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Български 
- Monday, 13 February 2023
The Centre of Competence Clean&Circle started 2023 with a series of meetings to present its work plan for the current year. This year is also the final and key one for the successful completion of the project “Clean technologies for sustainable environment – water, waste, energy for a circular economy,” within which the Centre was established.
The Centre’s management team, together with the partner organisations, prepared and submitted in ISUN an operational plan for the project work in three parts: 1) Financial section and forecast; 2) Investment programme; 3) Updated plan for the implementation of the main and additional indicators for achieving the project’s objectives.
The plan itself was presented in detail at a working meeting on 26 January and was positively received by all stakeholders.
The operational plan of Clean&Circle received positive feedback
The details of the plan were presented at a meeting of the Executive Board of the CC “Clean&Circle” the next day – on 27 January. In the Aula of the Faculty of Biology at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” representatives of all partner organisations gathered and presented the results of their activities over the past year.
Iglika Chamurova, internal monitoring expert at Clean&Circle, addressed the meeting to present summarised data identifying key and critical issues in the implementation of all project indicators. Particular attention was paid to the construction works of the new building of the Centre, currently underway at the Lozenets campus of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski.”
It was noted that there is currently some delay at the site. Chamurova recommended that the Management Team demand a specific schedule and regular reports from the construction company for every step towards overcoming it. The position of the Executive Board remained that there can be no extension of the deadline and the delay must be made up.
Visualisation of the building currently under construction
From the management team’s presentation it became clear that by September 2022 about BGN 11,500,000 had been invested, representing 48.6% of the funds. By 31 December this percentage had risen to about BGN 13,400,000, or 56.6%.
Snapshots from Prof. Topalova’s presentation to the Executive Board
The signed contracts with businesses and the acquired intellectual property rights were also discussed. Prof. Pavlina Dolashka provided sample contracts that could serve the other colleagues, and took time after the meeting to give further guidance to participants. Scientific Manager Assoc. Prof. Benova presented a package of documents developed by the Clean&Circle team as an internal algorithm for signing contracts with businesses.
Snapshots from the presentations of Prof. Dolashka and Assoc. Prof. Benova
In the final stage of the meeting, the annual communication plan for 2023 was presented. Its main highlight was the planned international scientific conference. The date, venue and exact wording of its title provoked lively debates among the participants. All prepared and explained materials were sent to the partners so that regular monitoring of the implementation of indicators by the lead responsible researchers and by the EU could be carried out.
Also part of the series of meetings for the accelerated implementation of the project was the inspection of the construction site by experts from the Managing Authority. It took place on 6.02.2023. Despite the freezing day, control of the construction documents and works was carried out on site. The MA did not identify any violations of the construction works and expressed confidence that the site would be successfully completed.
Construction of the building continues
The entire project team – both management and those working on scientific and investment activities – is highly motivated to implement the ambitious programme. The best motivation comes from the results already achieved – 1 patent, 3 utility models, another 4 utility models in an advanced stage of realisation, numerous scientific publications and citations in global databases. The greatest motivation, however, are the many young researchers and established experts who work together on the creation, development and implementation of clean technologies for a sustainable environment and a circular economy. Soon they will also have their new scientific home with world-class equipment and laboratories.
