Art of Stakeholder Engagement Workshop: Planning Industry Roundtable Dialogues on Circular Economies

As part of the GEF-funded  “Circular Cities Beyond Plastics” program focused on reducing marine plastics and plastic pollution in Caribbean coastal cities through a circular economy approach, the Industry Roundtable (IRT) Support Team is pleased to invite 6 multi-stakeholder IRT City Teams from Barranquilla and Cartagena, Colombia; Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Colón and Panama City, Panama to participate in an “Art of Stakeholder Engagement Workshop: Planning Industry Roundtable Dialogues on Circular Economies” to be held from 21-22 May 2026 in Panama City.

The IRT Support Team, led by the UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat and the Collective Leadership Institute, is collaborating with Implementing Partners INVEMAR in Colombia and ANCON in Panama, as well as the Ministry of Water, Environment and Climate Change (MWECC) in Jamaica, to support Industry Roundtable Dialogues in 6 Latin American coastal cities for the purpose of identifying key challenges for plastics and plastics waste reduction as well as concrete up- and downstream pilot initiatives.

The goals of the IRT Workshop are to:

• Build trusting relationships within and among IRT City Teams
• Strengthen capacity for stakeholder engagement and dialogue facilitation among IRT City Teams
• Support IRT City Teams in co-designing and preparing for their next IRT Dialogue

The diverse IRT City Teams were selected through an open and participatory consultation process over the past months. Organizers look forward to working closely with these talented Teams to lay a strong foundation for successful dialogues and concrete collective action to advance robust circular economy solutions!