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:
- planning and monitoring of circular economy
- 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.