Keynote speech by Prof. Dr Milen Baltov, Rector, Burgas Free University (BFU), Bulgaria

Prof. Dr Milen Baltov has been working at BFU since 2005. He served one term as Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs and Accreditation and two terms as Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs and Accreditation before he was appointed as a Rector by the Board of Trustees of BFU. Prof. Baltov is a prime example of the transition from business to academia. He has been the main expert and project coordinator for many years for projects in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Kazakhstan that have to do with the development of new ideas, industrial zones, and the setting up of intermediate units. During the conference, he speaks on the "Circular Economy Strategies and Policies". The keynote stressed that now it is widely agreed that the take-make-consume and dispose (linear) model where global economies are based upon is no longer viable when taking into account population growth, resource access and scarcity. Nowadays, the shift to circular economy is regarded as more acceptable and innovative way to improve the sustainability.