Policy case

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Replace freshwater with less impactful alternatives and enact water efficiency measures

Regenerative water

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

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

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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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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 The population of the Dagoretti district of Nairobi has risen dramatically in recent years, growing to more than twenty times the size from 1969-2009. Overcrowding has strained resources, and many are vulnerable to malnutrition and other poverty-related illnesses due to food insecurity, a lack of access to health facilities and a scarcity of jobs. Young people are particularly affected, as 37% of the population are under 17 years old and many live on the street. What we were doing to help Urban Gardening was a multi-sector, comprehensive, integrated intervention in the Dagoretti district. Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals and Kenya Vision 2030, the project aimed to ensure that those in the Dagoretti district had guaranteed access to food, their fundamental human right. Working with farmer groups and schools, we helped young people and families to grow their own food and eat a reliable and nutritious diet. By developing high-quality produce and improving access to markets, we helped vulnerable groups, such as unemployed youth, to increase their income and improve food security in the long term. Farm Africa was supporting community members to include environmental conservation techniques and good agricultural practice in their urban agricultural systems while sharing nutritional knowledge to improve community understanding of the links between nutrition and health. Who did we working for? This project set up urban gardens for community groups and schools - school gardens are managed by parents, teachers and class councils. The gardens include rainwater harvesting systems, greenhouses and surficial wells and drip irrigation systems. Groups also received livestock, training in organic farming practices, and access to new markets and micro-enterprises to boost incomes and food security. We’re also worked with local government authorities on land planning for urban agriculture and the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions on food security. Who did we work with? Farm Africa was working in a consortium with Amref Health Africa and Kenyan government partners to reduce malnutrition, increase incomes, and promote sustainable farming and soil conservation. Amref Health Africa funded the project and expanded it to support a further 3,900 people. 

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Nairobi

City of Nairobi

Kenyan Government

Farm Africa

Amref Health Africa

<p>Case study about an urban gardening project in Nairobi, that provides residents with necessary tools, shares knowledge, installs rainwater harvesting systems and the like.</p>