Managing the Transition towards Circular Metabolism: Living Labs as a Co-Creation Approach

Amenta, L.; Attademo, Anna; Remøy, H.T.; Berruti, Gilda; Cerreta, Maria; Formato, Enrico; Palestino, Maria Federica; Russo, Michelangelo

doi:10.17645/up.v4i3.2170

Managing the Transition towards Circular Metabolism

Title

Managing the Transition towards Circular Metabolism: Living Labs as a Co-Creation Approach

Author

Amenta, L. (TU Delft Environmental Technology and Design; Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Attademo, Anna (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Remøy, H.T. (TU Delft Real Estate Management)
Berruti, Gilda (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Cerreta, Maria (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Formato, Enrico (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Palestino, Maria Federica (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Russo, Michelangelo (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)

Date

2019

Abstract

Resource consumption and related waste production are still rapidly increasing all over the world, leading to social and environmental challenges and to the production of the so-called ‘wastescapes’. Peri-urban areas—in-between urban and rural territories—are particularly vulnerable and prone to develop into wastescapes because they are generally characterised by mixed functions and/or monofunctional settlements, as well as by fragmentation in a low-density territory that is often crossed by large infrastructure networks. Moreover, peri-urban areas are generally the selected locations for the development of plants for waste management. In this way, they are crossed by waste flows of a different nature, in a landscape of operational infrastructures and wasted landscapes. Implementing Circular Economy (CE) principles, interpreting waste and wastescapes as resources, is a way to significantly reduce raw material and (soil) resource consumption, improving cities’ metabolism. A circular approach can positively affect the spatial, social and environmental performances of peri-urban areas. However, the transition towards a CE presents many challenges. This article outlines an approach to address these challenges, presenting a co-creation process among researchers, experts and stakeholders within Living Labs (LLs) processes. LLs are physical and virtual spaces, aiming at the co-creation of site-specific eco-innovative solutions (EIS) and strategies. In the LLs, public–private–people partnerships are developed by applying an iterative methodology consisting of five phases: Co-Exploring, Co-Design, Co-Production, Co-Decision, and Co-Governance. This article presents a case study approach, analysing the co-creation methodology applied in two peri-urban living labs, located in the Metropolitan Areas of Naples (Italy) and Amsterdam (The Netherlands), within REPAiR Horizon2020 research project.

Subject

Circular economy
Circular metabolism
Circular waste management
Co-creation
Co-governance
Living labs
Peri-urban living labs
Resource scarcity
Waste management
Wastescapes