Partner in the Interreg Europe project DESICE

The Association of Municipalities of Tartu County is a partner in the DESICE project of the Interreg European program, which focuses on promoting the circular economy through better consideration of the design of products and services.

Objective: To improve circular design objectives in regional policy instruments, supporting both regional and national development towards such design of products and services that implements circular economy principles. The project will also include outcome monitoring to assess the effectiveness of the policies implemented.

Target groups: Companies and educational institutions involved in circular design.

Beneficiaries: Circular design companies, educational institutions and the local population.

Project implementation period: April 2024 - June 2028.

Project budget: 1.58 million euros, ERDF co-financing 1.26 million euros.

In addition to TOL, seven partners from six European countries participate in the project : Lead partner ANATOLIKI SA (Greece), Lietuvos inovacių centras (Lithuania) Economic Council of East Flanders (Belgium) BSC, Business Support Center Kranj, Ltd, Kranj (SIovenia) Thessaloniki Municipality (Greece ) Nuovo Circondario Imolese (Italy) South Muntenia Regional Development Agency (Romania).

In Estonia, project activities are carried out in Tartu County.

WEBPAGE of the project .

Circular design is a design process which goal is to create innovative and sustainable solutions for products and services, emphasizing the reasonable consumption of natural resources, waste reduction and the creation of new innovative business models that help ensure the circularity of products and services and their long-term use ( definition from the website of the Estonian Design Center ).

Key activities of the project include :

Marking and characterizing the problems of the regions
Identification of good practices
Joint analysis and search for solutions
Transfer of knowledge and practices
Changes in the strategy documents of the region

Expected results of the project are:

Increased knowledge of circular design possibilities
Better application of circular design practices in Tartu County
Reducing the generation of waste
More detailed circular design goals in Tartu County strategy documents

Additional information:
Villem Lõbu
Sustainability Advisor
+372 516 8521
villem.lobu@tartumaa.ee