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Circle Economy and ICLEI have partnered up to initiate the go to knowledge hub of case studies about the circular economy in cities. The Cities Collection is a repository of case studies that demonstrate the role of cities in the circular transition, and includes policies, business cases and research articles. Cases in the Collection flow into an ecosystem of digital products which support users in transitioning cities to circularity, for example [Ganbatte](https://ganbatte.world/cities/) and <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/" target="_blank">ICLEI Circulars</a>, both part of the <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/circle-lab-for-cities/" target = _blank">Circle Lab for Cities Programme.</a>




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Circular Cities

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Policy case

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Minimise waste through diversion: Instead of sending waste to landfill, it is redirected into other industrial processes for handling, treatment, recycling, recovery, or reuse in various forms. 

Minimise waste through design: At the outset of a process of project, plan and design such that there is zero waste or minimal waste during production, use, and at end of life. 

Minimise Waste (SDG12)

Reduced use of fossil fuel energy sources and/or increased use of renewable energy

Reduce Energy Consumption

Providing electricity and gas services, including traditional and renewable energy generation, natural and manufactured gas and operating gas networks

Energy Utilities and Independent Power Producers

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

Recovering and reusing waste heat, gas, etc. for energy

Recovery and reuse of waste energy

Working together with stakeholders and parties in other unrelated industries to implement circular economy strategies and opportunities

Cross-industry projects, pilots

Circular use of public-owned assets (land, buildings and equipment)

Cities consume about 75% of global energy and emit between 50% and 60% of global greenhouse gases (UN-Habitat). To reduce the negative impact of their energy consumption, cities need to shift away from fossil fuels and move towards renewable energy sources. Such a shift will help cities work towards their climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans. Renewable energy technologies such as wind, water, solar, and geothermal can also help improve access to energy in vulnerable and marginalised neighbourhoods through, for example, decentralised, off-grid solutions.

Renewable energy technologies can harvest the energy in nature’s processes, such as wind, and solar radiation and geothermal heat, that can be replenished within a human lifespan. In contrast, fossil fuels are materials that are not replenished within a human lifespan and are combusted for energy, losing the fuel material and resulting in emissions.

Local governments can develop sustainable energy plans, considering different energy resources and requirements, to develop a robust strategy for the development of renewable energy technologies and infrastructure throughout the city. They can also institute specific legislation and tax systems to regulate energy production and consumption, incentivise research and development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. Via Power Purchase Agreements cities can buy renewable energy from green energy providers and fix the price in order to provide security to financial institutions to finance renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, increasing awareness and facilitating capacity-building on planning urban sustainable energy projects can help the uptake of clean energy across the city by different stakeholders—from citizens to businesses and institutions. Facilitating collaboration, then, will be crucial, since private companies operate most of the world’s energy systems.


⚡ Energy Systems

Governments

In many industrial processes and in data centres, part of the energy input is lost as residual heat. It is possible to recover the excess heat to be used as a new source of energy. Recovering and utilising residual heat reduces the demand for additional heat generation. In turn, this reduces fuel requirements, and subsequently emissions if fossil fuels are used to generate heat.

Residual heat can be recovered via pipelines and reused again on-site, or transported to another location for another use, such as district heating which heats the homes of residents. In cases where the temperature of the recovered heat is too low, heat pumps can facilitate increasing the temperature to a more suitable temperature. 

Local governments can utilise their wide knowledge and influence to map residual heat flows and heat demand sites to help connect heat supply and demand across stakeholders in the most optimal way. As well as supplying industry with this knowledge, local governments can provide subsidies to industrial sites and data centers to help them to procure the relevant infrastructure and additional technology (e.g. heat pumps). What is more, local governments can commission the development of district heating networks.


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⚡💧  Capture and utilise residual heat

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

Impacts

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Industries

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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policy Instruments

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

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

The Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

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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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 CE-HEAT project was presented to the representatives of the Wcycle Institute, responsible for catalyzing circular economy in the Municipality of Maribor. The presentation, as part of the framework of European Sustainable Energy Week, took place on March 29, 2018.Utilization of waste heat from the production of electricity in the chain of hydropower plants in Podravje region was discussed.  Dravske elektrarne Maribor (DEM) presented the project of exploitation of this energy. In particular, DEM have highlighted the pilot project of the Fala HPP, where the utilization of waste heat will heat the 100 years old museum part of the power plant.Dr. Boštjan Gregorc presented the preparation of the optimal model of exploitation of waste heat and documentation for the implementation of project and activities in the future, which was created in cooperation with professor Dr. Aleš Hribernik from the Institute for Energy, Process and Environmental Engineering. The colleagues from the Wcycle Institute presented some of their projects and in particular the draft of Transition Strategy on Circular Economy. Several segments of the strategy allude to the possibility of including waste heat as the source in energy supply routes. The strategy was developed as part of the European project GREENCYCLE, the purpose of which is to develop a circular economy system as an integrated approach in support of the implementation of low carbon strategies and additional reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in partner cities of the Alpine region. Furthermore the institute is also in charge of creating a set of tools that will enable the planning, management and monitoring of key processes of the circular economy.As their interest in low carbon energy and circular economy closely align, the partners have agreed to formalize their cross-innovation sessions with regular meetings and future project collaboration.     

Maribor

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Municipality of Maribor

CE HEAT

<p>As part of its efforts to catalyze the circular economy, the Municipality of Maribor, in collaboration with the CE-HEAT consortium has implemented a project for the utilization of waste heat from the production of electricity in the chain of hydropower plants in Podravje region. The utilization of waste heat will heat the 100 years old museum part of the power plant.</p>

Waste heat from hydroelectric power plant in Maribor

Provide guidance or professional training to educate employees to use circular economy principles

Training on the circular economy

Encourage workplace training

 CE-HEAT project aims to improve the governance of energy efficiency by focusing on field of waste heat utilization in Central Europe space and through increased exploitation of endogenous RES – waste heat. This field was identified as one of the most pressing issues at the regional and local scale - with little success in the past. At the same time the waste heat utilization is recognized as important issue in latest Energy efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU). In order to improve governance in waste heat utilization, better and comprehensive planning, but also monitoring tools are needed. The CE-HEAT partnership has facilitated this process by:Providing an excellent analytical and monitoring platform through establishment of GIS based regional waste heat cadastres with waste heat sources classification and a monitoring tool;Providing a comprehensive solution for managing waste heat utilization projects and strategies based on the development of a waste heat utilization toolbox (leading stakeholders participation process, establishing feasibility etc.);Incorporating a new approach into local, regional and national strategies by integrating a novel cadastres and toolbox into existing spatial planning and energy management systems and spreading it throughout central Europe and beyond.Project Achievements: Digital waste heat cadastres have been created and activated in all partner regions, as tools for improvement of waste heat utilization. The consortium also developed a joint waste heat cadastre where data of all partners is combined onto one GIS map (in English). The waste heat toolbox includes tools and guides on investment decision making (including waste heat energy calculator), funding opportunities for each region, relevant business models, permits related to infrastructure projects for each region, relevant policy guides and link and good practice inventory for participating countries. The toolbox is available on waste heat platform. All policy and thematic pilots have been completed, with some pilots with support of CE HEAT project advancing all the way to waste heat system implementation.  Regional waste heat utilization action plans have been developed for all participating regions. The transnational waste heat utilization platform is activated online. The platform brings together all knowledge, tools, guidelines and best practice examples that enable learning and information exchange for users. Page 2  18 November 2021  Zveme vás na Infoden k 1. výzvě Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2021-2027, kterou program otevírá 15. listopadu 2021. Infoden se uskuteční ve čtvrtek 18. listopadu 2021 v prostorách Akademie veřejného investování Ministerstva pro místní rozvoj v Pařížské 4 na Praze 1. Program akce je rozdělen na blok věnovaný obsahovému zaměření programu a doplňující blok na téma způsobilých výdajů v projektech.  Registrovat se můžete emailem na adrese nadnarodni@mmr.cz. Registraci Vám potvrdíme emailem. Účast je bezplatná. Parkování pro účastníky nezajišťujeme.  PROGRAM ZDE    18 November 2021 | Prague Zveme vás na Infoden k 1. výzvě Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2021-2027, kterou program otevírá 15. listopadu 2021. Infoden se uskuteční ve čtvrtek 18. listopadu 2021 v prostorách Akademie veřejného investování Ministerstva pro místní rozvoj v Pařížské 4 na Praze 1. Program akce je rozdělen na blok věnovaný obsahovému zaměření programu a doplňující blok na téma způsobilých výdajů v projektech.  Registrovat se můžete emailem na adrese nadnarodni@mmr.cz. Registraci Vám potvrdíme emailem. Účast je bezplatná. Parkování pro účastníky nezajišťujeme.  PROGRAM ZDE   23 November 2021 Pierwszy nabór projektów w programie Interreg Europa Środkowa 2021-2027 zostanie otwarty 15 listopada 2021 roku.W tym dniu Wspólny Sekretariat organizuje spotkanie online, na którym przedstawi cele i warunki naboru oraz zakres tematyczny oczekiwanych projektów, które mogą uzyskać dofinansowanie z programu. Za pomocą przykładu zachęci do rozwijania pomysłów na projekty i budowania partnerstw transnarodowych. Więcej informacji o spotkaniu zostanie opublikowane w najbliższym czasie na stronie programu. Propozycje projektów można składać do 23 lutego 2022 roku. To pierwsze zaproszenie do współpracy ponadnarodowej w okresie finansowania 2021-2027 skierowane jest do organizacji publicznych i prywatnych w Europie Środkowej, aby wspólnie rozwiązywali problemy, które nie znają granic.  23 listopada 2021 roku Krajowy Punkt Kontaktowy organizuje dla polskich wnioskodawców Seminarium informacyjne nt. pierwszego naboru projektów.Szczegóły spotkania oraz rejestracja zostaną udostępnione na stronie www.ewt.gov.pl w późniejszym terminie.Zachęcamy do obejrzenia materiałów wideo o ofercie tematycznej celów szczegółowych programu oraz nawiązywania kontaktów z instytucjami krajowymi i zagranicznymi na platformie dla wnioskodawców.    29 November 2021 Il Punto di Contatto Nazionale organizza un evento informativo per gli applicants italiani al primo bando del Programma Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2021-2027 che aprirà ufficialmente il 15 novembre 2021. L'evento si svolgerà in formato ibrido (Venezia/online) nel pomeriggio del 29 novembre 2021 e sarà l'occasione per presentare al territorio gli elementi principali del primo bando e le misure di supporto per gli applicants italiani.Il programma dell'evento e il link di registrazione verranno pubblicati in questa pagina: https://www.regione.veneto.it/web/programmi-comunitari/news-ed-eventi  

Udine

<p>CE HEAT, a consortium created&nbsp;to improve the governance of energy efficiency by focusing on field of waste heat utilization in Central Europe,&nbsp;proposed a trainig "Waste heat recovery: from challenge to opportunity". Several municipality representative and utilities companies were present to learn the benefits of CE-HEAT tools and outputs at the Udine Castle, Italy in May 2019.</p>