Pop-Machina is a four-year project, started in 2019 and funded by the EU under the programme Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 is the largest EU funding programme for research and innovation in history. It has three priority directions, one of which is solving challenges, which society is facing.

Pop-Machina project aims to overcome environmental challenges by bringing scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the market. The project was born out of the idea of showing that maker movements and the collaborative production model can lead countries towards a circular economy.

For years, economic growth has been fueled by consumption, but this has come back like a boomerang: the take – produce – use – throw away principle has started to suffocate the planet with myriad of waste. Today, when the problem of climate change has turned into a climate crisis, namely application of principles of circular economy is the way out of this situation. It is the circular economy model that involves the conscious consumption, recycling and reuse of various products. Some businesses are already starting to adopt the principles of a circular economy, but a major breakthrough has be brought by citizens who change consciously their production and consumption habits. This unique project aims to achieve this.

€10 million worth Pop-Machina project involves 23 partners from 7 countries who will not only conduct research, but also innovate through pilot projects – circular fablabs will be set up in different cities across Europe. Pilot projects are planned in Belgium, Turkey, Lithuania, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands.

Researchers at ISM University of Management and Economics are conducting consumer behavior research to find out how to encourage the use of circular economy items. Researchers at ISM University of Management and Economics in Lithuania will implement the scientific innovation part in collaboration with one of the strongest research groups in behavioral modeling in Europe – KU Leuven University in Belgium, led by prof. dr. Siegfried Dewitte.

More information about the project can be found here.

Project duration: 2019-2023

Grant amount: € 9,999,592

Contribution to ISM: € 315,000

ISM role: project partner

Principal ISM researcher: prof. dr. Justina Gineikienė

Project partners

KU Leuven, City of Leuven, CREVIS, Municipality of Thessaloniki, Municipality of Piraeus, Q-Plan International, University of Macedonia, Santander City Council, Universidad de Cantabria, Municipality of Venlo, TU Delft, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, ISTAC, Planet Turkey, KOC University, Kaunas City Municipal Administration, ISM University of Management and Economics, University of Cambridge, CERTH