Youth Empowerment for Circular Cities

ended

Half of total greenhouse gas emissions come from resource extraction and processing. It is not possible to achieve the climate-neutrality target without transitioning to a fully circular economy. The new Circular Economy Action Plan is at the core of the European Green Deal, the EU roadmap towards climateneutrality. The circular economy model where value and resources are maintained in the economy for as long as possible and waste generation is minimised, reduces pressures on natural resources while boosting sustainable growth and jobs creation. It can make a decisive contribution to decarbonising the economy. The generation of waste in the Western Balkans has been increasing steadily over the last years due to economic development and increased consumption, currently being at around 1000kg/capita. While this is still lower than the EU average of 1700kg/capita, the very low recycling rates (below 3%, in comparison to the EU average of 44%) result in higher per capita amount of waste not being recycled. The Western Balkans will need to align with the single-use plastic legislation and to fully implement the modernised EU waste legislation, including its recycling and landfill reduction targets. The overall goal of the project is engaging and empowering young people in circularity actions for transforming cities into circular and liveable for better opportunities for employment, clean environment and inclusiveness. The final results of the project are: 1 Research paper from each partner elaborated about the status of circularity in rural and urban areas, 3 Training Modules developed on circular economy and sustainability, 20 youth operators are trained within the International Training Course WP2, 1Toolkit focused on Circular Eco-design is developed for product redesign-repair techniques, At least 10 rural youth engaged within the local activities through application of circular economy toolkit in every partner country, At least 20 hours of e-learning course develop