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The Circularity Gap Report: Friesland is a joint initiative led by Circulair Friesland, the Province of Friesland, and Circle Economy to track Friesland’s progress toward a more circular economy while also serving as a model for other regions. As the organizations behind this dashboard, we aim to provide structured indicators to measure key aspects of circularity—such as resource efficiency, waste reduction, and circular jobs—alongside on-the-ground case studies that highlight innovative local initiatives. This approach helps policymakers, businesses, and communities assess progress, address challenges, and accelerate Friesland’s transition to a circular economy. In doing so, Friesland is working toward meeting the national goal of reducing primary resource use by 50% by 2030 and achieving a fully circular economy in the Netherlands by 2050.

Beyond Friesland, this dashboard is designed as a replicable tool that can be implemented in other regions worldwide. By fostering comprehensive comparisons, it enables knowledge sharing and collaboration, allowing regions to learn from one another and scale successful strategies. In addition to tracking current trends, the monitor offers forward-looking recommendations to drive circular development—both within Friesland and beyond—helping to create a more sustainable global economy.

This case study collection supports the dashboard, in showcasing circular economy projects and initiatives already occurring in the region.

CGR Friesland

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Article / Report

Producing agricultural products and processing them into food and beverageproducts for consumption

Agri/Food

Providing public and private education and support services at any level or for any profession, and governmental and public administration services, including judicial, regulatory, and legislative activities, taxation, defence, public order and safety, immigration services, foreign affairs and the administration of government programmes

Education and Government Services

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

**Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages**

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The pandemic and other ongoing crises are hindering progress in achieving SDG3, exacerbating existing health inequalities and threatening progress toward universal health coverage. 
As a result, 68 million children are known to be un or under-vaccinated as of 2022 from TB and malaria increased. This has been particularly challenging in low- and middle-income countries, where health systems were already under-resourced before the pandemic. 

The goal targets to :
- reduce the global maternal mortality ratio;
- end preventable deaths of newborns and children; 
- end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other communicable diseases; 
- reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases; 
- strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse; 
- halve the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents; 
- ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services; 
- achieve universal health coverage; 
- reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and pollution;
- strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate; 
- support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines;
- substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States;
- strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks.

Sources: [https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3](https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3)
[https://sdgs.un.org/topics/health-and-population](https://sdgs.un.org/topics/health-and-population)  



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3. Good health and well-being   

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

**Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable**

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The pandemic has caused major shifts in migration patterns, including huge movements of people in and out of urban areas. Furthermore, climate change and conflicts tend to have disproportionate impacts on cities. These factors mean that the world is far from achieving the goal of sustainable cities.  
In many developing countries, slum populations have been growing, putting at risk the target of adequate housing for all by 2030. Since 2015, the number of countries with national disaster risk reduction strategies has more than doubled. 

Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, and social, human and economic development. Urban planning, transport systems, water, sanitation, waste management, disaster risk reduction, access to information, education and capacity-building are all relevant issues to sustainable urban development.

This target entails multiple essential concepts such as disaster risk reduction (DRR) and sustainable transport.

To achieve SDG 11, efforts must focus on strengthening capacities for planning for urban development, improving access to public transportation, and enhancing waste management. 

Sources: [https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11](https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11)
[https://sdgs.un.org/topics/sustainable-cities-and-human-settlements](https://sdgs.un.org/topics/sustainable-cities-and-human-settlements)


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11. Sustainable cities and communities

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Slow strategies aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible, for example through design for durability and repairability. A more circular economy is also a slower one: materials, components, and products—and even buildings and infrastructure—that we lock in stocks are made to last. This will lower material demand in the long run, in essence also serving to narrow resource flows.

Slow

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

Industries

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The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

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**These 17 Goals recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.**

The SDGs build on decades of work by countries and the UN, and especially on the Millennium Declaration adopted in September 2000 at UN Headquarters in New York which let to the elaboration of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce extreme poverty by 2015.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement was signed. A major blueprint came out of this: The Sustainable Development Goals: 17 overarching goals—and 169 targets—that governments are aiming to meet by 2030. Significant progress has been made in terms of poverty, health and inequality, but there's still a way to go. This is where the circular economy comes in: by circulating resources multiple times, the circular economy tackles issues of scarcity and allows all to access what they need—without overburdening the earth. If it's implemented in a holistic way—affording attention to social considerations and the fair distribution of resources— it also offers a pathway for achieving the SDGs; and the link between the two is ever-growing. To read more about the link between the SDGs and the circular economy, click [here](https://www.circle-economy.com/blogs/how-the-circular-economy-can-help-us-reach-the-sustainable-development-goals).

It is the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) which provides substantive support and capacity-building for the SDGs and their related thematic issues. TheDSDG plays a key role in the evaluation of UN systemwide implementation of the 2030 Agenda and in advocacy and outreach activities relating to the SDGs. In order to make the 2030 Agenda a reality, broad ownership of the SDGs must translate into a strong commitment by all stakeholders to implement the global goals. DSDG aims to help facilitate this engagement.
Alongside this, the annual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development serves as the central UN platform for the follow-up and review of the SDGs.
In addition, the UN Secretary-General presents an annual SDG Progress report, which is developed in cooperation with the UN System, and based on the global indicator framework and data produced by national statistical systems and information collected at the regional level.

To read more information: [https://sdgs.un.org/goals](https://sdgs.un.org/goals)

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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 Afgelopen week vond in Buurthuis De Kiekenhof in Nieuwehorne een inspirerende informatiemiddag plaats over Sociale Voedseltuinen. Meer dan 30 deelnemers, afkomstig uit alle hoeken van Nederland – van Amsterdam tot Appingedam en van Brabant tot Dokkum – kwamen samen om te leren over de kracht en mogelijkheden van Sociale Voedseltuinen.
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Friesland

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Sociale Voedseltuinen Fryslân

<p>The Social Food Gardens initiative is a network in Friesland that demonstrates how circular economy principles can enhance social well-being, health, and community resilience, benefiting not only the planet but people and communities. By transforming unused urban spaces into food-producing gardens, this initiative promotes food security, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability. It fosters collaboration among municipalities, businesses, and local residents, exemplifying the Frisian approach to circularity.</p><p>The Social Food Gardens initiative showcases how circular principles can be leveraged to create a more inclusive and resilient society. By strengthening social ties and ensuring equitable access to resources, it sets a precedent for community-driven sustainability in Friesland and beyond.</p>