News and events published on the EcoAP Community Platform

• Sustainable aquaculture: a new "future brief" from Science for Environment Policy
• New comments in post on 'Commission asks the public for ideas to develop the Circular Economy' - join the discussion!
• New infographic on EU funding for eco-innovation

A small non-profit organisation based in the city of Mechelen in Flanders, Belgium, is acting as an accelerator for the circular economy by promoting its principles to companies and entrepreneurs with the aim of stimulating experimentation and innovation. The organisation, Plan-C, is part of the Flanders Materials Programme (Vlaams Materialenprogramma), an initiative created by the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (Openbare Afvalstoffenmaatschappij voor het Vlaams Gewest, OVAM) to coordinate work on sustainable materials management.

Hackerspaces or makerspaces are local community clubs or networks that offer a location for people to meet and share tools and expertise related to the repair and design of products – usually consumer electronics. Hackerspaces have emerged in response to concerns that electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) too rapidly becomes waste (WEEE), being discarded because of minor faults or because software needs upgrading.

A United Kingdom sustainability certification scheme is extending its impact beyond the companies that it certifies to provide support to the Eden Project, one of the UK's leading sustainability education initiatives. The Planet Mark can be awarded to companies and other organisations that cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 2.5% per year.