Currently, acquiring an adequate overview of the future availability of secondary resources in Europe is not possible due to a lack of consolidated knowledge regarding the resource potential in the anthroposphere. To overcome this gap, this COST Action strives for a breakthrough in the field of waste and resource management and pursues the establishment of a universally acceptable and internationally applicable scheme for the classification and reporting of resource potentials. To this end, the COST Action works to form a pan-European network of high-quality researchers, engineers and scholars to coordinate nationally funded research activities. The COST Action aims to carry out the COST Mission and to meet various specific objectives:
(1) COST Excellence and Inclusiveness
The COST Action
- involves researchers, engineers and scholars in cross-border networking, regardless of their location, age and gender as long as personal contributions for fulfilling the Action’s objectives are apparent.
- strives for the involvement of less research-intensive countries, defined as Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC). The COST Action is seeking ITC researchers’ full involvement through offering both grant holder and leadership roles.
- involves experts from all career stages. It fosters the involvement of Early Career Investigators through leadership roles and Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSM).
- strives to improve the COST Action’s gender balance compared to the situation in the EU-27. Therefore, woman account for 33% of the researchers and 45% of the PhD graduates.
- counterbalances research groups’ unequal access to knowledge and funds. Precedence is given to many different and new research groups.
- actively promotes STSM through a STSM Coordinator in order to enhance the visibility and integration of researchers in European knowledge hubs.
- assigns an appointee for inclusiveness. The Network of Proposers includes an expert who heads the Office for Gender Competence from a university with 3.000 researchers and 30.000 students.
- identifies excellence across Europe to contribute to targeting the objectives of the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges programme section on “Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials” and the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials.
(2) COST International Cooperation
The COST Action involves researchers from COST Member Countries, Near-Neighbouring Countries and International Partner Countries to foster the mutual exchange of knowledge, to build capacities by connecting high-quality research groups and to strengthen the European Research Area. A scientific added value will be generated through the linkage of national research projects and through the exchange of knowledge in terms of methodologies and data for assessing the resource potential in the anthroposphere.
(3) Industrial dimension
The COST Action provides a platform for researchers and industrial stakeholders to meet and build mutual trust for fruitful collaboration. Research can profit from the integration of confidential industrial data. The dissemination of best practice handbooks, including best available technologies, to enterprises in the waste and resource management sector is integral to this COST Action.
The COST Action endeavours to increase the impact of science and technology on policy,regulatory bodies and national decision makers through the timely involvement of relevant stakeholders in the field of waste and resource management.