The aim of the project is to raising awareness on effective waste management among employees of chambers of commerce, regional development agencies, local authorities and centres for entrepreneurship development, but also VET teachers, trainers and mentors. RAW foster symbiosis and cooperation between municipalities and entrepreneurs disrupting stereotypical behaviours on handling waste. Inevitable is the fact that solutions should be introduced, on the one hand, forcing, on the other, encouraging businesses and entrepreneurs to increasingly implement eco-design in order to facilitate it and create conditions in which recycling will pay off. However, required are more conscious decisions, taking action from the early stage of a product’s life, starting from the design process, considering what will happen next, how the product will be exploited and whether any of its elements can be re-used in the future. Only then the circular economy strategy has a meaningful impact and isn’t targeted at an action that has already completed its life cycle – which is still usually the case in the realization of the issue among the society.
The starting point was the conviction that the circular economy is a socio-economic change and it requires a new philosophy of functioning. In order to be fuel to the change, it is key to educate residents so that they are more aware that effective segregation or recycling depends on them, and consequently - care for the environment. Within the circular economy there are different areas of focus, all of equal importance and requiring the ability to take responsibility over decisions made, but with difference steps to follow. The Consortium decided to work towards introducing solutions for continuous professional development, focusing on the concepts of waste management and smart use of resources. Thanks to the RAW results, the employees of chambers of commerce, regional development agencies, local authorities and centres for entrepreneurship development, as well as VET teachers and trainers can take the role of supporting SMEs, entrepreneurs and start uppers to adopt circular assumptions as a priority. The latter will be induced to implement circular economy assumptions as a priority, taking responsibility over own actions, aware that they have an impact over the environment and the future.