At the RESSOURCES Congress in Troyes, the University of Strasbourg presented INSET’s results within a wider conversation: how can local cooperation, national networks and European projects work together to turn industrial symbiosis into everyday practice?
On 13 and 14 October 2026, the Centre de Congrès de l’Aube in Troyes hosted the eighth edition of the RESSOURCES Congress. Held every two years, the congress is organised by the Club d’Écologie Industrielle de l’Aube (CEIA) and co-organised with the SYNAPSE network, with the support of ADEME and other institutional and economic partners. The University of Strasbourg, one of the congress’s premium partners, took part to present INSET’s results and to connect the project’s European approach with the experience of practitioners working directly with businesses and territories.
The programme placed cooperation at the centre of the transition. Roundtables, twenty project pitches, practical workshops and site visits to Michelin and Kronprinz explored how economic actors can share resources, develop synergies and strengthen territorial resilience. Two workshops, on the role of territorial economic development organisations and on who can boost industrial synergies, addressed a central question for INSET: who helps industrial symbiosis happen, and what support do they need?
The CEIA: more than twenty years of local cooperation
Launched in 2003 by the Aube Département and run as an association since 2008, the CEIA is one of France’s pioneering industrial ecology initiatives. It brings together businesses, public authorities, professional organisations, and education and research institutions to encourage cooperation across the Aube territory. Its approach combines local knowledge, business networks and research expertise, notably through its close links with the University of Technology of Troyes.
The Club gives industrial symbiosis a practical foundation. It runs business workshops to identify potential synergies, supports collaborative projects, promotes the reuse of professional equipment, and offers training and opportunities to learn from operational examples. Hosting the RESSOURCES Congress extends this work: local experience becomes a resource that other territories can examine, discuss and adapt.
SYNAPSE and ADEME: connecting experience and supporting implementation
At national level, SYNAPSE connects the French industrial and territorial ecology community. Led by ADEME with an expert facilitation team, the network circulates knowledge, practical resources and experience between initiatives. Its new 2026-2028 cycle aims to strengthen cooperation between businesses and the territorial ecosystems that support them. For practitioners, this means learning from peers and building on approaches already tested elsewhere.
ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition, provides expertise, advice, training and financial support to help businesses and public authorities move forward with their environmental transition. In industrial and territorial ecology, it supports local initiatives and coordinates the SYNAPSE network. Public support and shared expertise together connect circular economy ambitions with the organisational work required on the ground.
These complementary roles illustrate one principle: resource exchanges depend on relationships, facilitation and continuity. Creating the conditions for cooperation is itself part of the transition.
Local clubs create trust between companies, national networks spread what works, and European projects such as INSET provide shared skills, knowledge and policy proposals.
INSET: bringing European resources into the conversation
This made RESSOURCES a particularly relevant setting for INSET. Coordinated by the University of Strasbourg, this Erasmus+ project links capacity building, access to knowledge and policy support. Its results answer three complementary needs: developing skills, finding relevant information, and identifying measures that can support wider implementation.
For INSET, the congress offered a bridge between European project results and the communities that can put them to use. These resources can inform training, support territorial facilitators and feed policy discussions, alongside the experience already built by networks such as the CEIA and SYNAPSE.
A continuing collective effort
As INSET comes to an end on 31 October 2026, this connection is especially meaningful. The lasting value of its results will depend on the people who organise cooperation, support businesses and shape enabling policies. RESSOURCES brought these communities together and placed INSET’s results within a collective effort that continues beyond the project.
Explore the project’s resources at inset-symbiosis.eu/inset-resources.
