Project EU GENESIS | Circular Economy Month - Raw Materials Webinar

Raw Materials webinar

Securing Europe’s Future Through Sustainable Raw Material Strategies

The final webinar of the GENESIS Project four-part series will focus on raw materials as a cornerstone of Europe’s circular and industrial resilience. Taking place on 24 March 2026, this concluding session builds on previous discussions around circular value chains by addressing one of the most strategic challenges for Europe: securing sustainable access to critical and strategic raw materials.

As Europe accelerates its green and digital transitions, demand for raw materials — particularly critical ones — continues to grow. This webinar moves beyond policy frameworks to explore practical pathways for reducing dependency, strengthening regional value chains, and integrating circular approaches into raw material management.

Raw Materials | Strengthening Industrial Resilience Through Circular Innovation

📅 24/03/2026
🕥 10:30–12:00 (CET)
💻 Online webinar
🌐 Webinar language: English

This session will explore raw materials beyond their conventional perception as simply extracted and consumed resources. Drawing on the industrial challenges linked to critical and strategic raw materials, it will examine the full spectrum of material management — from securing sustainable supply and addressing dependency risks to improving efficiency, substitution, and circular integration across regional value chains.

The webinar will highlight how industry and research actors are turning these challenges into opportunities through innovation and collaboration. Through expert insights and concrete use cases — including circular battery recycling and the optimisation and substitution of metal components in industrial equipment — participants will discover how engineering solutions, material optimisation, and circular economy strategies can strengthen resilience, enhance competitiveness, and create regional value from raw material constraints.

Agenda Highlights

GENESIS Presentation:
Speaker: Sophie Schmitz, International Project manager, Pole Mecatech
An overview of the GENESIS project’s mission to reinforce circular industrial value chains, empower SMEs in their transition toward more sustainable practices, and promote interregional cooperation to advance resource-efficient and resilient manufacturing systems.

Thematic Presentation: Industrial challenges related to (critical and strategic) Raw Materials
Speaker: Laetitia Zacheo, Circular Economy Expert, Pole Mecatech
Speaker: Philippe Giaro, Senior Research Officer, University of Liège – GeMMe (BE), member of the Interreg Greater Region project UniGR-CIRKLA

SME Use Case Presentations

• FIVREC | Solution on circular battery recycling and recovery of critical raw materials
  Speaker: Edvinas Nagulevičius, Innovation manager, FIVREC
• CALYOS | Optimising and substituting metal components in industrial equipment: a practical approach to circularity and resilience
  Speaker: Antoine de Ryckel, CEO, CALYOS

Interactive Workshop
Moderator: Sophie Schmitz, Pole Mecatech

Participants will actively contribute to discussions structured around two key questions:

• What skills are missing in organisations to strengthen circular economy and digitalisation?
• What competencies can regions develop to improve collaboration with European partners?

Connecting Strategy with Action

As the concluding webinar of the series within EU Circularity Month, this final session completes the journey from circular economy ambition to real-world implementation. By combining expert perspectives, practical SME case studies, and collaborative dialogue, the webinar aims to provide participants with tangible insights to strengthen material management approaches and accelerate circular transformation across European regions.

Register here

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them