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The first physical gathering of the CBA secretariat, Living Lab implementers and donors was held in January 2022, at Dumfries House in Scotland.
The CBA secretariat and implementers discussed the state of play of the Living Labs being established around the world, enabling people leading the projects on the ground to share experiences, align visions, and discuss long-term strategies to scale activities. Discussions were also held with donors and companies participating in the value chains and financial vehicles to deploy capital at scale.
A roundtable was held with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, the secretariat, Living Lab implementers and donors. This discussed the state of play of the CBA Living Labs and expected impacts in the coming years as well as the urgency to deploy capital at scale to accelerate land restoration, building on the success of the CBA Living Labs approach.
“The CBA meeting at Dumfries House was a truly inspirational”, said Yitagesu Tekle Tegegne, CBA Coordinator. “The discussions with the donors and the CBA Living Labs implementers who are carring out the amazing works of the Alliance on the ground around the world were rich, inspiring, and educational. Everybody left the gathering motivated and energized.”
The Circular Bioeconomy Alliance is building a global network of Living Labs for Nature, People and Planet. Our Living Labs demonstrate how harmony can be achieved by empowering nature and people in a concrete territorial context, integrating traditional knowledge, capitalizing on new research and innovation and based on public-private partnerships that place local communities at their centre. Each Living Lab uses a landscape restoration project as the starting point to catalyse the development of circular bioeconomy value chains while restoring biodiversity and local livelihoods. They are the start of a journey towards more resilient communities and landscapes.
Photos: Iain Brown