Advancing circularity: DaCapo project’s general assembly meeting in Amsterdam

By Eleni Natsi, CORE Innovation Group

The DaCapo consortium recently convened for its General Assembly Meeting Month 36 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, marking a key milestone as the project enters its final phase. Partners from research institutions, industry and stakeholder organisations joined to reflect on progress, coordinate activities and set the course for the project’s concluding months.

Project progress and strategic goals

The meeting opened with an overview of DaCapo’s accomplishments and objectives. Partners celebrated progress in defining key indicators and enhancing tools that support informed, circular decision-making across product lifecycles.

A detailed financial overview was presented, giving partners a snapshot of resource utilisation and budget distribution as the project enters its later stages. The consortium reaffirmed its commitment to cost-effective execution while ensuring core activities remain fully supported.

Alongside finances, the meeting included a risk assessment session, enabling partners to identify potential challenges ahead and to outline mitigation strategies to keep implementation on track.

Use case sessions - Tools, KPIs, and validation

Each use case team from Fairphone, PESMEL and GKN Aerospace, took the floor to provide structured updates that followed a consistent agenda:

• Use case overview of tools and KPIs

• DaCapo vision alignment

• Use case validation

These sessions were instrumental in aligning expectations and boosting collaboration across teams.

Work package presentations

Leads from across the project’s work packages presented on current outputs, interdependencies and next tasks. These presentations offered clarity on how technical and methodological advances are converging, ensuring the DaCapo framework remains cohesive and ready for integration with piloting and validation in the months ahead.

Looking forward

Looking ahead, the consortium mapped out next steps — including priorities leading up to the next official review meeting. With a clear understanding of strategic milestones and responsibilities, partners left the general assembly equipped to accelerate progress toward project completion.

Building connections: Social dinner

Beyond formal sessions, participants enjoyed a social dinner in Amsterdam, nurturing collaboration and strengthening the interpersonal bonds that fuel cross-partner synergy. These moments of informal exchange are key to enhancing teamwork and sustaining momentum across the final project phase.

The Month 36 General Assembly reaffirmed DaCapo’s commitment to delivering human-centric, digital solutions that support circular manufacturing practices across Europe. With robust progress and coordinated plans for the months ahead, the consortium continues to drive toward impact and practical deployment of its innovations.