Last autumn, the Circular Economy Club (CEC) celebrated its inaugural global event Circular Cities Week. The goal was to work together and push for the design and implementation of circular economy strategies in cities around the world.

In 2020, more than ever, we need to work towards building resilient cities which can recover from environmental, social and health crises. CEC believes that the circular economy is a model that will help cities become more resilient. Circular Cities Week will take place online on 26 Oct. to 1 Nov. 2020, alongside United Nations World Cities Day.

Circular Cities Week is an annual, decentralised global event. In 2019, over 80 CEC Chapters signed up to organise workshops which will identify opportunities and next steps so as to encourage implementation of the circular economy in their cities. Around 30 CEC Chapters organised the workshop and the findings are set out in the Circular Cities Week Report.

The CEC envisions a world in which every city in every country functions and prospers through circularity, ending the age of waste. An ambitious goal such as this requires clarity and clearly defined deadlines. Circular Cities Week provides this critical framework.

The objectives of Circular Cities Week are to:

• raise awareness about the potential of the circular economy framework to build more resilient cities, in view of the current COVID-19 pandemic; and to
• engage the public in designing and implementing a circular city and collating suggestions for a global report which will comprise the top suggestions.