Support services for the RTI priority “Circular Economy & Production Technologies”

Initial situation

Transitioning to a circular economy requires profound changes across the entire economic system. As part of a mission oriented innovation policy, BMIMI (formerly BMK) has defined "Circular Economy and Production Technologies" as one of three RTI priorities. Key measures within this priority include national calls for proposals that address major challenges along the entire value chain. These calls support both the development of new and the improvement of existing technologies, systems and processes for a circular economy. ÖGUT supports BMIMI in the strategic design of national calls as well as with networking activities and the transfer of results.

Objectives

The support services pursued the following objectives:

• Supporting the development of RTI policy measures and smart thematic management in the field of circular economy and production technologies.
• Promoting innovation and solutions for the circular economy and sustainable production technologies through flagship and demonstration projects, and supporting the scaling of market ready approaches.
• Expanding national, European and international cooperation in the field of circular economy and production technologies.

Activities of ÖGUT within the competence centre:

• Technical support and stakeholder management
  As part of the technical support, the BMIMI department "Energy and Environmental Technologies" was assisted through thematic screenings for RTI priority setting and through the engagement and networking of key stakeholders.
• Knowledge management, communication and dissemination of results
  The aim of the accompanying communication was to achieve high visibility and broad impact of the RTI instruments in the field of circular economy and production technologies. Dissemination activities focused on sharing the knowledge generated within this RTI priority on solutions, and on transferring technologies and insights into science and industry. Concepts developed to close material loops, intensify product use or optimize resource use were communicated to potential users through communication and dissemination measures.

Public outreach for the priority includes, for example:

• Maintenance of the website www.fti-ressourcenwende.at, which serves as a central platform to communicate activities within the priority (calls, events, competitions) and to publish research results via BMIMI's "Energy and Environmental Technologies" publication series.
• Editorial work for the newsletter "Circular Economy & Production Technologies", which provides regular updates on current initiatives, activities and outstanding project results (subscription upon request).
• Managing the LinkedIn group "Forschungsnetzwerk Ressourcenwende", where we informed about current funding opportunities and activities in the RTI field of circular economy and production technologies and invite members to share relevant content.
• Design and organization of specialist events for knowledge exchange and community building, such as:
  - "Highlights of the bio based industry" (German only)
  - "Algae network" (German only)
  - "Stakeholder dialogue on the circular economy" (German only)
  - Networking workshops for project beneficiaries (German only)

In addition, ÖGUT supported quality assurance of BMIMI's publication series "Reports from Energy and Environmental Research" and the publication of project reports on the website, as well as the development of result brochures and fact sheets, such as:

• "Biorefineries in Austria – examples from research and practice" (2024, German only)
• "Circular Economy and Production Technologies" (2023, German only)

Accompanying activities

Furthermore, for the key transformation areas of the circular economy, the following activities were carried out:

• Development of approaches to better anchor circularity in norms and standards.
  "Norms and standards in the circular economy – approaches to more strongly embedding the circular economy concept in norms and standards in the electrical, electronics and ICT sectors" (2024, German only)
• Short studies that categorize the most important actors along value chains and visualise stakeholder groups were prepared. These studies also identify the main barriers to a circular economy for these actors and derive recommendations for RTI policy.
  Short study and factsheet "Circular economy in the electrical and electronics industry: challenges and key levers" (German only)
• Development of a "regulatory map" that provides an overview of EU strategies, regulations and directives related to the circular economy, especially those relevant for designing framework conditions, measures and funding instruments in research, technology development and innovation.
  "Regulatory map: Circular economy in the EU" (status 2025, German only)