„Disruptive technologies, circular economy & the building industry in Danube region“ conference DRP0200309 – Circular DigiBuild

 Interreg Danube Region Programme

A 3-day hybrid networking and cluster R&I meeting in Bulgaria to identify how to change the future and the emerging technological paradigms with the highest potential to boost circularity in the construction sector and related policies, and co-create concepts for the cluster

 

When and where?

25-27.06.2025

ADMIRAL hotel, seminar hall

9007 Golden Sands, Varna, Bulgaria

Hybrid participation link: https://meet.google.com/rqx-byzc-nfa 

 

AGENDA

FIRST DAY

Wednesday 25.06.2025

 

14:00 – 14:10 

• Opening of the meeting. Welcome and introduction – objectives, tasks and methods of the conference – Mrs. Silvia Stumpf, LP01 BAA

14:10 – 14:20 

• Welcome note from Mr. Blagomir Kotzev, Mayor of Varna city, Bulgaria

14:20 – 14:30

• Welcome note from Arch. Martin Hristov, Member of the Management Board, Practice Department, of the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria, Member of the Board of EDIH PP17

 

PANEL 1

Construction, digitalisation and circular economy – insights from partners’ countries 

14:30 – 14:40 

• The Bulgarian strategy for digitalization and digitization of the construction sector as a driver of change in the industry – Mrs. Angelina Boneva, former Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, 2023-2024

 14:40 – 15:00 

• Cyrkl and Digital Marketplace: Good Practices in Selective Demolition and Pre-demolition Audits  in Slovak Republic  (Zuzana Špuntová – Project Manager & Waste specialist at Cyrkl Company)

15:00 – 15:10 

• Potential of geospatial technologies for circular economy in building sector in Slovak Republic (Martin Tuchyňa – GeoICT & Environmental infrastructure coordinator at the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic)

15:10 – 15:20 

• Recent developments in the construction and digitalization sectors
• (Ing. Eva Vintrová – Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) in Czech Republic)

15:20 – 15:30 

• Digital activities of UCEEB’s sustainability and circularity lab
• (Ing. arch. Kristýna Schulzová, Ph.D. from the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) at CTU in Prague, Czech Republic) 

15:30 – 15:40 

• Interreg Danube Decorator project: Overview & Synergy Opportunities
• Gašper Juvančič, Project Manager

 

PANEL 2

Valorising existing KNOWLEDGE and innovations in CE-driven emerging technologies for construction

16:00 – 17:00

• Presentation of the Study, the Report, the Analysis and the Review as foundation documents of the CiDiCon cluster

16:00 – 16:10 

The Study

• Common assessment study for the preparedness and needs for innovations in construction industry in Danube Area 
• Mr. Marc Lehmann, Hof University of Applied Sciences, Germany (PP04)

16:10 – 16:20 

• The report
• Report on disruptive technologies identified in the building industry in the Danube area
• Prof. Mario Vašak, Innovation Centre Nikola Tesla (PP15)

16:20 – 16:30 

• The Analysis 
• „Cross-sectoral opportunities for CE solutions and innovations in construction and building“
• Andreea-Loredana Rhazzali, IRCEM (PP09)

16:30 – 16:40 

• The Review
• Review of policies for harnessing innovations in the building industry for more „clean construction“ in the Danube region 
• Mr. Cristin Cistelecan, West Regional Development Agency, Romania (PP10)

16:40 – 17:00 

• Good and transferable policy elements and practices from RIS3  
• Mr. Cristin Cistelecan, West Regional Development Agency, Romania (PP10)

17:00 – 17:30  

• Q&A session

 

SECOND DAY

Thursday 26.06.2025

Panel 3 

Enhancing Danube area COOPERATION to boost circularity in construction and improve related policies

09:00 – 09:15

• Review of Day 1 and plan for Day 2

09:15 – 09:30 

• Plan for the creation of Trans-danubian cluster for circular digitalised construction DANUBE CiDiCon – moderator Silvia Stumpf, LP01 BAA

09:30 – 10:00 

• The Danubian network for circularity in construction and MoUs – review of state-of-play – Mr. Kaloyan Rachev, PP18 Vangavis and project partners

10:00 – 10:20

• Needs of the businesses across DANUBE – review and summary of the 4 online meetings held – Mrs. Maria Nakova, PP17 eDIH

10:20 – 10:30

• Thematic open webinar „Danube policies for a cleaner construction“ – review of the outputs – Mr. Cristin Cistelecan, PP10 ARDVEST

10:30 – 10:40

• Review of existing platforms –  Mrs. Maria Nakova, PP17 eDIH

10:40 – 11:00 

• The networking platform for innovations in circular digitalised construction in Danube area – update on state-of-play – Mrs. Maria Nakova, PP17 eDIH

11:00 – 11:30

•  Networking coffee break

11:30 – 12:00

• Investigation on existing clusters – review and summary on identified needs, challenges and opportunities – Mrs. Yordanka Gendova, LP01 BAA

12:00 – 12:30

• Introduction of experts from LP01 BAA as responsible for the cluster creation documents preparation, brief explanation of details regarding the cluster registration, and the strategic documents elaboration

12:30 – 13:00

• Q&A session regarding the Articles and registration procedure/documents

14:00 – 15:00 

• Pilots – concepts and implementation

 

Presentation on the progress related to piloting – Emiliyan Enev and Mario Vasak
“Driving Efficiency in the Circular Economy through Trustworthy Built Environment Data”

 

Emiliyan Enev and Mario Vasak will present the concept of pilot projects under the Circular DigiBuild initiative. This session will focus on demonstrating a platform designed to structure, import, and aggregate real estate data to enhance circular economy practices. The speakers will showcase a protocol that connects buildings to the internet, enables granular identification of materials and real estate objects, models the relationships between these objects, and applies analytics to support data-driven decision-making, ultimately driving sustainability improvements in building performance.

 

15:00 – 15:30

1. Q&A session regarding the pilots

15:30 – 16:00 

• Networking coffee break

16.00 – 16.10

• Presentation of the co-working approach for the co-creation of the cluster’s registration and implementation documents – Lia-Filipa Kirova, LP01 BAA expert

16:10 – 16:20 

• Grouping phase, election of members and spokesperson for 4 groups, and preparation for execution of four parallel sessions for documents’ co-creation – moderators from LP01 BAA

16:20-17:00

Four parallel sessions (4 groups) using Visual Roadmapping in a moderated process; identification of key findings concerning:

• Expectations and needs of the construction sector.
• Expectations and needs of the digital sector.
• Expectations and needs of the circular economy sector.
• Expectations and needs of the policy makers.

 

17:00 – 17:30 

• Preparation with the help of 4 facilitators-experts in the 4 subjects cited of a statement for immediate action plan in the field they are working in (World coffee method and wrap up).

17:30 – 18:00 

• Short presentation of results and the complex action plan from the 4 statements from the groups and wrap-up of the day (spokespersons and moderators)

 

THIRD DAY

Friday 27.06.2025

Panel 4 

CHANGE in the framework conditions for fostering sustainable uptake of innovations in construction

9:00 – 10:00

• Presentation of last version of articles, strategy and operational plan

10:00 – 11:00 

• Presentation of details regarding the cluster’s mission, vision, goals and objectives – cluster facilitators

11:00 – 11:30 

• Presentation of tasks for Semester 4 – Development of a Danube Transnational Strategy on digitalization-led CE innovations in construction and Transnational Action Plan (TAP) in 13 countries  

11:30 – 12:00 

• Steering committee meeting

11:30 – 12:00

• Parallel session for stakeholders (networking session) – personal meetings between participating stakeholders

12:00 – 12:30

• Wrap-up and AOB session, outlook on next steps. Moderator – Silvia Stumpf, LP01 BAA