Iain Gulland, CEO of Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), has been appointed the new president of the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+), an international network of cities and regions aiming to promote sustainable development.
Gulland was made President of the newly elected Board of Directors at the organisation’s annual General Assembly on 28 May in Porto, Portugal. Nominated by the Board of Directors, Gulland is joined by two Vice-Presidents, Fernando Leite, CEO of LIPOR (Porto Metropolitan area) and Josep Maria Tost i Borràs, Director of the Catalan Waste Agency. The three men will serve a two-year mandate supporting ACR+’s work on the circular economy and working to increase the capacities of local authorities regarding resource efficiency.
The ACR+ Board of Directors will now feature the cities of Paris, Genoa, Odense, Porto Metropolitan area, North London (NLWA), as well as the Eastern-Midlands Region (EMRWO), Brussels region, Catalonia (ARC), Zero Waste Scotland and WasteServ Malta. The Board of Directors will also serve a two-year term.
Gulland has a raft of experience behind him as CEO of ZWS and previously led its predecessor programme, WRAP Scotland. He also has more than 25 years’ experience in sustainable resource management, including initiating recycling systems in the public and third sectors. ZWS leads on the delivery of the Scottish Government’s Circular Economy strategy and other low carbon policy priorities and is at the forefront of efforts to create a resource efficient circular economy.
Commenting on his nomination, Gulland said: “I am honoured and delighted to become the next President of ACR+. The important role of cities and regions in facilitating the transition to the circular economy is now evident around the globe, not least being core to our strategy in Scotland. ACR+ offers a dynamic platform for the sharing of strategic expertise and I look forward to supporting the ACR+ family to grow and become the ‘place-to-go’ for both practical support and collaborative action in Europe and beyond.”
ACR+ leads projects and activities across the Europe in an attempt to smooth the path for a circular economy. All projects refer to one of the network’s five working themes: awareness raising and communication; operational instruments and monitoring; legal and economic instruments; strategy and planning, and co-operation and capacity building. Previous work by ACR+ includes a Horizon2020 Capacity building project in Mediterranean countries and a MINIWASTE campaign designed to demonstrate the possibility of significantly reducing the amount of bio-waste generated at local level.
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