To continue the work started through the Circular Europe Network and as part of its activity within the Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy (UAPCE), ACR+ has contributed to the discussions and exchanges of expertise on two UAPCE actions related to:

1. planning and monitoring of circular economy
2. material resources in urban areas.

One of these actions is led by ACR+ member The Hague with a view to developing a roadmap for resource management at city level by the end of 2019. The purpose of this roadmap is to provide cities with a clear outline on how to improve their resource efficiency based on:

• mapping resources (stocks and flows)
• setting-up brokerage facilities to bridge the gap between supply and demand and
• monitoring results.

The second action, led by Oslo, has resulted in a report on indicators for circular economy transition in cities. After mapping and consultation exercises,  30 indicators have been identified, categorised according to:

• process indicators (about actions from cities)
• outcome indicators (about the results these actions have) and
• context indicators (what actions other stakeholders implement).

A follow-up workshop will take place 8 October 2019 in Brussels druing the European Week of Regions and Cities.

The CIRCTER consortium has simultaneously published its final report containing:

• a territorial definition of the circular economy
• the monitoring of circular economy at sub-national levels
• evidence from six CIRCTER case studies including three ACR+ members: Zero Waste Scotland, Maribor and Brussels Environment, and
• adapted policy recommendations.

A series of maps illustrating the territorial dimension of circular economy is also enclosed. CIRCTER’s main policy messages are the following:

• agglomeration economies seem the most relevant territorial factor driving circular economies;
• for rural regions the biggest prospect clearly lies in the circular bioeconomy;
• industrial areas are the only possible setting for several circular economy strategies, ranging from industrial symbiosis schemes to product remanufacturing;
• ​regions and cities have a fundamental role in contributing to an effective recovery of all materials consumed locally.