CirCLER: Identification and ranking of the key skills and competencies required for managers of companies involved in the furniture production chain in their transition to a circular economy

On June 26, 2024, an online meeting of the consortium for the project "CirCLER - Circular Economy Transition Manager: guiding companies of the furniture value chain to deploy their transition strategy for a more circular economy " funded by the European Union, took place. Organizers of the meeting were AMBIT: Interior furnishings and hotel contract cluster and innovation hub and Ukrainian National Forestry University.

The main task of the meeting was to confirm the results of the surveys on identifying the key types of skills and competencies that managers need for transitioning furniture manufacturing companies to a circular economy.

Representatives of the CirCLER project consortium members and ten external experts from leading European educational institutions and business representatives participated in the discussion. The discussion was based on the previous work of the project teams and the results of a survey of education and business representatives from various countries in the European Union and Ukraine.

During the discussion, experts identified key gaps in the training of managers for transitioning to a circular economy. Using an online survey, seminar experts also expressed their thoughts and suggestions regarding previously obtained results.

Results obtained during the meeting will be crucial in filling the gaps in the training of specialists in the woodworking and furniture industries that exist today, as well as in further project execution, allowing for the development of innovative approaches in training managers capable of organizing and leading the transition to a circular economy.