The conference entitled “Beyond Plastic Waste: Are We Ready to Do Our Bit?”, was held on Friday, 4 October at the Novi Sad Fair of Ecology under the auspices of the REMEDIES Project, supported by the European Union through the HORIZON programme. The event brought together representatives of EXIT Foundation, the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, along with other project experts, as well as representatives of the public and private sectors, around the topic of innovation in the field of plastic waste management and ocean nature protection.
For two years now, the REMEDIES Project has been bringing together 23 organizations from 12 countries, with EXIT Foundation as an important strategic partner from day one. The aim of the project is to start the trend of plastic waste prevention through engagement of general public, implementing coordinated actions and building a more environmentally conscious society, so last week’s conference was an opportunity to exchange experiences and examples of good practice from different industrial angles.
“As perhaps the only European music festival that has grown directly from social activism with the aim of encouraging positive social changes, in the first quarter of a century of its existence, EXIT has implemented numerous projects for youth development and promotion of peace, and the development of environmental awareness is one of the most important topics that EXIT Foundation has been dealing with since day one”, said Ivan Petrovic, President of the Board, EXIT Foundation, in his opening speech at the conference. He commented on the successful initiatives of the GREEN EXIT platform so far and emphasized the importance of the European Union’s support in the context of the Festival’s long-term environmental goals:
“With the support of numerous partners, we responsibly collect packaging waste at festivals, and from year to year we manage to significantly reduce the use of plastic and styrofoam and switch to sustainable packaging and accessories in the gastronomic zones of EXIT Festival. Through a reward recycling campaign for visitors every year, we are one step closer to the complete solution. The support of the Delegation of the European Union, with which we have developed a strategy for further greening of our activities, is particularly important to us.”
EXIT Foundation is currently participating in two pan-European projects, REMEDIES and INSPIRE – the first is focused on the reduction of microplastics in the seas and oceans, the second in rivers. Visitors could see what all this looks like in reality at Exit’s Sea Star Festival in Umag, where this year ecological cosmetic solutions were presented, and next season an innovation is planned to completely stop plastic emissions through a system for reusable cups.
“As a large platform and creative industry, we are open to support raising environmental awareness and scientific research in this field, and we are especially pleased to have great partners on our side, because we can make significant changes through synergistic actions,” added Petrović in his address. After him, the audience was greeted by Uroš Novak, International Coordinator of the REMEDIES project and Antoine Avignon, Programme Manager for Environment and Climate of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, emphasizing his satisfaction with the cooperation with Exit, as one of the largest and most influential music festivals in the world, which follows environmental trends in the festival industry.
The introductory remarks were followed by the presentation of the winning solutions within the “Plastic fantastic” campaign, and through two round tables – “REMEDIES for the Oceans: ARENA of Innovative Solutions” and “Green EXIT Initiative – Past and Future”, the gathered experts had the opportunity to discuss technological innovations that contribute to the reduction of pollution and the development of a climate-neutral ‘blue’ economy, based on the foundations of science, circularity and the importance of the community in the protection of aquatic ecosystems.
As part of the first panel discussion, the analysis of the existing environmental habits of citizens and the space for their change with smart investments was presented by Assistant Mayor of the Novi Sad City Administration for Environmental Protection, Jelena Moravski, representative of the Sheraton Hotel, Olja Kaluđerović, co-founder and CEO of SIMPLETEAM DOO, Miloš Šeša and Uroš Novak on behalf of REMEDIES Project.
In the light of positive examples, the second panel presented innovative GREEN EXIT solutions and good cooperation in more detail by the Programme manager of EXIT Foundation, Ida Siljanović, Nemanja Marjanović, Senior coordinator of the project “Every Can Counts” at the Recan Foundation, and Antoine Avignon, on behalf of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia.
As part of the conference, the possibilities of financing projects by the European Union in the field of ecology and environmental protection were also presented, which were discussed by the Project coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Vladimir Jovanović.
The conclusion of the conference discussions is that business-oriented alternative methods can significantly contribute to the reduction of plastic waste and the protection of ocean ecosystems, and in order for them to come to life in practice, an integrative approach, multi-sectoral cooperation, and joint activities of all parts of society are essential.
