Project Summary

The CIRCUS project supports the transition to a circular economy of the agrifood system in the Adriatic and Ionian coastal communities by developing and testing strategies, action plans, and management solutions, to increase knowledge and capacity of quadruple helix stakeholders (especially the government sector), and set up a cooperation network to work on the theme after project completion. In line with the current EUSAIR strategy (Pillar 1 Blue Growth), the project focuses on triggering a virtuous process for coastal areas to pursue a balanced and resilient territorial approach where coastal communities are supported as a continuum with the surrounding rural areas, boosting the needed synergies for a thoughtful economic growth to tackle common problems of target areas: the brain-drain, the abandonment of territories, the need for improvement of local communities’ livelihood, and the need to reinforce cooperation within and outside the region. In turn, the CIRCUS project will accelerate on one hand the transition to sustainable agrifood systems, on the other the process of integration of non-EU AIR countries into the EU. A new development model based on the EU Green Deal is needed: the concrete application of the Farm to Fork strategy is a priority and novelty for the region mainly in the EUSAIR non-EU countries, and represents a relevant opportunity and step forward in a complex global scenario characterized by food/energy/economic insecurity, price volatility, and climate change. The project involves several municipalities (Tricase, Italy; Trebinje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Vlore, Albania; Herceg Novi, Montenegro; Corfu, Greece; Konavle, Croatia), with different dimensions and backgrounds, to demonstrate the applicability and replicability of the results in diverse contexts, giving a push to improve the sustainability and resilience of ADRION and wider EU agrifood systems. To achieve such a change, the project foresees four main outputs: • A joint strategy and action plan for the up-taking of circular innovative solutions in agrifood systems, based on the integration of co-designed strategies and action plans at the local level in the municipalities involved. • One pilot action on circular economy for agrifood systems for each of the municipalities involved. • Three joint circular economy solutions based on the integration of the tested pilot actions. • A specific Adriatic-Ionian Cooperation Network, committing partners to share information, resources, and expertise to address common challenges related to the transition to sustainable agrifood systems, beyond project completion.