Program of the
Circular Economy
Hotspot 2022

Patron Ms. Mona Neubaur,
Minister of Economic, Affairs,
Industry, Climate Action and
Energy of the State of
North Rhine-Westphalia

Peter Woodward,
Conference facilitator
14:00-
15:30
Visit to the last German hard coal mine | Walk across the Prosper-Haniel site and to the slagheap | Panoramic view over the Ruhr area
Prosper-Haniel, Fernewaldstraße 1, 46242 Bottrop
18:30
Opening | Welcome reception of the Lord Mayor of Bottrop at the town hall
Welcome by Mr. Bernd Tischler, Lord Mayor of Bottrop
Ernst-Wilczok-Platz 1, 46326 Bottrop

Mr. Bernd Tischler
Lord Mayor of Bottrop
9:00
Industry tours | Visit frontrunners in the region and learn about innovative business cases and products
- World Heritage
- Transform to Zero
- Upcycling waste materials
- Heating applications
- SME transformation
- Textiles
- Consumer goods
- Research & industry
- Industrial ecosystem
- Urban Development
- Recycling
- Discovering Metropolis Ruhr (for start-ups)
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Registration for a Industry Tour is requested in advance. In your confirmation e-mail after successful registration in the ticketshop, you will receive a link to register for one Industry Tour.
18:00
Networking Night at Prosper-Haniels site | Announcement of the Hosts 2024
Prosper-Haniel, Fernewaldstraße 1 46242 Bottrop
Conference and Exhibition Day
Prosper-Haniel, Fernewaldstraße 1, 46242 Bottrop
Information to enter in to enter in the navigation system:
46242 Bottrop
Main Stage – Three panel discussions and final session on the hot topics of circular economy: Climate change, front-runners and drivers for change, the discussions will also be translated into German
Learning Labs – Interactive workshops on specific themes organised by our partners
Exhibition Area – with pitches by industry and multipliers, exhibition continuously accessible
The discussions on the main stage will be translated into German by interpreters.
9:00
Arrival | Welcome | Input
Welcome (video) by Mona Neubaur, Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Panel Discussion I: Reality Check – Driving Transformation in Challenging Times
Are the emerging policies heading in the right direction? Are we on track or are we fooling ourselves? Progress reality check? What more do we need to do?

Mr. Reinhold Rünker
Permanent Representative of the Head of Department Economic Policy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Mr. Bernd Tischler
Lord Mayor of Bottrop

Mr. Rafe Courage
HM Consul-General, British Consulate General Dusseldorf

Dr. Nina Fechler
Director Global Circular Plastics Program, Evonik

Dr. Henning Wilts
Director Division Circular Economy, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy
11:30
Panel Discussion II: Learning from the Front Runners: Industry, Sectors, Cities, Regions
Highlight of good examples where breakthroughs have been made. These examples are coming from businesses, sectors, policies, regions or cities. The main questions are: What are the keys to success? What can we learn collectively?

Dr. Susanne Kadner
Head of Office of the Circular Economy Initiative Germany

Mr. Lars Baumgürtel
CEO, ZINQ GmbH & Co. KG

Dr. Carsten Gerhardt
Initiator of Circular Valley® and Board of Managing Directors of the Circular Valley® Foundation

Dr. Prateek Mahalwar
CEO, Bioweg

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Irrek
Hochschule Ruhr West, University of Applied Science, Prosperkolleg

Mr. Jordi Pascual
Lead of the cities programme, Circle Economy

Ms. Natacha Beauchesne
Commissioner for Economic Development, City of Montréal
Learning Labs 1-7 | interactive workshops on construction industry, digitalization and circular cities
- Transformation towards circular economy: perspectives and potentials for a circular business
- World Café Create Your Big Picture – Circular Economy
- Circular Economy in the construction industry – thinking about deconstruction even before building
- Self-check the Circular Readiness Level® of products and product systems
How mature is your product for the Circular Economy? - Jobs & Skills in the Circular Economy Transition
- Digitalization as an accelerator of the circular economy
- Circular SMEs across Europe – playful exploration of circularity in the value chain
Registration for a Learning Lab is requested in advance. In your confirmation e-mail after successful registration in the ticketshop, you will receive a link to register for one Learning Labs.
13:00
Lunch Break
14:00
Panel Discussion III: Exploring Enabling Drivers for a Circular Economy Transformation
What are the insights of key enablers of a timely transformation towards circular economy? The transformation environment include aspects such as financing, consumer behaviour, policy regulations and standards (product passes).

Mr. Michael Kuhndt
Executive Director, Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production

Dr. Peter Jahns
Managing Director, Effizienz-Agentur NRW

Mrs. Deborah Sacks
Waste and Resources Specialist, Department for International Trade (UK)

Dr. Karsten Lemke
Managing Director, ZENIT GmbH
Learning Labs 8-14 | interactive workshops on circular design, circular business models, e-waste or secondary raw materials
8. Support for Crossborder Projects for a European Circular Economy
9. How can the recycling of small electric devices look like in the future?
10. Circular Economy Card Deck for Business Model Workshops (CE-CA-WO)
11. Circular Cities
12. Added value through circular design
13. Flagship project in circular economy in NRW (EUREF-Campus) NRW as sustainable business location
14. Closing the Gap – Production of secondary raw materials
Registration for a Learning Lab is requested in advance. In your confirmation e-mail after successful registration in the ticketshop, you will receive a link to register for one Learning Labs.
16:00
Final Plenary: Driving Forward the ‘CE Hotspot Magic’
Handover to the next Circular Economy Hotspot hosts: Dublin, Ireland; Lagos, Nigeria; Santiago de Chile, Chile

Mr. Oliver Krischer
Minister of Environment, Nature and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
17:00
Networking | Closing
Chemical Recycling: NRW-Dutch cross-border opportunities & Matchmaking | With
special attention to business collaboration and matchmaking between all relevant
German (NRW) and Dutch stakeholders in the chemical recycling value chain
Prosper-Haniel, Fernewaldstraße 1, 46242 Bottrop
Circular Futures Festival 2022
Digital & local hubs such as in Bottrop