About Circular Regions
In recent years ‘Circular Economy’ has become the buzzword that has taken Norway, among many other countries by storm.
Inspired by Oslo European Green Capital as a role model for other cities – along with the Greater Oslo Region as a strategy for regional development and collaboration; The Circular Oslo initiative was created to carry the torch as a regional multi-stakeholder approach to accelerate the transition to a Circular Economy – identifying and highlighting solutions with the potential to be scaled, replicated and networked internationally. While at the same time providing tools and resources to fuel the transition.
The mapping technology and methodology was developed in and for the Oslo region specifically for this initiative, but can be used in any city, region or country.
In an effort to understand what the Circular Economy is, and what it could mean for all of the stakeholders, participation in a broad range of international events connected the dots, learning from the front runners.
Research refined the ‘cathedral thinking‘ view of the Circular Economy.
Connecting the stakeholders is key, across sectors, branches, political parties and society to not only look at top-down initiatives, but also the bottom-up movement including NGOs, social enterprise and citizens themselves all as integral parts of a Circular Region connecting both urban and rural communities. Below, you can read about the journey.
Q1 2020
UN Global Compact Norway
Partnership with United Nations Global Compact Norway – Circular & Carbon Neutral Business Models Action Platform.
Together we are developing concrete projects for member organisations to transition to a Circular Economy.
Q4 2019
Open mapping event Oslo
As part of Ombruksuka 2019 an event within Oslo European Green Capital, an open mapping event will take place at Vollebekk Fabrikker – a testbed for circular socially innovative enterprises, as part of a whole day seminar on the Circular Economy and socially inclusive jobs for the future.
Q4 2019
Smart City World Expo Congress
Circular Oslo – Circular Regions was selected as one of more than 500 proposals to be featured on the world stage an innovative solution for accelerating the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions at the Smart City World Expo Congress in Barcelona.
Q4 2019
OECD policy seminar Umeå, Sweden
Invited to participate in the OECD policy seminar as part of the OECD Circular Economy in Cities & Regions Programme.
Q3 2019
Sharing Cities Summit Lund, Sweden
Invited to present the Circular Regions project and sit on the panel for the discussion on the topic “Connecting the Sharing and Circular Economies” at the Sharing Cities Summit
Q3 2019
Oslo Innovation Week
Participating in a variety of event including the Breaking Barriers brokerage event supported by Innovation Norway and Enterprise Europe Network to connect with other organisations working on regional solutions, sharing our methodology and data points.
Q3 2019
City of Oslo
Funding from The City of Oslo (Bymiljøetaten) dedicated to reducing material consumption, to build knowledge and experience, showcase new opportunities and promote access to circular and sharing solutions.
Q3 2019
Mapping Session Nordic & EU Policy Points
Circular Oslo – Mapping the Nordic timeline for Circular Economy Strategies against the EU 54 Action Points – open sourced and made available for any stakeholder
hi-res printable version available here
collaborative access to the dynamic digital version available upon request
Q2 2019
WCEF 2019, Finland
World Circular Economy Forum, an invite only event gathering the world’s circularity experts to connect and share knowledge. 2019 brought together a norwegian delegation of nearly 50 people representing a broad range of industry, NGOs, public entities and more, and saw the launch of new Nordic initiatives.
Q2 2019
Doughnut Economics
The first Doughnut Economics Training Session was held by Kate Raworth and her team discussing the background and research behind the Doughnut and how to implement it in communities, businesses, cities and nations.
We look forward to the launch of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab.
Q1 2019
Beyond Next Conference, Netherland
A forward looking conference arranged by Circle Economy bringing together circularity experts from around the world to solve real world challenges.
Through their Circle Lab initiative they crowdsourced solutions to challenges and invited those with the best solutions to connect with industry front runners to learn, exchange and contribute to shifting mindsets.
Q1 2019
Impact Journey – Learning Societies
In conjunction with Trondheim Kommune’s Smart City initiative – TRD3.0 A multi-stakeholder event utilising the Learning Societies Framework to implement the SDGs in a local community.
Q1 2019
Partner Outreach
Having researched multi-stakeholder partnerships, we wanted to learn from others and share our knowledge of the process. In doing so, we open-sourced our Partnership Methodology.
If you are interested in becoming a partner in the Circular Oslo initiative, please fill in our Partnership Insight Form or contact us at info@circularoslo.com
Regional Hubs and contacts are in development (more information coming soon) they are being established to amplify the knowledge and impact of the Circular Economy – if you are interested in establishing a hub in your community to host events and map local initiatives contact us.
If you are interested in establishing a Circular Region solution in your area of the world, and would like to learn from our experiences feel free to contact us, we will gladly introduce you to our tools and resources.
Q4 2018
ThinkDif conference, International
The 5th annual Disruptive Innovation Festival curated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Cynthia Reynolds alongside other international speakers participated in a panel discussion on Radical Reuse highlighting the impact of responsible consumption and production and the need to local and regional solutions.
Q4 2018
Circular Hotspot, Scotland
A Norwegian delegation comprised of Norwegian Municipal and Regional representatives, NGOs, Industry, SMEs and Norwegian Circular Economy consultants/enthusiasts attended the Circular Hotspot in Scotland to network, learn and exchange knowledge.
As part fo the conference, An Economics of a Circular World panel discussion took place between Scotland’s Chief Economic Advisor Gary Gillespie alongside Dr Katherine Trebeck of the Wellbeing Alliance and Cynthia Reynolds (currently spearheading Circular Oslo)
The conference was followed up by a combination of plenary talks and business discovery tours showcasing businesses in bioeconomy, construction, food and drink, manufacturing, plastics solutions, and circular economy in the community.
This along with other research helped define the categories and stakeholders required to accelerate the Circular Economy in our region.
Q3 2018
Oslo Innovation Week 2018
Connecting Norwegian and international companies, researchers and stakeholders for an engaging discussion on the unlimited opportunities in a circular economy. Innovation Norway, Enterprise Europe Network and EEA Grants arranged Unlimited Opportunities in a Circular Economy.
Q2 2018
CE Strategies Mapping Session
Circular Oslo initiated the Mapping the Local, Regional and National Circular Economy Strategies.
Dynamic digital issue of Version 1.0 release available here
Q2 2018
Learning Societies
As part of Trondheim Kommune’s Smart City TRD3.0 initiative, a remote event was hosted, with a deep dive into the Nesodden innovation ecosystem. Inviting citizens, politicians, city administration and local business leaders to find new solutions to support sustainable communities and connect rural and peri-urban areas to larger innovative eco-systems – the Circular Economy and the broader regional eco-system was established as a focus.
Q1 2018
Oslo European Green Capital 2019 announcement and call for collaboration partners