Who we are
The Center for Circular Economy in Coffee (C4CEC) is the first precompetitive platform for enhancing Circular Economy in the coffee sector.
The Center provides a platform for putting circular economy into practice, piloting innovations, furthering research, and collecting and sharing all good practices, solutions, case studies, and practical information about circular economy as applied to the coffee value chain, from the coffee farming to the coffee consumption and disposal.
The Center is set up in Turin (IT) but supported by international partners, with the ambition and objective to collect and share all good practices, solutions, studies and practical information about circular economy as applied to the coffee value chain, from the coffee farming to the consumption and end of life.
The Scientific Board leverages cutting edge research from universities and academic centers, building upon transformative approaches from Slow Food and Sys-Systemic Design Lab.
ITC’s Coffee Guide Network Circular Economy Working Group, in close partnership with ICO and UNIDO, serves as a multi-stakeholders forum for individuals to understand, envision and shape the direction of circular economy in the coffee sector.
The working group’s work and findings contribute to the resources and data shared through C4CEC. Individuals interested in participating in the working group’s dialogues and creating new, practical resources for the coffee sector can contact info@circulareconomyincoffee.org
What we do
The Center aims to make know-how related to circularity in the coffee sector accessible to a diverse group of stakeholders: companies, associations, universities, institutions, and small and medium enterprises, as well as local communities and other coffee stakeholders.
Through a collaborative approach, the Center will enhance the environmental, social, cultural, and economic sustainability of the coffee value circle and will assist coffee stakeholders through knowledge transfer and mobilization of resources for the adaptation and implementation of circular solutions, while promoting the acceleration of the Circular Economy in the coffee sector.
IMPROVE AND PROMOTE CIRCULAR ECONOMY CULTURE
Organization of courses, resources, and learning pathways to share of good practices, research, studies and practical information how-to guides about circular economy in the coffee value chain circle.
PROJECT PLATFORM
Creation of a convening a multi-stakeholder knowledge sharing network to develop and disseminate evidence-based good practices in coffee sector. The initiatives will be approved by the Scientific Board.
PILOT PROJECT AND RESEARCH
We offer customized member support for developing ideas, pilot projects, or know-how related to circularity. Support to every entity that will ask for help in developing ideas or that will want to share its know-how about sustainability projects in the coffee sector.
Long-term project in development:
MARKETPLACE PLATFORM
On-line Tool for connecting entities involved in the Circular Economy of coffee. It generates a match The vision is to provide a matchmaking tool between companies that produce waste, those that recover it, those that transport it, and those that reintroduce it into a new production cycle
Founders
The Lavazza Foundation was founded in 2004 and its objective is to promote and implement economic, social, and environmental sustainability projects, to support coffee producing communities around the world. In order to achieve meaningful results, the Foundation undertakes development projects in partnership with public and private bodies, international organizations and NGOs.
Politecnico di Torino was the first Italian Engineering School founded in the wave of the technical and scientific innovation that gave rise to the most prestigious European polytechnic schools in the mid-19th century. Founded as School for Engineers in 1859, it then became Regio Politecnico di Torino in 1906. Engineers, architects, designers and urban planners have been trained at Politecnico di Torino for over 160 years with rigor, integrity and high-level standards.
The University of Gastronomic Sciences, founded in 2004 by the international non-profit association Slow Food in cooperation with the Italian regions of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, is a government-recognized, private non-profit institution. Its goal is to create an international research and education center for those working on renewing farming methods, protecting biodiversity, and building an organic relationship between gastronomy and agricultural science. The university forms gastronomes, new professional figures with multi-disciplinary skills and knowledge in the fields of science, culture, politics, economics and ecology of food, working to apply them to production, distribution and sustainable consumption.
Strategic Partners
The International Coffee Organization (ICO) was established in 1963 under the aegis of the United Nations and following the approval of the first International Coffee Agreement in 1962. The ICO is the only intergovernmental organization for coffee, bringing together exporting and importing Governments. It currently represents 93% of world coffee production and 63% of world consumption.
International Trade Centre (ITC) is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC is the only development agency that is fully dedicated to supporting the internationalization of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. ITC’s Alliances for Action programme initiative leverages partnerships for sustainable food systems. It does this through partnerships that cultivate ethical, climate-smart, sustainable agricultural value chains. The Coffee Guide Network is a global community of coffee experts guided by the ITC Alliances for Action initiative. The network formed through a unique collaborative effort to pool knowledge for the fourth edition of ITC’s Coffee Guide, widely considered the industry reference for coffee knowledge. The network aims to produce practical resources that bridge information gaps for coffee sector professionals, policymakers, academia and consumers and to promote widespread co-creation and collective action.
UNIDO is a specialized agency of the United Nations with a unique mandate to promote, dynamize and accelerate industrial development. UNIDO’s mandate is reflected in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”, but UNIDO’s activities contribute to all the SDGs. UNIDO provides support to its 171 Member States through four mandated functions: technical cooperation; action-oriented research and policy-advisory services; normative standards-related activities; and fostering partnerships for knowledge and technology transfer.