POLFREE News

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 308371.

POLFREE presents its analytical framework

30 May 2013

POLFREE held its first dissemination event in Brussels on the 19th of March 2013. The event was mainly addressed to sherpas of the European Resource Efficiency Platform (EREP), a advisory body set up by the European Commission to come up with short and long term policy recommendations in the area of resource efficiency.

The platform generated in December 2012 a Manifesto for a Resource Efficient Europe and will publish its list of short-term policy recommendations later this year (2013). Prof Paul Ekins (UCL), POLFREE lead partner, is member of the platform and led the event last March, together with Rene Kemp from Maastricht University.

First findings of the project and, more concretely, the analytical framework for resource efficiency and new concepts and paradigms for resource efficiency, were briefly presented to the sherpas.

The presentations were followed by a dynamic debate in which issues such as the role of regulation in changing business and individual behaviours were addressed. The role of consumers and how this can be shaped by changes in regulation was one of aspects emphasised by sherpas. Some examples of the changes in the perception of consumers with regard to resource efficiency were discussed. For example, unpopular regulatory measures, such as the congestion charge, can become popular once they have been implemented and the positive effects are perceived by citizens.

From the production and business side, the role of product and process innovation to exploit opportunities derived from a more efficient use of resources was stressed. 

Links:

European Resource Efficiency Platform (EREP)