The Circular City Funding Guide supports municipalities, businesses and other urban actors in creating circular cities. It also describes the potential and benefits of the circular economy in an urban context.

The main focus of the guide is to:

• provide information on financing and funding sources that are available for circular initiatives and projects, and
• provide guidelines for setting up funding programmes to support the transition to a circular economy.

The guide covers grant and subsidy types of financial support, along with different types and sources of financing such as debt, equity and guarantees.

It was developed by external service providers and EIB experts mobilised and funded by the European Investment Advisory Hub.

Cities and institutions identified the need for wider and more effective dissemination of knowledge on funding the circular transition in an urban context. While cities in Europe have been experimenting with innovative circular projects for some time, up-scaling and large-scale deployment have been limited. Difficulty accessing funding is believed to be one of the reasons for this slow circular progress in cities.

The aim of the guide is, therefore, to share knowledge, best practices and information on circular solutions, and on ways to finance the preparation and implementation of such solutions. The content of the guide was prepared following an extensive review of existing literature and other resources on this topic.