In cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) organized the first dialogue on regional policy within the platform for engaging stakeholders, “Circular STEP.” This meeting was part of the UNDA-funded project “Accelerating the Transition to a Circular Economy in the UNECE Region” and promoted the studies developed through the project.

The regional policy dialogue facilitated the exchange of good practices, experiences, and lessons learned to bridge the knowledge gap between developed and less developed countries.

During the two-day event, discussions focused on increasing circularity and the roles of public policies, strategic planning of the circular economy in the UNECE region, accelerating the circular economy through innovation, stimulating circular business models, accelerating the circular economy through digital solutions and in the agri-food sector, as well as mobilizing financial resources to support the circular economy.

UNDP coordinator Ana Mitić-Radulović spoke about stimulating circular business models from the perspective of UNDP. She highlighted that in less than two years, through two projects, UNDP organized five public calls for circular economy innovations. This effort resulted in 66 circular economy innovations currently in the implementation phase or being prepared for financial support, including 35 circular economy pilot projects, 25 circular vouchers, and 6 circular awards. The total value of the support granted exceeds three million US dollars, while the total investment in these innovations amounts to almost 25 million US dollars.