Focus Group Workshops - Product & Value Chain Design and Matching Critical Processes

CIRC-2-ZERO Project Focus Group Workshops Across the Baltic Sea Region

The CIRC-2-ZERO Project has successfully launched a series of Focus Group Workshops across the Baltic Sea Region, building on the strong momentum generated during the project’s kick-off meeting. The workshops engaged small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and regional experts to support the transition toward circular manufacturing practices.

Regional workshops were organised in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Germany, with each country hosting two Focus Group Workshops. In total, 12 workshops were delivered, forming a key component of the project’s first activities in the Electronics and Engineered Wood Products (EWP) sectors.

Supporting Circular Manufacturing Through Co-Creation

Each participating country partner brought together regional stakeholders, including industry representatives, researchers, and circular economy experts, to collaboratively explore and assess practical solutions for circular manufacturing. In Finland and Estonia, the workshops were moderated by Professor Fernando A. F. Ferreira (ISCTE Business School, Lisbon, Portugal), strengthening the workshops with advanced methodological expertise.

Finland: 10.6.2025 HAMK - Häme University of Applied Sciences, virtual and physical event

Sweden: 22.9.2025 Fällfors, physical event

Estonia: 12.6.2025 Tartu, Estonia, virtual and physical event

Latvia: 3.9.2025 Riga, street Valdena 5, the Library of RTU

Poland: 9.10.2025, virtual and physical event

Germany: 8.7.2025

The Focus Group Workshops were structured around two complementary objectives:

1. Focus Group Workshop 1: Sustainable Raw Materials
   The first workshop focused on data scouting and the identification of sustainable raw materials. Participants applied a structured evaluation process based on criteria such as market availability, cost-effectiveness, safety, and circularity, including recyclability, reusability, and durability.
2. Focus Group Workshop 2: Circular Manufacturing Processes
   The second workshop concentrated on mapping critical manufacturing processes. Participants analysed resource flows within existing value chains and identified opportunities for circular interventions, supporting more efficient and sustainable production systems.

Contributing to the Digital Twin Demo Platform

The results of the Focus Group Workshops directly support the development of the Digital Twin Demo Platform (DTDP), a solution developed within the project’s first work package. The DTDP will enable manufacturers to simulate, assess, and optimise circular strategies without disrupting ongoing operations.

Results from the first Focus Group Workshop will feed into Module 1: Circular Product Design, which provides manufacturers with advanced tools to redesign products in line with circular economy principles. This module includes a material selection tool for defining and evaluating sustainable material indicators and metrics.

Findings from the second Focus Group Workshop will directly contribute to Module 2: Circular Value Chain Design, which offers tools to map, analyse, and optimise production value chains. This module enables systematic analysis of resource flows and supports evidence-based decision-making for the implementation of circular economy strategies.

Through these Focus Group Workshops, the CIRC-2-ZERO Project continues to strengthen collaboration between industry and research, advancing practical, data-driven solutions to accelerate the transition toward circular manufacturing across the Baltic Sea Region.

About the project

The CIRC-2-ZERO project aims to accelerate the reduction of carbon footprints and support high-tech production capabilities in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Baltic Sea region.