Masterclasses
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 to
Thursday, March 13, 2025
The program of the Masterclasses
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Masterclasses & network meetings
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Sustainability reports - unloved obligation or opportunity for transformation financing
Format: Masterclass
Language: English
Speaker
Bernd Meyer
Member of Management Board, Innovation and Sustainability Consultant
ZENIT GmbH
Lecture information
Formal sustainability reporting is a game changer. More and more companies are required to publish such an official report. Even companies that are not actually required to report (SMEs) still have to prepare sustainability data, especially if they are suppliers to large companies or apply for a loan from their house bank. What do companies need to know? What is the current status?
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
North Rhine-Westphalia: hotspot for circular economy and innovation
Format: Masterclass
Language: English
Speaker
Bety Chu
Head of Business Unit Sustainable Transformation
NRW.Global Business GmbH
Florian Schnitzler
Head of Startup unit
NRW.Global Business GmbH
Marcus Thiemann
Business Unit Director - Packaging Technology
inno-projekt GmbH
Christian Mertens
CFO
BHFM Technologies GmbH
Paolo Coda Rivera
Founder
Sacred Valley Fibers PCR
Henning Löbbert
Co-Founder
1to3 energy
Lecture information
International companies always find the best opportunities where there is a great deal going on. NRW is a location that has proven one thing in particular: its ability to change. The heavy industry region has become a pioneer in innovation and sustainability. NRW is pursuing a major goal, which is to become the first climate-neutral industrial region in Europe.
In Germany's most important economic region, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the circular economy is one of the most powerful drivers of modernization and transformation. Where so much green transformation is driving an enormously diverse business location in the heart of Europe, NRW.Global Business the state-owned trade and investment agency shows the best way forward and helps international companies find their place among the many opportunities.
Major stakeholders in this transformation processeses are international startups with their new ideas and concepts. This is the reason why NRW.Global Business supports them and offers them a grant of 10k EUR – called the Startup Welcome Package - tailored-made for their needs when entering the German market.
12:00 - 01:00 p.m.
Companies at the edge of waste and product law: An R-Evolution for the waste hierarchy
Format: Masterclass
Language: English
Speaker
Dr. Claas Oehlmann
Managing Director
BDI-Initiative Circular Economy
Inken Sittler
Project officer
BDI-Initiative Circular Economy
Lecture information
Waste and Circular Economy legislation has been developed over decades at both German and European level. The five-stage waste hierarchy of the Waste Framework Directive in the order of prevention, preparation for re-use, recycling, other recovery and disposal is central to the handling of waste and establishes a regulatory area from the phases of beginning to the end of the waste. Speaking about so called R-strategies, the question is what's their potential to r:evolutionize companies business strategies.
01:00 - 02:00 p.m.
NRW Bank: Financing and funding programs for Start-ups and SMEs
Format: Masterclass
Language: English
Speaker
Janpeter Beckmann
Funding advisor
NRW.Bank
Lars Böttcher
Productmanager EU- and foreign trade promotion
NRW.Bank
Lecture information
02:00 - 03:00 p.m.
What we can learn from ants - The Economy for the Common Good
Format: Masterclass
Language: English
Speaker
Dr. Hartmut Schaefer
Co-creator ECOnGOOD Business Canvas, ECG Local Chapter Basel/Lörrach
ECOnGOOD | Economy for the Common Good
Beate Petersen
ECOnGOOD consultant and co-founder ECOnGOOD LC Ennepe, Ruhr & Wupper
ECOnGOOD | Economy for the Common Good
Lecture information
Did you know that ants build the biggest cities of the world - and that these exist for more than 34000 years and hence three times longer than any human settlement?
Even better: Ever since, they operate in a completely circular, regenerative and common goods-oriented way. They have solutions for the obstacles we still face. Or in better words: They have established robust strategies for resilience.
So what can we learn from one of the smallest species in the world about the success factors for our economy and businesses?
Come to this interactive masterclass to find out how the principles of the Economy of the Common Good boost both impact and success of your business and make it part of the solutions our economy needs.
03:00 - 04:00 p.m.
Unlocking growth: From ESG Reporting to Beyond
Format: Masterclass
Language: English
Speaker
Christine Curtius
Digihub Düsseldorf/Rheinland
Jean Bauer
ESG X
Frank Völker
CES
Tim Eschert
Ferolabs
Johannes Kern
Recycoal
Talya Sheldrake
Managing Director
MotionLab.Ventures
Servet Karadeniz
CEO
CIYANO
Lecture information
3 innovative startups, 2 customers, 1 sustainability& hardtech investor will discuss opportunities and challenges in green technologies.
The startups will present together with their customers solutions that drive sustainable business models and showcase how ESG reporting can be used as a value driver. Come and join as we discuss how investment hurdles can be tackled and what financial benefits lie in implementing clean technologies.
04:00 - 05:00 p.m.
Network meeting "Chemical Recycling"
Format: Network meeting
Language: English
Speaker
Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum
Chief Scientist
Circular Valley
Lecture information
TBA
05:00 - 06:00 p.m.
Network meeting "Circular Valley: NRW-Flandern"
Format: Network meeting
Language: English
Speaker
Dr. Carsten Gerhardt
Chairman
Circular Valley Foundation
Lecture information
TBA
06:00 - 11:00 p.m.
Evening event "Circular Night" on the Main Stage
