Canada-Europe Knowledge Exchange on Circular Cities and Regions

Canada-Europe Knowledge Exchange on Circular Cities and Regions. From City-to-City Knowledge Exchange to City-to-Business Cooperation

October 28, 2026, 3:00 to 5:30 pm (CET)

https://uqam.zoom.us/j/82177908682

Language of the event: ENGLISH

Event themes:

• construction

• circular cities

• material sufficiency

As part of European Circular Week 2026, the Canada–Europe Exchange on Circular Cities and Regions Webinar will bring together municipalities, urban practitioners, businesses, researchers and organizations working on circular and resilient cities.

The webinar is conceived as a first step in a broader Canada–Europe exchange, creating an initial space to connect actors from both sides of the Atlantic, identify shared challenges and explore practical areas for future cooperation. Through two moderated discussions, participants will examine how cities on both sides of the Atlantic are moving from circular economy ambitions to implementation, and how collaboration with businesses and organizations can help make solutions more accessible and scalable.

AGENDA

The programme is structured around two complementary moderated discussions: the first focused on how cities are putting circularity into practice, and the second on the partnerships needed to make these solutions accessible and scalable.

15:00 | OPENING

Welcome and short perspectives: Circular Cities, from Ambition to Action

Speakers:

• Embassy of Canada in Poland,

• Agnieszka Sznyk PhD, President of the Board, INNOWO,

• Corey Pembleton, Federation of Canadian Municipalities

15:15 | PANEL I Same Challenges, Different Cities: Circularity in Practice Speakers: City of Warsaw, Ville de Québec, City of Richmond

This first discussion puts municipal experience at the centre of the Canada–Europe exchange. Representatives from three cities will explore challenges that cities increasingly share, while examining how local conditions shape the solutions being developed.

Each city will present one concrete circular-economy initiative around three questions: What challenge was the city trying to address and what solution was introduced? What worked, and what proved more difficult? What comes next?

Moderator:

• Joanne Gauci, National Zero Waste Council, Canada

Speakers:

• Marcin Garbowski, City of Lublin

• Johanna Huard, Ville de Québec

• Marcos Alejandro Badra, City of Richmond

16:15 | BREAK

16:25 | PANEL II Cities Cannot Do It Alone: Building Circular Cities with Businesses and Organizations

Moving circular solutions from individual projects to everyday urban systems requires more than municipal action. Construction, buildings, food systems, retail, logistics, packaging and material flows are shaped by networks of businesses, universities, service providers, public institutions and other organizations.

This second discussion therefore asks: What do cities need from other actors to make circular solutions viable, scalable and transferable?

Moderator:

• Prof. Ewelina Szczech-Pietryga, Warsaw School of Economics

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Speakers:

• Leszek Drogosz, Director of Infrastructure Department, City of Warsaw

• Gil Yaron, Managing Director, Circular Innovation, Light House 

• Toni Dorado, PhD, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)

• Sławomir Pyciński, Specialist at Institute of Urban and Regional Development ·

17:20 | CONCLUDING REMARKS — From Exchange to Collaboration

Speaker:

• Prof. Juste Rajaonson, Circular Economy Research on Regions and Cities International Network (CERRC)