LIFE25 Welcome Meeting
Circular Economy and Quality of Life
Thematic Session: 21 October 2026
Comet Meetings Louise, Place Stéphanie 20, 1050 Brussels
| Time | Topic / Content | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 – 09:15 | Registration of participants & Networking breakfast (ground floor) | |
| 09:15 – 09:25 | Join the plenary room (6.4, 6th floor) | |
| 09:25 – 09:30 | Welcome to the LIFE Programme | TBD (CINEA) |
| 09:30 – 09:50 | Key reminders to start well your projects | César Seoánez (CINEA) |
| 09:50 – 10:30 | Succeeding as LIFE coordinators – Insights from project coordinators with prior LIFE experience, including Q&A |
Emilio Benfenati, Institute of Pharmacological Research “Mario Negri” - Project LIFE25-ENV-IT-HURRA-LIFE David Burrueco-Subirà, CETAQUA, Water Technology Centre - Project LIFE25-ENV-ES-LIFE-4EVER Leonie Grob, Flanders Environment Agency - Project LIFE25-ENV-BE-LIFE RESHAPE-D |
| 10:30 – 10:45 |
Meet your Project Adviser & Instructions for the Thematic group sessions |
Fabio Leone (CINEA) Theoharis Tziovaras (ELMEN) |
| 10:45 – 10:55 |
Moving to Break-out rooms – see project distribution in Annex at the bottom Water group: Malgorzata Piecha and Federico De Filippi (CINEA); Sophia Papageorgiou (ELMEN) Chemicals, Air, Sustainable Governance group: Manuel Montero-Ramirez & Mario Lionetti (CINEA); Josefa Diamantopoulos (ELMEN) Circular Economy 1: César Seoanez (CINEA); Christina Rauls (ELMEN) Circular Economy 2: Michel Quicheron (CINEA); Borja Domínguez (ELMEN) |
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10:55 – 11:25 (all groups except Chemicals, Air, Sustainable Governance)
10:55 – 12:30 (Chemicals, Air, Sustainable Governance, with break below) |
Policy context and latest developments per thematic group - Q&A Delivered by DG ENV representatives |
Water group: TBC Circular Economy (both groups): Vincenzo Gente (DG ENV, Unit B.3 - From Waste to Resources) Chemicals, Air, Sustainable Governance groups:
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| 11:25 – 12:00 | Coffee break – Networking & meet your Project Adviser | |
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Groups Circular Economy 1 and 2 separate into different rooms - TBC |
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12:00 – 13:30 (all groups except Chemicals, Air, Sustainable Governance)
12:30 – 13:30 (Chemicals, Air, Sustainable Governance) |
Thematic group discussions | Project's presentations and discussion (see below) |
| 13:30 – 14:30 | Networking lunch (6th floor) | |
| 14:30 – 17:00 |
Thematic Group discussions (cont.) When group discussions finish, project representatives are invited to further network with CINEA staff, external monitors and other projects, or clarify financial questions until 17:00 |
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| 17:00 – 17:30 |
Financial questions session in plenary room (6.4, 6th floor) – to address any pending/unresolved question When this session finishes, project representatives are free to stay in COMET (until 18:00) to further network with CINEA staff, external monitors and other projects |
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ANNEX: PROJECT ALLOCATION TO THEMATIC GROUPS
WORKING GROUP Water – 5th floor, Room 5.3
Facilitators:
CINEA Project Advisers: Malgorzata Piecha and Federico De Filippi
ELMEN Technical Monitor: Sophia Papageorgiou
| Project reference | Title |
|---|---|
| LIFE25-ENV-BE-LIFE RESHAPE-D | Restore the Sponge Landscape and Hydrological System through Partnership and Engagement in the Dender Valley |
| LIFE25-ENV-ES-LIFE BIOWET | An innovate two-stage Nature-Based Solution for Optimization Leachate Reuse, Water Quality Compliance and Biodiversity Enhancement in European Greenhouse Agriculture |
| LIFE25-PRE-DE-LIFE C-SWIM Rhine | LIFE Climate-proof pollution Spread and Warning International Model for the Rhine |
| LIFE25-TAR-PT-LIFE ReFitting | ReFitting the PLAN-DO toolbox for wider replication under the new EU wastewater directive |
| LIFE25-ENV-ES-LIFE 4EVER | Innovative cost-effective quaternary wastewater treatment for EU urban wastewater treatment directive compliance and water reuse |
| LIFE25-ENV-FI-MINERVA | Closing the Loop in Arctic Mining: Multi-Commodity Recovery, Sustainable Tailings Management and Zero Chemical Water Treatment |
| LIFE25-ENV-IT-LIFE NEOPHYTA | ReusiNg and rEcycling biOmass ashes to remove PFAS, biocides and other toxic chemicals from water to complement PHYtoremediaTion plAnts |
| LIFE24-IPE-FI-ACWA LIFE | Actions for Waters - from Source to Sea |
| LIFE24-IPE-EL-LIFE SIP GR Blue | Integrated approach for the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in Greece |
| LIFE25-GIE-ES-GOV-KIDS | Collaborative Environmental Governance and Children and Citizen Education for Sustainable Water Use |
| LIFE25-ENV-BE-LIFEDESTINY | DEmonstration of Sustainable Technologies for INnovative PFAS remediation strategY |
| LIFE25-ENV-SE-LIFE QuietWaters | Towards regionally coordinated actions to reduce underwater noise emissions from existing and future recreational crafts in the Baltic Sea |
WORKING GROUP Chemicals, Air, Sustainable Governance – 5th floor, Room 5.2
Facilitators:
CINEA Project Advisers: Manuel Montero Ramírez and Mario Lionetti
ELMEN Technical Monitor: Josefa Diamantopoulos
| Project reference | Title |
|---|---|
| LIFE25-ENV-IT-HURRA-LIFE | Harmonizing the approach used in the European Union to perform and Report Read-Across: a LIFE project |
| LIFE25-ENV-IT-LIFE STRUVITE | Innovative natural soil amendment and fertilizer made by N-enriched zeolite and struvite based on the treatment of slurries with a high nutrient (especially N) content |
| LIFE25-GIE-DE-LIFE MUMs | LIFE Minimising Unseen Molecules (MUMs) to protect pregnant and reproductive-aged women from endocrinedisrupting chemicals (EDCs) for todays´ and future generations health |
| LIFE25-TAR-EL-LIFE SAFER-ELD | Systematic Assessment for Financial and Environmental Risks for ELD implementation |
| LIFE25-GIE-ES-ESG EUSKADI | VSME-Aligned Governance & Independent Verification to Accelerate the Green Transition of Basque SMEs |
| LIFE25-GIE-NL-SEED | Scalable European infrastructure for Environmental Due diligence and compliance |
| LIFE25-ENV-SK-LIFE ECOPRESSURE | Improving Air Quality with Advanced Tyre Inflation Technology |
| LIFE25-ENV-IT-LIFE X-TRON | Tractor Rover for Orchard and Vineyard Nurturing |
WORKING GROUP Circular Economy 1 – 5th floor, Room 5.1
Facilitators:
CINEA Project Adviser: César Seoanez
ELMEN Technical Monitor: Christina Rauls
| Project reference | Title |
|---|---|
| LIFE25-ENV-IT-LIFE REGRAPH | Recycled Graphite for High-Value Applications |
| LIFE25-ENV-IT-LIFE-INGOTEC | INGOT TEChnology for Circular Economy and Recycling Steel |
| LIFE25-ENV-FR-LIFE-CIRCULAR_PV | Reducing waste in the photovoltaic industry by boosting reuse through repaired PV modules |
| LIFE25-PRE-BE-SP4L | SustainableProducts4LIFE |
| LIFE25-ENV-ES-DPP-TEX | Digital Product Passport for TEXtile circularity and traceability |
| LIFE25-ENV-SE-LIFE-NEXTEX | Turning End-of-Life Textiles into Next-Generation Materials |
| LIFE25-PRE-PT-LIFE ECOFORCE | Environmental Crime Directive - Operational Framework for Optimised Response and Compliance Enforcement |
| LIFE25-ENV-IT-LIFE ARIADNE | Upcycling and Industrial Re-Utilisation of Recycled Carbon Fibres in High-Performance Applications |
| LIFE24-IPE-NL-CEL4LIFE | Circular Economy Limburg 4 LIFE: Ready for a Circular Future |
WORKING GROUP Circular Economy 2 – 6th floor, Room 6.4
Facilitators:
CINEA Project Adviser: Michel Quicheron
ELMEN Technical Monitor: Borja Domínguez
| Project reference | Title |
|---|---|
| LIFE25-ENV-FI-ExtendedLIFE | Extended Lifetime of Forest Machinery by Innovative Recycling and Remanufacturing |
| LIFE25-ENV-DK-LIFE FIBRA | Driving circularity and resilience in forest-based value chains |
| LIFE25-ENV-FI-VOLARE TURNKEY | Scaling Affordable Insect Factories in Europe with a Turnkey Biowaste-to-Protein Technology Platform |
| LIFE25-ENV-ES-LIFE GREENWAT | Real scale implementation of an environmentally friendly technology based on a natural polymer for industrial and urban wastewater treatment, increasing biogas production of sludge anaerobic digestion |
| LIFE25-ENV-NL-LIFE Waterhub | LIFE Afvalwater Hub – Flexible pretreatment installation for local and sustainable processing of port waste streams |
| LIFE25-PRE-ES-CircularLIFE4Furn | Empowering EU Furniture & Furnishings Companies to Mainstream Circular Business Models |
| LIFE25-ENV-ES-CIVIC | Circular Incentives via Verified Individual packaging Classification |
| LIFE25-ENV-CZ-LIFE4FARMS | Innovative nature-based solutions for the elimination of nutrients and veterinary pharmaceuticals from livestock agricultural runoff |
| LIFE24-IPE-PT-LIFE IP AGRILOOP | LIFE IP AGRILOOP |
| LIFE25-ENV-BE-RENU-AGRI | Reducing Nutrient Losses from Agriculture |
| LIFE25-ENV-FI-ICELIFE | ReStyle, RePair, ReUse! – Inclusive Circular Ecosystems for Regenerative Districts |