Enabling Technologies have the potential to transform both the physical flow of materials and resources (production and construction methods), and the intangible organisational and managerial relationships (exchange and monitoring of data and relationships along the entire chain of value). They should, therefore, be considered important in supporting change processes aimed at the circular use of resources. This paper presents some research and experiments, at European and Italian level, aimed at developing and applying Enabling Technologies for circular economy, and at aligning them with the needs and challenges of society, by directly involving actors of the building sector ecosystem in moments of discussion and co-creation to define potential strategies and operational actions for innovation in the sector.

No abstract

There has been an increasing use of manufactured nanomaterials in industrial applications and consumer products. It has instigated concerns about the sustainability, risks and uncertainties regarding the interactions of the nanomaterials with humans and the environment. Consequently, significant resources in Europe have been invested into tool and method development to support risk mitigation and management, facilitating the research and innovation process of manufactured nanomaterials. Extended risk analysis, including socio-economic impact and sustainability assessment is moving the conventional risk-based approach towards a wider safety-and-sustainability-by-design perspective. Despite growing tool and method developments, the level of awareness and use by stakeholders is still limited. Regulatory compliance and acceptance, reliability and trust, user-friendliness and compatibility with the users’ needs are important factors traditionally known to hinder their widespread use. Therefore, a framework is presented to quantify the readiness of different tools and methods towards their wider regulatory acceptance and downstream use by different stakeholders. The framework, developed within Gov4Nano, diagnoses barriers which hinder regulatory acceptance and wider usability of a tool/method based on their Transparency, Reliability, Accessibility, Applicability and Completeness (TRAAC framework). An online TRAAC tool is being developed within HARMLESS that will be freely available on https://diamonds.tno.nl/#traac. Fourteen tools and methods were assessed using the TRAAC framework as proof-of-concept. The results provide insights into any gaps, opportunities, and challenges in the context of each of the 5 pillars of the TRAAC framework.

There has been an unprecedented use of advanced materials, particularly manufactured nanomaterials, in industrial applications and consumer products across several sectors in the last two decades. It has instigated concerns about the sustainability, in particular, risks and uncertainties regarding the interactions of the manufactured nanomaterials with humans and the environment. Consequently, significant resources in Europe and beyond have been invested into the development of tools and methods to support risk mitigation and risk management, and thus facilitate the research and innovation process of the manufactured nanomaterials. The level of risk analysis is increasing, including assessment of socio-economic impacts, and sustainability aspects, moving from a conventional risk-based approach to a wider safety-and-sustainability-by-design perspective. Despite these efforts on tools and methods development, the level of awareness and use of the majority of such tools and methods by stakeholders is limited. Issues of user-friendliness, trust, implementation training, regulatory or authority compliance needs, regulatory acceptance and unsuitability to the users’ needs are some of the factors which have been traditionally known to hinder their widespread use. Therefore, a framework is presented to quantify the readiness of different tools and methods towards their wider regulatory acceptance and downstream use by different stakeholders. The framework diagnoses barriers which hinder regulatory acceptance and wider usability of a tool/method based on their Transparency, Reliability, Accessibility, Applicability and Completeness (TRAAC framework). Each TRAAC pillar consists of criteria which help in evaluating the overall quality of the tools and methods for their (i) compatibility with regulatory frameworks and, (ii) usefulness and usability for end-users, through a calculated TRAAC score based on the assessment. Fourteen tools and methods were assessed using the TRAAC framework as proof-of-concept. The results provide insights into any gaps, opportunities, and challenges in the context of each of the 5 pillars of the TRAAC framework.