ordered by Kamp C, an autonomous public company of the province of Antwerp. With ’t Centrum, Kamp C wants to show how circular construction is possible and to raise awareness and inspire the construction sector and private individuals to embrace the sustainable construction principle. The result is a three-storey building with a total surface area of ​​2,400 m² that consists of reusable and ecological materials, with or without a circular financing and business model, which focuses on sustainable energy supply and water management and which is easily expandable, demountable. and rebuildable, thanks to a design according to a modular and standardised grid of 5 by 5 meters.[32]

The Dutch urban planning multinational Arcadis has added a few years ago a study to this: the Healthy City Index[33], pleading for a balanced and comprehensive approach of the several aspects of urban development: built environment, mobility, outdoor space, environment and community. They compared 25 towns in the Netherlands around these aspects. Their conclusion was that many cities that score well on one theme, such as mobility, but significantly less on others. The top 3 of the Healthy City Index 2022, Groningen, Emmen  and Apeldoorn  (arrived at numbers 1, 2 and 3 respectively) do not excel on one point, but score well on all issues. Arcadis’ advice was clearly that cities should take an integrated approach towards the health issue. Those who score the best in all matters are the ones that involved residents in greening the city and that had developed a network of companies and organisations around the various themes mentioned hereabove with which they can give substance to these.[34]

4.     Education & creating awareness

One of the important roles that a local government has to fulfil is to make the population aware of the use of separate waste collection in a systematic way. She can, of course, do this by instituting fines. But it is easier and longer lasting by convincing families and companies that this is a TINA practice: There Is No Alternative. The greatest effect is achieved by involving the youth. These go to school and can learn the right reasons, techniques and methods. What they then bring home and pass on to their parents. Who in turn, if they are good parents, will put their child's rules into practice.[35] Municipalities are assisted in this by the non-profit organizations set up by the industry to recover packaging and devices at the end of life. These have been active in many European countries for twenty years and have already taken very good initiatives.

Fost Plus, the organisation of the companies that produce and sell packaging made in Corona times more than 2,000 CO2 meters available to classes that would sign up for an educational workshop. Sufficient ventilation of crowded areas such as classrooms was then a necessary measure in the fight against COVID-19 and other viruses. The CO2 meter from VITO, Connectum and Fost Plus made pupils and teachers aware of the importance of good air quality in an accessible way. If the house turns green, then the ventilation is OK. With orange or red it is time to open the window and ventilate the classroom extra.[36] La Música del Reciclaje on the other hand, is an orchestra-social project promoted by Ecoembes[37], the Spanish non-profit organisation of the distribution companies, and armed with instruments made with waste: cans, cutlery, boxes, bricks … The interpreters are young people between seven and 15 years old, at risk of social exclusion, from day centres and schools in the Community of Madrid.[38]

Primary and secondary schools play a vital role in instilling values such as sustainability, recycling, respect for nature and the planet. Should specific time be spent on these subjects, should it be a standalone course? We think these are cross-disciplinary topics that can be covered in the classes of geography, physics, citizenship, religion and languages classes. The result is not long in coming, as the article below shows, where a child of 6 years old already knows in which of the little coloured containers in the house the different waste fractions belong and also influences her parents in the municipality of Casar de Cáceres, Spain.[39]

In addition to educating young people at primary and secondary school towards a green and circular world, there is a second momentum that is increasingly being seized: the colleges and universities. Universities and colleges have first and foremost a role model to fulfil: they must demonstrate that things can be done differently, in the construction of their buildings and the heating thereof, in the meals they serve, in the student housing they offer, in the way to encourage or discourage students' means of transportation. The universities of the German federal state of Brandenburg are a good example of this. Solar systems, environmental management, special degree programs, changed menu in the cafeteria: for universities and technical universities in Brandenburg, climate neutrality and sustainability in the course of study are very topical. Their story can be read in the following article[40]. There are universities that go even further: in addition to the traditional topics taught at faculties, they stimulate multilateral thinking about ecological and circular living and invite students to set goals for themselves in that regard. The University communities of Liège (ULg) and Brussels (ULB) are gradually mobilizing around climate issues.[41]

The return of used packaging and objects can also be encouraged, through small rewards or by levying a deposit which is then refunded upon return. This system works smoothly, especially with materials that are easily recyclable and that the industry is therefore happy to take back. Glass bottles are often provided with a deposit and are thus returned either by the buyer himself or by people with a very low income (such as homeless) who consider the search for bottles with a deposit as a source of income. The role of cities and municipalities then consists in distributing the recovery devices as much as possible on their territory. These are often found at department stores.

In Sant Boi de Llobregat, a town located in the Barcelona province, with 84,500 inhabitants the Spanish non-profit organisation of the distribution companies Ecoembes have since shortly yellow containers capable of recognizing the waste that should be thrown in them and warning the citizen if he/she/they is doing it incorrectly. What differentiates them from the rest of the containers is an electronic ring located in their opening that collects the information of the products through their bar codes. These smart containers will be part of the container network of the Reciclos project, the first Return and Reward System (SDR)[42] promoted in 2019 in Spain by the already indicated Ecoembes that rewards residents who recycle with virtual points (baptized as recycles), exchangeable for shares in product giveaways, public transport vouchers or donations to collaborative environmental and social projects.[43]

Avfall Sverige is the Swedish Waste Management recycling association. In 2021, just over 4.9 million tonnes of waste was treated by Sweden’s municipalities. An increase of 2.5 percent compared to 2020. But it is a recurring trend that must be broken. Their program is clear: even if Sweden’s economic growth continues to grow, they do not want the amount of waste to keep up, but they want there to be more recycling and a more circular economy. And that even if Sweden is at the forefront in Europe in sending waste to landfills because in Sweden’s municipalities, only 0.9 percent of the rubbish is dumped.[44]

5.     Urban transportation management

The world’s population keeps growing and urbanisation is on the rise. More and more people and goods are on the move — to the point where road transport is responsible for 20% of CO2 emissions globally. We can’t fight climate change without addressing road transportation. While electric cars will be a big part of the solution, simply building better private cars is not enough. Electric cars don’t solve the problem of congestion, and we’re reaching bottlenecks in charging them. So we need to provide other tools to create better living environments. The number of personal cars in city traffic can’t keep growing. A solution can be to reduce the number of trips you use your personal car for, contributing to protecting the environment.

When we talk about public transportation, we primarily think of the combination train-tram/metro/trolley-bus. The intention is to ban the number of cars from city and municipal centres and thus to avoid pollution caused by CO2 emissions. But also by giving the centres back to pedestrians and bicycles and not cluttering up with cars in parking lots. Cities and municipalities with a commercial function have an important contribution to make in this regard: what energy do we use to power public transport? what do we do with the first or last kilometre that the citizen has to travel to reach a stop? What do we do if he has a full shopping bag or more? What do we do with all those cars that people now own in the city?

Solutions already exist. Preferably in a partnership between private and public: we can't spend taxes on everything after all. Models should therefore be attractive enough for investors to get in on them. As far as the first or last kilometre is concerned, there are already examples in dozens of cities: rental cars available at specific parking lots or car sharing apps[45], rental bicycles, scooters. But the regulations must also ensure that the cars, bicycles or scooters are also neatly parked and not left carelessly in the city and even in the suburbs. And that pedestrians or cyclists do not risk their lives because of kamikazes on bicycle lanes or pedestrian paths.

The next step is public transport. Although trolleybuses have largely disappeared in Western Europe, due to the overhead wiring that marred the cityscape, we still find them in Eastern Europe and invite city authorities to cherish them. The EU has invested in new trolleys in Chisinau, Moldova, for example. Since charging electric buses often takes a long time and is not always safe[46], they often look at hydrogen-powered city buses. And certainly if green hydrogen can be started nearby, such as in the South-Romanian city of Ramnicu Vălcea, that is testing the Polish Solaris Urbino hydrogen buses together with eleven other cities  in Romania [47]. Bus manufacturers are also slowly starting to produce and offer sustainable alternatives. Their main concern, however, is price: it should not be excessively more expensive compared to diesel buses.

And then there's an original approach that comes from Estonia. There, self-driving hydrogen-powered shuttles are being developed that can be called up at stops. The vehicle’s main goal is enhancing last-mile transportation by getting people to their end destination as conveniently as their own car would. With sights set on a more sustainable future through autonomous last-mile transport, the Estonian company Auve Tech is building a solid case to demonstrate that their vehicles are safer and more efficient than a human driver.[48]

But the management of transport in a city or municipality does not stop there. There is still the problem of the many trucks that have to deliver to the shops on a commercial street in the city centre. Or garbage lorries that have to collect household waste door-to-door. From 2025 on, the first thirty large cities in the Netherlands must have emission-free zones. This creates a number of challenges for carriers who frequently visit these zones. This also applies to waste collectors and recycling companies. But with the development of new collection models and digital technologies, the clean city centre is getting closer and closer. One of the solutions that the two largest waste companies PreZero Netherlands and Renewi have introduced is the Green Collective[49] initiative. Various waste collectors drive joint vehicles to collect industrial waste in municipalities. Instead of several competitors driving into a city with their own car to collect residual waste from different customers, the Collective now sends one joint car to all its customers. PreZero also already works with containers equipped with sensors[50] in some places. These sensors send a signal when the bin is almost full, letting the company know that it can pick up the container. This prevents vehicles from turning out to pick up a half-empty container, which can happen unforeseen during holiday periods. In Arnhem, a city in the east of the country, the first results are positive and the number of kilometres driven has been reduced considerably. [51]

6.      Stimulation of alternatives and eco-tourism

In today's economies, tourism is often used as a means to provide areas with few structural employment opportunities with the tools for economic development. This is especially when the areas in question are attractive because of their natural resources or because of their cultural and/or historical background. To get the best results from the tourism efforts in a city or region, all parties involved must work together, managed by the local government. The task is to make choices in which tourist category the city or region wishes to differentiate itself from the others. If a regional or local government coordinates initiatives with determination and competence, a complete region can enjoy a much higher added value, which by far exceeds the tourist aspect. The regional governments should keep the larger picture of regional development in perspective.

Areas and cities traditionally qualify for the tourism industry if they can fulfil at least one of three tourist interests: landscape, human interest or settlements. When more than one element is present in a region, its tourism potential increases. But that does not make the tourism industry ecological, far from it. Respect for the people who live there and their living conditions, respect for nature and wildlife -with the golden rule: don't leave (plastic) waste behind!- , respect for local culture and history are rules that local communities and their local authorities consider increasingly important. Tourism ecology is therefore located in the sections of various sub-aspects of tourism: cultural and heritage tourism and nature-based tourism can have rural heritage as a common feature. Nature-based tourism and Ecotourism can have natural heritage as common output. Ecotourism and cultural and heritage tourism may have wildlife as a common point of interest. Moreover, tourism ecology could be a toolkit of the regional development by building upon natural and economical-social-cultural resources. Our article quoted below describes several trends in the local tourism industry that generate a lot of jobs. [52]

Often local or regional authorities invest in tourist assets when the context is already attractive. Typical examples are the cycle paths in the green Belgian province of Limburg, where artificial attractions have been built such as the cycle path between water[53] and the cycle path above the trees[54].

It is in this context that the European From Farm to Fork strategy[55] has been accepted and applied with open arms by cities and municipalities that have already taken eco-tourism initiatives and are now encouraging their farmers and eateries to focus on healthy food implying the traceability of all ingredients. Also the Short food supply chain strategy[56] that brings the producer closer to the consumer via apps, farm shops and physical markets and thus tries to eliminate intermediaries who impose prices and -wrongly- run with the largest part of the profit. Initiatives in this regard are often effectively supported by both regional governments (region, province) and municipal governments.

Sometimes a not so attractive city starts to play with new achievements. For example, the Swedish industrial city of Eskilstuna has succeeded in creating shopping tourism. Eskilstuna is the first city in the world to have hosted a shopping mall entirely dedicated to recycling and recovery. Managed by a municipal company ReTuna Återbruksgalleria, it was opened in 2015, a 20-minute drive from the city centre, in a warehouse built in the middle of a field. The mall has dozens of eco-friendly shops - offering furniture, toys, clothes, electronics, etc. – as well as a café, restaurant, and conference centre… Despite some initial resistance to change, both the launch of the recycling system and ReTuna have been a success. [57]

O, dear reader of a municipality: this is an ingenious one. The renovation of the Main Square in the Belgian city of Tienen created the opportunity to install a public toilet. The toilet is self-cleaning, vandal-resistant, safe and accessible for the disabled. An ingenious system with floor, toilet and washbasin cleaning ensures that the room remains clean. When entering the toilet, the toilet bowl is flushed, so that material adheres less to the toilet bowl. In the event of a pipe blockage, a sensor immediately reports, so that the necessary measures can be taken immediately. After a maximum operating time of 15 minutes, the doors will open automatically and an alarm will sound. This is to prevent people who would become unwell remain locked in the toilet. Weight sensors also prevent small children from locking themselves up. With the automatic toilet paper dispenser there is no waste and the power and water consumption is also energy efficient. A visit to the toilet is possible with an amount of 0.50 euros to be paid with the bank card.[58]

 7.     Contribute to a local embedding of sustainable energy

Renewable energy is a phenomenon with many characteristics. Offshore wind farms are a national and international matter because they depend on the geographical location of countries. Denmark is such a privileged country in terms of location, and can share the production of that type of energy with other countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium[59].With its enormous green energy potential, the North Sea has the capacity to become a regional green energy engine. By harnessing its winds, the neighbouring European countries can power millions of households with green electricity.

However, bringing this electricity generated at sea ashore does not run smoothly either: various municipalities refuse to allow the high-voltage lines to run across their territory, stimulated by pressure groups[60]. Onshore wind energy extraction is clearly more successful and more acceptable to citizens when it is organized through cooperatives in which citizens can participate and also reap the benefits. The lack of storage options for generated electricity is another negative point here: the electricity generated by local wind turbines must be offered on the grid in order to be profitable.

In the Netherlands there is great local willingness to implement the national Climate Agreement. So big, in fact, that regional administrators want to place more on-shore wind turbines and solar panels together than required. Instead of the intended 35 terawatt-hours of green electricity in 2030, municipalities, provinces and water boards together promise 50 terawatt-hours. That is a boost for the Climate Agreement, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL). The switch to a low-emission Netherlands in 2050 is at an early stage. The enthusiasm in the regions offers perspective, but citizens still need to get excited [61]

In France President Macron wants to triple the number of wind turbines in France. Many local residents protest. Seventy percent of all new wind turbine projects are challenged. The arguments range from landscape protection over public health to cow deaths. According to the Fédération Environnement Durable[62], which groups the protest groups, 95 percent of those complaints are rejected. The exception to this rule is when mayors themselves take the initiative to set up windmills through a citizen cooperative, such as in the Les Ailes des Crêtes cooperative, in the Hauts de France region. The idea for 'Les Ailes des Crêtes' arose in 2003, when a group of municipalities next to Charleville-Mézières devised a local climate plan. At the time, they were the avant-garde of the 'transition écologique', a term that has not been removed from French current affairs since the yellow vests. For three years, the municipalities employed someone whose sole task was to inform citizens about the windmills and raise funds. It became a success. The shares flew out the door. You could buy a piece of windmill for a hundred euros. Because of this civic project of the capital is in the hands of individuals and local businesses and all the revenues go back to them. By playing master builders themselves, they also ensure that they are not overrun by gigantic windmills and that heir landscape is preserved.[63]

In Southern Europe, the number of sunny days gives solar energy a privileged position. Yet investing in solar energy is not systematically addressed at national level and many governments leave it to regional and local authorities. For example, in Bosnia-Herzegovina there is a city of sun, Trebinje[64], and one was recently added in Serbia Pirot [65]. This last city was the first in Serbia to establish a fund for co-financing energy efficiency measures in the residential sector.

There are many European countries that are trying to achieve their green energy goals with hydropower. Yet there is a lot of criticism from environmental organizations such as WWF that claims that there are currently 21,387 existing hydropower plants in Europe, with 8,785 additional plants planned or under construction. Almost half of these are in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, where many plants are financed by the EU. Over 90% of all the existing and planned hydropower plants in Europe are small, meaning that each plant generates at most 10 MW of electricity.[66] Europe tackled this criticism by helping hydropower capacity to raise by 3 GW across the European region in 2020, made up mainly by new hydropower plants commissioned in Türkiye and other additions in Norway and Albania. Generation from hydropower was almost 4 per cent higher in 2020 than the previous year, owing largely to increased production in the Nordics and Iberia.[67] Hydropower contributed a 13 per cent share of total electricity generated, underlining its major role in the EU’s energy mix. It is clear that hydropower plants are no big deal for local governments, although they are physically burdened with them and although this does indeed have a significant impact on the local fauna and flora, as well as on local employment - in the good sense -. Hydropower plants also bring artificial lakes, which in turn can contribute to tourism.

Then there are the biomass power stations that are nowadays often installed on a small scale. Biomass is plant-based material used as fuel to produce heat or electricity. Examples are wood and wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms and households. Since biomass can be used as a fuel directly (e.g. wood logs), some people use the words biomass and biofuel interchangeably. Biomass has also sparked controversy, with the choice of large-scale biomass plants being reversed after intense protests from environmental associations. In the Netherlands a quite study found that energy from biomass harms old-growth forest and animal life. The result was that environmental organisations collectively walk away from national consultations about energy from biomass.[68] It is clear that the wood that is burned in the biomass plant must be genuine waste wood. As a result, it is necessary to focus on small power stations, which mainly benefit local companies. In this way a biomass power plant has been opened in Ghent port. The plant will burn waste wood to generate electricity for local industry. The heat and steam released during combustion are also reused. All of these go to chemical companies in the area, which therefore . require much less natural gas.[69]

8.     Stimulating Industrial Symbiosis

Unsustainable resource use depletes the supply of resources to a critical level, degrades the environment and contributes to climate change. Therefore, reductions in material consumption and an increase in material productivity are paramount. New policies, innovative partnerships and cost-effective solutions are all tools that can be used to heighten resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production. For companies, industrial symbiosis has been proposed as a method they can adopt to assist them in preserving scarce resources, make their resource use more efficient and sustainable, and even as a way to increase their competitiveness. Industrial symbioses are commercial collaborations where companies exchange residual and surplus products such as water, energy, or materials. Normally, the companies are located in close proximity to each other, as long distances can impede the exchange of resources, or remove the business and environmental case for doing so. For companies, it can be advantageous to participate in the symbiosis, as it helps them achieve their environmental objectives (such as reduce CO2 emissions), reduce costs and find a market for their residual and/or by-products. But even if they are organised in sector federations, companies rarely organise this type of collaboration on their own. In most cases it is in collaboration with regional and local authorities who take the lead and offer the facilities, themselves often stimulated by universities or other knowledge centres.

Located at the top of Denmark, Northern Jutland is the old industrial heartland of Denmark. A thriving entrepreneurial culture and business community remains to this day, where the focus is on transforming the region into an incubator for sustainable solutions. A strong network of actors within companies, ports, the university, municipalities, and utilities, support corporate collaborations to manage resources and increase competitiveness. It was in this context that the ‘Sustainable Synergies. Facilitated Industrial Symbiosis for Energy and Resource Efficiency” project[70] was created. Initiated in January 2017, and running until June 2020, Sustainable Synergies was designed to improve the competitiveness of SMEs in Aalborg East by developing green business models that would improve energy efficiency and resource efficiency through a facilitated industrial symbiosis. In a collaboration between the Port of Aalborg, the University of Aalborg, and the energy cluster House of Energy, approximately ten attractive symbioses were developed – involving more than 25 companies. In addition, the local business network and the public energy supply organisation were engaged in the project[71].

The same happened in the Dutch province of Zeeland where Zeeland Seaports has found the way to a unique and innovative solution with Biopark Terneuzen. Biopark Terneuzen represents a new way of thinking in the creation of agro-industrial sustainability. Under the name 'Smart Link', Biopark Terneuzen promotes and facilitates the exploitation of synergies between companies located in the same geographical region. It helps to maximize the potential of the exchange and use of each other's by-products and waste products from the companies. These then become raw materials or additions to the energy supplies of our own production process. A part of some large corporatioons, Biopark Terneuzen is also partnering with the province of Zeeland and the city of Terneuzen as well as several public universities.

Industrial symbiosis can also provide solid foundations for a circular economy at a local level on a small scale. In France, this is stimulated by regions and arrondissements. The national environmental agency Ademe[72] has launched a call for projects to convert companies to the functional and cooperation economy (EFC). Chosen to carry out this experiment, Angers Technopole has joined forces with the company TGS France. As part of its ecological transition strategy and the Waste and Circular Economy Objectives Contract (CODEC) signed with ADEME in 2019, Angers Loire Métropole, a public-private expert in innovation in the district of Maine-et-Loire  in conjunction with Angers Loire Développement, has commissioned Angers Technopole to launch, with its partners, the first acceleration program intended for circular economy project leaders. The CODEC acceleration program proposes to accelerate 6 projects around the themes of 3 pillars of the circular economy, real levers of innovation and transformation of society. [73]

In the Netherlands, the symbiosis projects are mostly private but acknowledged by the locval public authorities. The company De Clique was established in Utrecht, in 2019, by experienced entrepreneurs Anja Cheriakova (BinBang) and Bas van Abel (Fairphone) to combat wasting valuable urban resources. Many current types of organic resources, such as coffee grounds, cuttings, and food leftovers, are thrown out with the non-recyclable waste. De Clique has developed a resource service for the separation and CO2-neutral collection of these organic resources from companies, supermarkets, and hospitality facilities. The initiative was launched in Utrecht and, today, there are over 100 clients, including shopping centre Hoog Catharijne and Utrecht University, where organic resources are collected. Apart from its own facilities, De Clique cooperates with a network of partners that handle the processing and production of products like soap, tea, beer, bread, oyster mushroom products, animal feed, and compost. Several of the products are sold back to the clients, thus closing the cycle.[74]

The Amsterdam-based success start-up Seenons developed a platform for finely meshed waste flows. This allows them to 'match' companies that have to get rid of their waste with parties that want to do something with this waste. The parties themselves choose the location and time. A kind of Tinder, but for waste. A collection of logistics partners then transports the waste from a to b. For example, Seenons already collects orange peels and coffee grounds from the Amsterdam catering industry and delivers the load to liqueur maker Dik & Schil. But coffee grounds can also be used very well to make soap or to use as a breeding ground for oyster mushrooms.[75] The company is pretty much appreciated by the town of Amsterdam because ideally, they use reverselogistics. If the food or package deliverer is already in the city centre and he has an empty van, Seenons uses that space to collect a residual flow somewhere. They use electric cargo bikes for small volumes and electric river boats or a press truck for large volumes. Seenons now has plans to expand to the rest of Europe. The platform raised another 6 million euros in an investment round in the beginning of October 2021, bringing the foreign plans and the goals of zero-waste one step closer to become reality.

9.     Closing remarks

We have tried to provide an overview of the elements in the ecological transition in which a regional or local government can play a role or is even supposed to play a role. We see a special task for local authorities. They organise (separate) waste collection but need a market in order to be effective. Local authorities create, stimulate and maintain shopping space and look for partners in civil society. Sometimes this can be a closed marketspace for local farmers. In the framework of optimising the mobility in urban municipalities local authorities are meant to organise share economy and even organise part of the reverse logistics.  Local authorities inspire and bring partners together (businesses, universities & technical schools, start-ups) in order to bring knowhow and entrepreneurs together in a flow of ecological and circular initiatives. They do not necessarily have to be unique or innovative in the world: inspiration can be found everywhere and often ecological innovators have an open mind for collaboration.

Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of the Regions, www.ear-aer.eu

[1] Alec Tyson, Brian Kennedy & Cary Funk: Gen Z, Millennials Stand Out for Climate Change Activism, Social Media Engagement With Issue, in: Pew Research Centre, 26-05-2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/05/26/gen-z-millennials-stand-out-for-climate-change-activism-social-media-engagement-with-issue/ retrieved 10-11-2022

[2] European commission: A European Green Deal. Striving to be the first climate-neutral continent. https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en;  retrieved 10-11-2022

[3] Sean Michaels, How Beethoven’s Für Elise helps Taiwan to recycle, in:  The Globe and Mail, 5-12-2016; https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/how-beethovens-fur-elise-helps-taiwanrecycle/article33207068/ retrieved 10-11-2022

[4] Extended Producer Responsibility in: Europen-Packaging.eu. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy tool that extends the producer’s financial and/or operational responsibility for a product to include the management of the post-consumer stage, in order to help meet national or EU recycling and recovery targets. EPR policies thus generally shift the waste management cost or physical collection partially or fully from local governments to producers. https://www.europen-packaging.eu/policy-area/extended-producer-responsibility/; Retrieved 10-11-2022 retrieved 10-11-2022

[5] Balkan Green Energy News, Municipal waste – Serbia’s untapped resource, in: Balkan Green Energy News, 2-4-2022; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/681073627346665472/municipal-waste-serbias-untapped-resource our translation

[6] OECD, "Waste: Municipal waste", OECD Environment Statistics (database), https://doi.org/10.1787/data-00601-en, retrieved 10-11-2022

[7] European Environment Agency, Municipal waste treatment in the Western Balkan countries, 2020 ;https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/municipal-waste-treatment-in-the  retrieved 10-121-2022

[8] Balkan Green Energy News, Municipal waste – Serbia’s untapped resource, in: Balkan Green Energy News, 2-4-2022; https://balkangreenenergynews.com/municipal-waste-serbias-untapped-resource/?fbclid=IwAR0TuGjrK42khmb1MWpglJ9vWXP0eFibglfQ2wIR3WG11pXqA-VX-IzyarE rfetrieved 10-11-2022

[9] Global Waste Index 2022 released, in: Recycling Magazine, 17.03.2022, https://www.recycling-magazine.com/2022/03/17/global-waste-index-2022-released/#:~:text=Illegal%20waste%20disposal%20is%20booming%20in%20Turkey&text=Today%2C%20according%20to%20official%20figures,cannot%20be%20offset%20against%20this. Retrieved 10-11-2022

[10] Mihajlo Vujasin: Zagreb to roll out municipal waste model that motivates citizens to sort waste, in: Balkan Green Energy News, 25-1-2022 https://balkangreenenergynews.com/zagreb-to-roll-out-municipal-waste-model-that-motivates-citizens-to-sort-waste/ retrieved 10-11-2022

[11] Alessio Gemma : Rifiuti, via alla differenziata a Napoli est Obiettivo: passare al più 30% in otto mesi, in: La Reppublica, 8-4-2022 ; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/684399278825865216/separate-waste-collection-started-up-in-east our translation

[12] POLYGREEN Limited was established in 2018 in Cyprus and operates as a network of companies, offering integrated and innovative circular economy solutions worldwide. Thriving towards a viable cosmos where nothing is in excess and everything is useful, Polygreen provides pioneering circular economy solutions that improve our life quality. In addition, through purpose-built education, Polygreen aims to shape humans environmental consciousness. https://www.polygreen.eco/about-us/ retrieved 10-11-222

[13] Newsroom, Greek island reaches record recycling rate, in: eKathimerini.com, 11-05-2022, https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1184106/greek-island-reaches-record-recycling-rate/ retrieved 10-11-2022

[14] Winston Choi-Schagrin, Maine Will Make Companies Pay for Recycling. Here’s How It Works. in New York Times, 21-7-2021 https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/657570488283021312/maine-will-make-companies-pay-for-recycling

[15] This organisation connects and supports a network of 32 local and national NGOs from all around Europe sharing common values and objectives and working together for a zero waste future. The member organisations promote zero waste in line with the zero waste hierarchy, manage the network of zero waste municipalities, and engage with decision-makers and companies. 400 cities across Europe have joined forces for a waste-free future. The Zero Waste Cities programme works with Zero Waste Europe members to help guide and support European municipalities in the implementation of effective local zero waste strategies. https://zerowasteeurope.eu/the-movement/our-network/ retrieved 10-11-2022

[16] Zero waste as a legitimate and desirable future for all. About zero waste;  https://zerowasteeurope.eu/about/about-zero-waste/  retrieved 10-11-2022

[17]Carina Seeburg, Wohin mit dem Müll?, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23-12-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/671806064425140224/what-to-do-with-the-garbage our translation

[18] Stijn Decock, Umicore wordt hofleverancier voor elektrische Mercedes en Peugeot, in: De Standaard, 27-04-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/682712149928394752/umicore-becomes-major-supplier-for-electric our translation

[19] Petro Rafael Vilela, Brasil registra reciclagem de 98,7% de latas de alumínio em 2021, Agencia Brazil, 13-04-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/681593695268732928/brazil-records-987-recycling-of-aluminium-cans our translation

[20] Igor Todorović, Greece presents mobile recycling kiosk powered by solar panels, in: Balkan Green Energy News, 10-06-2020, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/683038655727681536/greece-presents-mobile-recycling-kiosk-powered-by

[21] Veolia, This Swedish town has its sights set on being the greenest in the world!, in: #LivingCircular, 12-03-2020; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/666040776751497216/this-swedish-town-has-its-sights-set-on-being-the/amp

[22] André Oerlemans, Engelse plastic recyclingfabrieken maken schone diesel en nafta, in: Change Inc, 17-11-2022, https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/701557964155305984/english-plastic-recycling-plants-make-clean-diesel, our translation

[23] Jime Ripa, Nuevos talentos de la economía circular, in: El País, 7-11-2022, https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/new-talents-for-the-circular-economy/fkizn8row0yd our translation.

[24] Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico; https://www.miteco.gob.es/en/ministerio/funciones-estructura/ retrieved 28-11-2022

[25] Willemijn van Benthem, “Duurzaamheid wordt een discipline, in alle betekenissen van het woord”, in: Change Inc, 10-11-2021 https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/667949635074146304/sustainability-becomes-a-discipline-in-every/amp  our translation

[26] Ine Renson, Barcelona heeft zijn eigen groentetuin, in de schaduw van de luchthaven (Barcelona has its own vegetable garden, in the shadow of the airport), DS, 23-10-2021 https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/666315656278556672/barcelona-has-its-own-vegetable-garden-in-the  our translation

[27] Nahiara S. Alonso: La economía circular llega a la ciudad. Te contamos dónde se encuentra, in: El País, 24-6-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/688767376750231552/the-circular-economy-reaches-the-city  our translation

[28] Called “puntos limpios” (clean spots) in Spain.

[29] Antonin Marsac, Du "béton circulaire" pour réduire les émissions de CO2 du secteur de la construction (et oublier un fiasco du passé à Bruxelles), in La Libre Belgique, 12-06-21 ; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/653796957946544128/circular-concrete-to-reduce-co2-emissions-in-the  our translation

[30] Rianne Lachmeijer, Duurzame stap bij zuiderburen: België krijgt cementloze rioleringsbuizen, in: Change Inc, 03-03-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/678237819155677184/belgium-gets-cement-free-sewage-pipes

[31] Jakob Wetzel, Ökologisches Bauen aus altem Beton ,in: Südeutsche Zeitung, 16-7-2021;  https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/657126657158742016/ecological-building-from-old-concrete; Redactie, Nieuwste verkaveling WVI experimenteert met ecologisch beton, in: De Vlaamse Ondernemer, 15-04-2022; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/681986490715242496/in-its-newest-allotment-wvi-experiments-with  our translation

[32] Wouter Polspoel, Kamp C opent nieuw circulair kantoorgebouw officieel, in: Circubuild, 16-5-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/684600585815818240/camp-c-officially-opens-new-circular-office

[33] https://connect.arcadis.com/gezonde-stad-index-2022  our translation

[34] Hidde Middelweerd, En de gezondste stad van Nederland is…?, in Change Inc, 22-11-2022, https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/and-the-healthiest-town-in-the-netherlands-is/puyy32kmd6t5

[35] Julia Nunez, ¿Eres un fan del reciclaje o una de esas personas que aún cree que toda la basura va al mismo lado?,in: El País 22-4-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/675161180534390784/are-you-a-fan-of-recycling-or-one-of-those-people  our translation

[36] Bart De bruyn, Gerecycleerde botervlootjes waken over luchtkwaliteit in klassen, in: Made in Antwerpen, 10-01-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/673073723332526080/recycled-buttercups-monitor-air-quality-in   our translation

[37] Ecoembes is the non-profit organization that takes care of the environment through recycling and eco-design of light domestic packaging in Spain. https://www.ecoembes.com/es retrieved 10-11-2022

[38] Q.O./J.R.: La orquesta que transforma basura en sonido,in: El País. 25-11-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/670483604574437376/the-orchestra-that-transforms-garbage-into-sound  our translation

[39] cf. note 30

[40] dpa: Hochschulen in Brandenburg: Klimabewusst und nachhaltig, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28/8/2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/661528198529597440/universities-and-technical-universities-in

[41] Valentine Van Vyve, Des challenges pour relever le défi climatique à l'université, in : La Libre Belgique, 18-10-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/666552521214607360/challenges-to-address-climate-change-at-university  our translation

[42] The Sistema de Devolución y Recompensa (SDR) (Return and Reward System) rewards citizens’ commitment to the environment through recycling, offering them sustainable or social incentives (“green” mobility, responsible consumption, donations to NGOs). https://www.ecoembes.com/es/ciudadanos/sobre-nosotros/proyectos-destacados/reciclos; retrieved10-11-2022

[43] JN : Un contenedor intelligente que te recompensa por reciclar, in El País, 28-10-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/667375319273062400/a-smart-container-that-rewards-you-for-recycling

[44] TT, Mer pengar ger mer sopor – "trend måste brytas", in : Aftonbladet 31-05-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/686483396969496576/more-money-results-in-more-garbage-trend-must   our translation

[45] Ingmar De Temmerman, Mechelen tilt deelmobiliteit op hoger niveau samen met Autodelen.net en Mpact, Made in Mechelen, 2-5-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/683255367993524224/mechelen-takes-shared-mobility-to-a-higher-level  our translation

[46] On April 4 2022, an RATP “Bluebus” caught fire for an undetermined reason while traveling on line 86, boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris. Ditto on September 30, 2021, in Stuttgart, Germany, where a “Bluebus” had also burned down. In this fire, 20 other buses from the depot went up in smoke. https://www.i-micronews.com/two-electric-buses-from-the-bollore-factories-in-quimper-catch-fire-in-the-middle-of-the-street-in-paris/#:~:text=On%20April%204%2C%20another%20RATP,depot%20went%20up%20in%20smoke.

[47] FuelCellWorks, Romania: Twelve cities Will Start Testing Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus from Solaris, in:FuelCellWorks, 29-10-2021, https://fuelcellsworks.com/news/romania-twelve-cities-will-start-testing-hydrogen-fuel-cell-bus-from-solaris/  retrieved 10-11-2022

[48] Maria Magdaleena Lamp: Estonian autonomous vehicle company Auve Tech is poised to usher in the post-car era, in: Invest in Estonia, 05-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/683671008660668416/estonian-autonomous-vehicle-company-auve-tech-is

[49] A cleaner and safer inner city through fewer transport movements. That’s what Renewi and PreZero want to achieve with Green Collective, a new joint venture that brings waste collectors together to jointly collect commercial waste in municipalities. Using shared trucks that drive along combined collection routes they contribute to a cleaner and safer city. This reduces the collection traffic in the inner cities of municipalities by as much as 50 percent. This also delivers a considerable CO2 reduction, because every fewer 100 kilometres driven results in an average saving of up to 160 kilograms of CO2. Green Collective aims by 2023 to have started in at least 30 municipalities with the sustainable collection of commercial waste. https://www.renewi.com/en/investors/newsroom/green-collective-for-fewer-collection-trucks-and-cleaner-air  retrieved 10-11-2022

[50] Teun Schröder, Schone en veilige binnenstad door slimme afvalinzameling en digitale innovatie, in: Change Inc., 15 juli 2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/658119528454275072/clean-and-safe-city-center-through-smart-waste  our translation

[51] Teun Schröder, Schone en veilige binnenstad door slimme afvalinzameling en digitale innovatie, in: Change Inc., 15 juli 2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/658119528454275072/clean-and-safe-city-center-through-smart-waste  our translation

[52] Louis Delcart: New Views Combined With New Technologies in the Tourism Sector, in: International Journal of Innovation in the Digital Economy (IJIDE) 11, 2020, 8 pages; New Views Combined With New Technologies in the Tourism Sector: Computer Science & IT Journal Article | IGI Global (igi-global.com)

[53] 'Cycling through the Water' in Bokrijk is a unique cycling experience in which you cycle more than 200 meters through a pond. The cycle path was opened in April 2016 and since then many cyclists and walkers have felt the magic of this place. https://www.visitlimburg.be/nl/fietsendoorhetwater retrieved 10-11-2022; our translation

[54] 'Cycling through the trees' in Woodland is a unique cycling experience in which you cycle between the trees up to a height of ten metres. The cycle path was opened in June 2019. You can safely reach higher atmospheres on this cycle path. Literally, because via a double circle you cycle all the way between the treetops, up to ten meters. https://www.visitlimburg.be/nl/fietsendoordebomen#:~:text='Fietsen%20door%20de%20Bomen'%20in%20Bosland%20is%20een%20unieke%20fietsbeleving,boomtoppen%2C%20tot%20wel%20tien%20meter. Retrieved 10-11-2022, our translation

[55] The Farm to Fork Strategy is at the heart of the European Green Deal aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly. https://ec.europa.eu/food/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en

[56] Nieuws, Aandacht voor lokaal in Vlaamse ‘Week van de Korte Keten’, in GFActueel, 11-5-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/684128822144237568/attention-for-local-in-flanders-short-food  our translation

[57] Cf. note 21

[58] https://www.tienen.be/openbaar-toilet, our translation retrieved 10-11-2022

[59] Magnus Højberg Mernild, Harnessing the North Sea’s green energy potential, in: State of Green, 17-05-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/684674636739461120/harnessing-the-north-seas-green-energy-potential

[60] The target of the protest is a high-voltage line of 82 kilometers, called Ventilus, that grid operator Elia wants to build between Zeebrugge and Avelgem. 22 kilometers of this would be a new overhead line in the preferred route, between Zedelgem and Ardooie along the E403. Tom Ysebaert: West-Vlaams verzet tegen hoogspanningslijn: ‘We gaan dit hard spelen’ ( West Flemish resistance to high-voltage line: 'We are going to play this hard') in: De Standaard, 19-06-2021; https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20190619_04468455?

[61] Frank Straver: Regio’s beloven wind- en zonneparken voor het klimaat, nu moet alleen de burger nog enthousiast worden (Regions promise wind and solar parks for the climate, now only citizens need to get excited) in: Trouw, 1 oktober 2020; https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-natuur/regio-s-beloven-wind-en-zonneparken-voor-het-klimaat-nu-moet-alleen-de-burger-nog-enthousiast-worden~be008567/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.be%2F

[62] Twenty thousand useless giant wind turbines that will ravage France for a few % more electricity. The price of electricity for individuals which will double. An energy policy that leads to a financial abyss. Nuisances and the massacre of the landscapes of France " the social acceptability of wind power is equal to "zero". https://environnementdurable.net/ our translation. Retrieved 10-11-2022

[63] Jolien De Bouw: ‘Zelf windmolens bouwen om ons landschap te redden’  ('Build your own windmills to save our landscape') in: De Standaard, 31-12-2019, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20191230_04787280

[64] Igor Todorović: Works on first out of three solar power plants in City of Sun Trebinje could start in spring 2022, in: Balkan Green Energy News, 3-11-2021;  https://balkangreenenergynews.com/works-on-first-out-of-three-solar-power-plants-in-city-of-sun-trebinje-could-start-in-spring-2022/

[65] Igor Todorović: Serbian City of Pirot is attracting major investments in solar power, in: Balkan Green Ebnergy News, 30-5-2022;  https://balkangreenenergynews.com/serbian-city-of-pirot-is-attracting-major-investments-in-solar-power/?fbclid=IwAR0ZlCVkCwxTgLSNamXlTKeGAVWUY2dwbSI48advtijTPFEi8rvG7FMShho

[66] Hydropower is destroying Europe's rivers and biodiversity. It is also one of the main reasons the EU's water protection law is breached. https://www.wwf.eu/what_we_do/water/hydropower/#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%2021%2C387%20existing,are%20financed%20by%20the%20EU   retrieved 10-11-2022

[67] https://www.hydropower.org/region-profiles/europe; retrieved 10-11-2022

[68] Frank Straver, Onderzoek: Nederlandse biomassa zorgt voor een kaalslag van bos in Estland, in: Trouw, 7 July 2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/656119128704286720/dutch-biomass-causes-deforestation-in-estonia

[69] Sandra Stacius, Nieuwe, kleinere, biomassacentrale in Gentse haven geopend (New, smaller, biomass power station in Ghent port opened), in: VRTNews, 19-05-2022

[70] https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/364232227/B_redygtige_Synergier_Publikation_web.pdf

[71] Aalborg University, Industrial Symbiosis: a model for growth in the circular economy, in: State of Green, 11-10-2022; https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/industrial-symbiosis-a-model-for-growth-in-the/kmd8rca9jg4d

[72] The Agence de la transition écologique. (ADEME, Agency for ecological transition) is a public agency under the joint authority of the Ministry for an Ecological Transition and the Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation. At ADEME - The French Agency for Ecological Transition’s role is to mobilise citizens, economic actors and territories towards a fairer, more harmonious, low carbon and resource-efficient society. At every level, their expertise and forecasting capacities serve to guide and inform public policies. https://www.ademe.fr/en/about-ademe

[73] Julie Le Bolzer, Les territoires, communautés, synergies public-privé sont des accélérateurs pour l'économie circulaire, in : Les Echos,  7-11-2022 ; https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/700456558600110080/regions-municipalities-communities?_branch_match_id=1097545582490939714&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAAxXKSw6AIAwA0RNBdy68TS1Fm%2FCzFE04vbKbvMxl1voOgOZt5COpp5qBUZGVRGkkVFA%2BpZbu8ihC0jCJCXf3n0tWw1NmeOPW7hniB19Xv%2F9UAAAA our translation

[74] https://declique.nl/en/ retrieved 20/11/2022