Duration of project is 40 months. The regional research team is formed from national researchers from all partner countries and will, under mentorship of main researcher PhD Milica Muhadinovic, researchers will identify basic challenges and potential for development of smart infrastructure, promote fostering of green technologies and strengthening intra-regional cooperation with preparation of National baseline reports, which will be used to map the potential of small enterprises and social economy actors to develop smart and green infrastructure.
Sustainable economic development is one of the challenges which the entire social system is facing, not only a challenge for one of the WB countries. It includes integral economic, social, technological and cultural development, which are harmonized with the needs of environmental protection and improvement which enables the satisfaction of needs and the improvement of the quality of life for present and future generations. A number of steps have been recognized in the country, as well as in all WB countries, at the level of strategic planning and development of action plans, but also numerous challenges have been identified that need to be addressed and remedied. The current economic model in the region is still based on “take-make-replace.” It depletes our resources, pollutes our environment, and damages biodiversity and climate. It also makes countries dependent on resources from elsewhere, for majority of the production process. To address these problems, the EU has the aim to move to a more circular economy model based on more sustainable products. Western Balkan has to follow that route. Addressing the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle and extending their lifetime will lead to more sustainable, circular and more resource-efficient products. More sustainable products such as electronics, furniture and textiles will contribute to the resilience of the economy. Through research work, the regional research team will develop a set of recommendations as a response to identified challenges.
The team will, under mentorship of the Main researcher, identify basic challenges through analysis of current state of social economy, its actors and enterprises. Then they will present examples of good practice in social enterprises as well as identified business barriers to circular and social economy with possible models and scenarios for overcoming them, all in order to get to a Digital Product Passport in the Western Balkans region and the potential of creating and placing 3R products in the region.
