From 27-30 October 2019, the Circular PP had their 5th Partner Meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was an opportunity to inform the partners about the ongoing work and share the knowledge gained within the project activities and to get acquainted with the circular activities taking place in St. Petersburg.

Partners took part in the Annual Strategic Planning Leaders Forum of the Regions and Cities of Russia during which they participated table sessions, the plenary session of the Forum and in various discussion panels, on which the Circular PP project was presented. During the Forum and at the Higher School of Economics they gave a lecture for students during which they met with a very positive response from the students.

On Wednesday (30th October 2019), the partners had a Study Visit in Spasibo charity shop. It was a very interesting visit during which the partners could learn about the rules of operation of the shop, which was created because their creators believe that kind of stores are the best way to recycle used items while serving broader purposes. The store was established when the creators found out that that approximately 90% of a person’s unwanted items goes to the trash because of the absence of a well-functioning recycling system in Russia. They wanted to give unnecessary and unwanted items a new chance in someone else’s home. Now, after the collection and sorting of the received items, about 90% are donated to people in need, free of charge, and about 10% are sold in 4 charity shops.

It was a very interesting and inspiring meeting of partners, which showed how to introduce circularity ideas into business and public procurement thanks to various initiatives.