From waste to resource: Field notes from the Advanced Cooperation Mission in Porto 

Porto, Portugal | 21?23 July 2026 

The IURC programme held a Green and Just Transition Advanced Cooperation Mission in Porto as part of the Community of Practice on urban regeneration and social cohesion (CoP 2), hosted by LIPOR ? the intermunicipal waste management service of Greater Porto. Representatives from Hunedoara (Romania), Valle del Cauca (Colombia) and Chihuahua (Mexico) joined the host team for three days of site visits, working sessions and interregional exchange on circular economy, waste management and the stakeholder dynamics that make green transitions work. 

The visit is part of a broader effort to develop a transferable, citizen-centred governance model for the green industrial transition. One that is not only environmentally ambitious but socially inclusive.  

Day 1 | A model for waste management  

The visit opened at the LIPOR headquarters, where a presentation of the organisation’s work and facilities gave participants their first overview of Greater Porto’s approach to waste management. From there, the group moved through LIPOR’s operational infrastructure: the Multimaterial Recycling Circuit and Automatic Packaging Sorting Unit, the drop-off site, the CVO Composting Plant, and the Adventure Park ? a public space built on recovered land ? alongside the biogas facilities and the Formiga Kitchen Garden, a home composting project. 

Each site visit was accompanied by introductions from regional representatives, who presented the priorities, characteristics and existing good practices of their own territories. The combination of seeing LIPOR’s facilities in action and mapping the starting points of each participating region helped the group quickly identify shared challenges and potential areas for collaboration. 

Day 2 | Circular economy and the art of engaging stakeholders 

The second day went deeper into LIPOR’s infrastructure and its broader economic logic. A visit to the Waste to Energy Plant, the landfill and the Wastewater Treatment Plant illustrated the full arc of the waste management cycle ? and, more importantly, the social and economic opportunities that emerge when waste is treated as a resource rather than a problem. Circular business models, new employment opportunities and the potential for local value creation were recurring themes in the discussions.  

The afternoon shifted to strategy. At Casa do Corim, LIPOR’s stakeholder engagement model was presented and then put to work: in a practical exercise, each regional delegation identified stakeholder engagement initiatives that could be developed in their own territory. The session made clear that the technical dimension of a green transition is only part of the equation ? without the right actors engaged in the right ways, even the best infrastructure struggles to deliver lasting change. 

Day 3 | From learning to action  

The final day returned to Casa do Corim for the last working session of the visit, focused on translating the accumulated learning into concrete cooperation. Participants worked together to develop ideas for a pilot action that could serve as the first practical output of the CoP ? one designed to incorporate the specific characteristics, priorities and experience of all four territories. 

The session generated proposals that pointed toward genuine interregional collaboration: not just the transfer of good practices, but the joint development of something new. A visit to the city of Porto rounded off the programme. 

Sobre as Missões Avançadas de Cooperação da IURC LAC

IURC América Latina e Caraíbas, parte do Cooperação Urbana e Regional Internacional (IURC) interliga municípios e regiões da América Latina, das Caraíbas e da Europa para cocriar soluções sustentáveis, inclusivas e orientadas para a inovação. Através de intercâmbios e parcerias entre pares, o programa contribui para melhorar a qualidade de vida dos cidadãos, reforçando simultaneamente a cooperação mundial.

Missões de Cooperação Avançada são visitas técnicas no local que se baseiam na abordagem colaborativa e de partilha de conhecimentos do programa IURC. Proporcionam aos municípios e às regiões a oportunidade de continuarem a desenvolver os temas explorados durante as reuniões em linha das Comunidades de Prática, aperfeiçoarem os seus planos de ação de cooperação e adquirirem experiência em primeira mão das melhores práticas aplicadas pelo município ou região de acolhimento.