The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN), Romania, through the Centre for Promotion of Entrepreneurship in the Field of Sustainable Development (CPADDD), National Society for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (SNSIM), Agency for Environmental Protection – Cluj (EPA-Cluj), Eco-innovative Cluster for Sustainable Environment (CLEMS) and the Center for Innovation and Organizational Sustainability (CIOS), in partnership with Babeş-Bolyai University, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, University of Art and Design of Cluj-Napoca and the Romanian Agency for Environment, will organize a two-day event, under the auspices of “THE EUROPEAN WEEK FOR WASTE REDUCTION”, comprising a wide range of activities, in support to their preoccupations within this field. The event will take place on 23rd and 24th of November 2016, between 9 AM to 6 PM, with the venue at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Boulevard, 400641, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The objectives of the event are:
• the promotion of the entrepreneurial education and action, within the circular economy. This year’s theme refers to a better management of packaging, the action taking part in the “EUROPEAN WEEK FOR WASTE REDUCTION”, an yearly held event, monitored by the European institutions. The specific theme of the action for 2016 is “Reduce packaging waste by using less packaging!”;
• to support the responsible behavior of young people who want to bring on the market new products and services based on the principles of circular economy and to help them develop skills for business initiating and managing, through a proactive management, through their interaction with the key stakeholders;
• to mobilize, in a common platform, the academic environment, the representatives of the local authorities, economic operators, citizens and students involved in the process of packages’ and waste from packages’ management, in the direction of their reduction, contributing, in this way, to sustainable development.

For this year’s edition of the event, UTCN-CPADDD, SNSIM, APM Cluj, CLEMS and CIOS aim to organize a series of actions, consisting in the followings:
• Conference on “Entrepreneurship, Business and Sustainable Development – AMDD 2016” addressed, firstly, to PhD students – under this action the speakers’ presentations will analyze specific areas of the circular economy, from the point of view of public policies, regulatory framework, technical solutions and financing arrangements.
• Student Festival of Eco-Responsible Entrepreneurship, addressed to students from Bachelor, Master and Doctoral programs – it will include several activities, such as: a competition for eco-responsible business plans, based on wastes’ replacement, reduction, reuse and recycling; a round table for facilitating the interaction between entrepreneurs and students, with a special focus on eco-innovation and waste; presentations on entrepreneurial best practices, with a focus on eco-responsibility.
• Entrepreneurial fair on packages’ good management, addressed to the entire community – through this activity, we aim to open a path for cooperation among the representatives of the local authorities, economic operators, citizens and students who are involved in the management of packaging and waste. The fair will offer, on one hand, the possibility to exhibit products and services by the participating organizations, bringing to students and to the community eco-innovative solutions for waste issues; on the other hand, the fair aims to inform students from Bachelor, Master and Doctoral programs regarding the importance of reducing, reusing, sorting and recycling the waste.
Expected results:
Participants: 200 persons
Business plans: 20 business ideas
Participating organizations: 30 companies, 4 universities, 3 NGOs
Media: 5 media institutions

Registration: competitors who want to start an entrepreneurial venture in the field of better management of packaging can enroll within the platform. The registration is open until 15.11.2016. In parallel, the organizers will request the registration as mentors to representatives of the business environment from this specific field. On 16th and 17th of November 2016, the organizers will hold a first meeting between the mentors and the competitors, in order to establish the mentor – competitor work teams, with the objective to finalise the “eco-responsible entrepreneurial ideas”. For each topic, the organizers will appoint a jury for establishing the best business proposals.

Description of events: on the 23rd of November, the competitors will participate in all the three actions: “AMDD – 2016” CONFERENCE, ACADEMIC PLATFORM FOR CIRCULAR ECONOMY and ECO-ENTREPRENEURIAL BEST PRACTICES AND ADVICES AND INSTITUTIONAL CONSULTANCY FOR ENTREPRENEURS interested in the good management of packaging. On the second day, the 24th of November, the competitors will be evaluated with regard to their entrepreneurial proposal initiative and with regard to the translation into practice of their competencies of eco-responsible business initiation and management.

Awarding the winners: within the first phase, the jury will assess the competitors’ knowledge in the field of packaging. In the second stage of the business projects proposals’ evaluation, the competitors will be assessed by the jury, by the mentors and by the other competitors. The mentors will not assess the business project of the competitor they will have counselled and the competitor will not assess its own business project. The final mark will be calculated as the arithmetic average of the marks resulted from the four assessments. Within this section, three prizes will be awarded, as follows: the prize for the most eco-innovative business idea, the prize for the best eco-innovative business proposal and the prize for the best business proposal from the perspective of wastes’ reduction.