Project pilot action blogpost 2. – BME GTK Intensive Seminar and Annual Meeting of MRTT 2024

Implementation of the pilot action “Co-creation for more circular cities at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics” related to the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE NiCE project of the BME Department of Environmental Economics and Sustainability, Part 2

October 2024 was an eventful period for the implementation of the pilot action related to the NiCE project of BME Department of Environmental Economics and Sustainability: at the Intensive Seminar organised by the BME Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, our colleagues Mariann Szabó and Fruzsina Bozsoki held a total of two workshops of more than three hours in Hungarian and English, and our colleague Mariann Szabó also held a presentation at the XXII. Annual Meeting of the Hungarian Regional Science Association about the project in the session entitled “Resilience and vulnerability – Socio-economic impacts of crises and crises”, in Szeged.

During the Intensive Seminar a total of eighteen participants attended the Hungarian-language, and sixteen participants attended the English-language workshop. The scenario of the workshops for Hungarian and English master’s students was the same: students heard about the NiCE project for the first time, followed by a creative introduction section, where everyone could draw their coat-of-arms, marking activities that characterize the students. After that, they first had to answer four questions individually:

1. What does a circular economy mean?
2. How does the circular economy relate to your everyday life?
3. How does the circular economy relate to the everyday activities of people?
4. How could you be more active in the circular economy?

After the individual work, the participants were divided into two groups so that they could discuss their answers, and then the two groups also exchanged ideas. In the presentation following the group discussion, participants could get acquainted with theoretical and practical results on the importance of sustainable consumption, with special regard to the measurement of carbon and water footprint related to our lifestyle, the 9R model promoting circular economy (Reike, Vermeulen & Witjes, 2018) and the good practices selected by the NiCE Partners.

A special feature of BME’s Pilot action is that the activity will be linked to two solutions during the project: 1) “Methodology Kit: How to re-use spaces for circular offers, how to activate civil engagement and how to (economically) sustain offers and bring them out of niche” and 2) “Circular Water Kit”, so we will not only focus on what sustainable consumption alternatives we can choose from in urban areas, but also the measurable environmental benefits they have, especially with regard to our water use.

During the implementation of the pilot action, we pay special attention not only to our students, but also to the involvement of our academic and business partners. Mariann Szabó presented the goals and partnership of the NiCE project in her presentation “Crisis-resistant business models – cities in the service of sustainable lifestyles”, and presented the good examples identified during the implementation of the project, which remained operational despite the COVID-19 crisis to support sustainable consumption.