Avoiding waste, conserving resources, saving energy, reducing CO₂ production: On the path towards climate neutrality and in times of energy crises, the circular economy is of particular importance. This is also reflected in the Europäische Woche der Abfallvermeidung (European waste-prevention week), which takes place annually in November in order to increase public awareness regarding the sustainable utilization of resources.

On 20^th November 2023, the campaign week for the state of Lower Saxony was opened in Wöltingerode by State Secretary Matthias Wunderling-Weilbier from the Lower Saxony ministry for European and regional affairs. Sabrina Zellmer, Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and Professor at the Institute for Particle Technology (iPAT) at the TU Braunschweig, was among the speakers at the launch event. She presented the “Circular Cities and Regions” initiative in South-East Lower Saxony. “The ‘Circular Cities and Regions Initiative’ (CCRI) was created by the European Commission within the framework of the circular economy action plan. The aim is to support European cities and regions during the transition to a circular economy,” explained Prof. Zellmer.

In October 2022, the South-East Lower Saxony region was admitted into the initiative as a Fellow. The cluster consists of various stakeholders, including a number of cities and districts in the region, regional authorities, networks and scientific organizations. The aim and motivation of the members is the transformation to a sustainable circular economy.