Towards communities of reuse practice
Since October 2022 VCV has been a partner on a two-year project named “Towards Communities of Reuse Practice (TORP)” in collaboration with Zelena Akcija from Zagreb and the Ecological Recycling Society from Athens.
The TORP project is designed to build the capacity of partner organizations to better understand the importance of reuse practices in the broader context of transitioning to a circular economy. Each of the partner organizations has some experience working with the local community on the topic of reuse, and throughout the project, we exchange knowledge and skills to mutually strengthen ourselves.
The organizations will be enabled to implement new reuse practices in the community, gain a better understanding of how practical activities contribute to efforts to transition to circular management, and how to effectively communicate the public narrative about reuse. Additionally, they will gain capacities to work with vulnerable groups and produce educational materials for other organizations and citizens, raising public awareness about the importance of reuse and waste prevention, which is key in addressing multiple environmental impacts associated with the linear management model and in transitioning to circular.
The aim of the project is to contribute to the revival of the local community gathered around the culture of reuse and repair, including volunteerism and active citizenship. Such empowerment of organizations can lead to simultaneous improvements in social conditions and the environment.
In addition to capacity building, other project activities include developing methodologies for establishing reuse practices in the community, testing practices by partner organizations, creating a set of tools that will assist in further motivation and inspiration, and spreading such practice as widely as possible. We will also organize several public pilot events for the public with the aim of reflection, evaluation, and learning from experience.The project is financed from the ERASMUS plus program (Programme Erasmus+ Action Type KA220-ADU – Cooperation partnerships in adult education) under the leadership of AMPEU. The views expressed in this project and project activities are the sole responsibility of Green Action and project partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.