CL-Hub (EIT Climate-KIC)

Despite alarms on the need to unlock financial capitals to reverse the trend of climate change has been rising for years, humans’ cognitive biases have prevailed. This project works on an awareness-intention-action path fostering problem-owners in the ecosystem to a deeper understanding of circular thinking. On the basis of a debiasing experiment, the co-creation of innovative learning and nudging initiatives on circular thinking and investing will be carried out in 2020.

 

Based on empirical behavioural economics, firstly we will test on a defined group of investors and entrepreneurs some de-biasing videos specifically designed to overcome the hyperbolic discount bias on one of the priorities for the contrast to the climate change, which is the implementation of circular thinking in the industry production to reduce waste and gas emissions coming from the materials’ processes and the re-orientation of capitals towards circular models. The information collected during the experiment will allow for the co-creation of innovative learning initiative on circular thinking adding to previous pilot experiences that ENEA and AESS realized in 2019 with a particular focus on the construction sector. Nudging initiatives on circular investing will also be co-created and designed to stimulate capital inflows to circular businesses, also supported and endorsed by the active role that CONSOB (the supervisory authority for the Italian financial products market) will play in the project.

 

The pan-European extension of this project (Italy, Greece and Bulgaria) will also allow for a more effective co-creation of scaled nudging and learning solutions based on the experiences of the different geographical contexts involved. The project will be led by Universita Politecnica Delle Marche (Italy, project coordinator: Mazzolli Camilla) and supported by Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie (Italy), Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (Italy), Modena Energy and Sustainable Development Agency, Cleantech Bulgaria (Bulgaria, project coordinator: Hamanova Mariyana) and ATHENA RC (Greece, project coordinator: Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, School of Economics and ReSEES Laboratory, AUEB, Director EIT Climate KIC Greece).