We have come to a point in time where we can no longer just vision, but must act. We are talking about the transition from waste to material. The normal course of business around raw materials is a heavily environmentally polluting business, which contributes to global warming. In 2015, 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement, agreeing to a plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. The Netherlands also contributed to this and translated this into its own Climate Agreement. In this agreement, attention is paid to the transition to a circular economy in order to limit the dependence on new raw materials. Circular craft centers are part of this circular economy. Points that replace the recycling centers and where material reuse is central. The clients of this graduation project are the BUCH municipalities: Bergen, Uitgeest, Castricum and Heiloo. These municipalities are faced with an extremely high level of bulky residual waste per household, which must be reduced to 5 kg by 2030. This thesis focuses on connecting local socio-economic entrepreneurs to the material flows in order to reduce bulky residual waste. The transition to a circular economy is not so much a technical challenge but a social one: how do we connect the necessary parties? Local entrepreneurs are key partners in this. Together with them, we are looking at the possibilities of setting up circular initiatives around the material flows. In addition to establishing a link between the entrepreneur and the material flow, this thesis examines the possibility of a circular network: a group of entrepreneurs who support each other in setting up circular businesses. To set up this network, a participatory approach has been designed in which circular capacities and collaborations are central. This approach consists of three layers, inspired by the Open4Citizens project, creating 1) Immediate value for the participants, 2) Tools for supporting the participants and 3) An network of actors. Setting up the network has been a research through design process, in which design questions were answered with a design that was immediately tested. Over a period of 3 months, local entrepreneurs participated in this project and met, talked, formed first collaborations and exchanged circular ideas. Worksheets were designed for the sessions in which this took place, which were improved or supplemented on the basis of the output. In this way a twofold design was made as a result of a participatory process with local entrepreneurs. Firstly, a vision for a circular network in the BUCH municipalities has been designed, with a name, website, shape and vision for the future. Second, a Circular Community Startkit was designed based on the formats used in the project. The aim of this starter kit is that the process can be repeated in the BUCH municipalities, but can also be applied in other regions. The start kit consists of an overview of the process and six worksheets in which circular activity is stimulated. By using this starter kit, municipalities can inspire local entrepreneurs to start circular business during a participatory project. The start kit ends with an exit phase in which the facilitator hands over the baton to the participants.

In the Bijlmer H-Buurt in Amsterdam, a new way of living is being developed, based on co-ownership of the property and collaboration with the neighborhood and municipality. It is called a Community Land Trust (CLT) and for the Netherlands it will be the first. The City of Amsterdam strives to be a fully circular city by 2050, so the CLT has to comply. Waste is a main topic within the circular economy, so the goal of the project is: ‘How to enable and show the residents of the CLT Bijlmer that they themselves can create value from waste and by doing so support the (local) circular economy?’. With the following criteria to evaluate the final design: Is it reducing waste locally? Does it create value or products out of the waste? Does it help the community financially or socially? The project started with reviewing the goals and challenges followed by an exploration of the context. This was sprint 0. Sprint 1 focused on exploration of opportunities and looking for directions for development. The exploration ended with multiple directions focused on: organic-, plastic-, textile- and bulk waste. Sprint 2 focused on developing these directions into initial concepts, researching about and with the community. This provided the insight that knowledge on circular opportunities was lacking. At the end of sprint 2, two concepts were selected for development. One concept focused on organic waste, with composting and a vegetable garden at its core. The second concept focused on textile waste and included a sewing atelier and recycling, upcycling and reusing textile waste locally. Sprint 3 focused on developing these concepts further and provide the community with clear steps to realise these. The current situation at the CLT community was analysed and the community was involved again. Researching the current situation provided information on operation and plans of the vegetable garden and sewing group used the CLT. These provided starting points for realizing the concepts. Also, some struggles were discovered. The vegetable garden lacked a good compost facility. Also, both initiatives had an individualistic approach. The second session with the CLT community found that both concepts were perceived valuable, but put more focus on details. Also, the lack of knowledge was highlighted again. They required more information on the process and wanted to know what specific products would result from it. Based on the feedback of sprint 3, sprint 4 was initiated. The goal was to develop specific interventions for the vegetable garden and sewing group focused on the value to the community and product. Also, a solution was developed for the lack of knowledge. So a toolbox with all the knowledge required was created. Consisting of methods to separate waste, ways to create value from waste with and providing the first steps to do so. Finally, the plans for the solutions for textile waste and organic waste were finalized. These were respectively a clothing swap closet and a compost facility with emphasis on the community.

Over the past decades, a culture that rapidly produces, consumes and discards earthly resources is established. The extraction and processing of these resources lead to an increasing amount of greenhouse gas emissions which are warming the planet day by day. In 2016 the European Union signed the Paris-agreement. This agreement aims to avoid this dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to 1.5°C (EU, 2016). To accomplish, the Dutch government (Rijksoverheid), introduced the Klimaatakkoord. Among other things, the Klimaatakkord acknowledges the transition to a circular economy as an essential strategy to accomplish the EU goals. By 2050, the Netherlands aims to be a circular economy where products and materials are reused in endless loops. This thesis focuses on the disposal of bulky waste, such as household goods or private construction materials. These type of products are usually discarded at the municipal recycling facility. The assignment explores on behalf of de BUCH (Bergen, Uitgeest, Castricum, Heiloo) municipalities alternatives for bulky waste disposal. The project takes off at the idea of a circular centre; a concept developed by Rijkswaterstaat. Circular centres are municipal recycling facilities, where not only waste is processed but also various recycling alternatives are offered. The role of the residents living in de BUCH area is identified as key-enabler in the transition towards a local circular economy. The plans for a circular centre in de BUCH also describes the active involvement and contributions of residents as an essential success factor. Currently, only a limited amount of people is actively engaged in circular activities. To make the circular centre a broadly supported success, it requires a different attitude and behaviour towards used materials for many residents. This project investigates how resident participation in circular initiatives can be encouraged in various ways. Literature on behavioural change has been consulted and models developed by Fogg (2009), Tromp (2013) and van Lieren (2018) were practised. The current attitude and the behaviour of residents regarding product disposal was obtained through interviews and a questionnaire. New roles for the residents has been established according to this data. The roles were held against Fischer’s model for richer ecologies of participation (2011). The obtained knowledge was translated into concepts and discussed with residents. A research-through-design approach was practised to identify barriers for participation and apply universal behavioural strategies in more tangible ways. These concepts were assessed by the residents using video prototypes. The following interviews provided insight into the barriers for participation and the possible strategies that could lower them. Based on these insights and insights from earlier phases, a toolkit has been developed which helps the municipality to design initiatives together with its residents. The toolkit aims to design interventions that overcome the barriers for participation and enhance resident participation at higher levels. A number of the barriers and behavioural strategies have been evaluated through an intervention at the municipal recycling facility. The toolkit consists of 3 design canvasses poster and a card set. During the use of the toolkit, interventions are created by means of a user journey. The user journey provides an easy way to identify the barriers for participation. The included cards present a set of common barriers. The barrier cards link to strategies that can be applied to overcome them. The strategy cards can be used as an inspiration during the enhancement of new participatory circular initiatives.

The aim of this project was to evoke dialogue between family members about the content of the exhibition One Planet, an exhibition about global issues. One Planet is the main exhibition of the Museon and is based on the seventeen sustainable development goals of the United Nations. The project focused on families with children between 8-12, the main target group of Museon. Research on the current visitor experience showed that there is a lack of opportunity for families to reflect the content on their own daily lives, and to talk about the subjects. Besides, the exhibition did not sufficiently encouraged visitors to take actions to contribute to sustainable development. Literature research was done on two main themes: how to facilitate dialogue and reflection in a museum environment and how to promote sustainable attitudes and behavior. This resulted in a set of design principles that were used as guidelines during the design process. Dialogic participation was placed central to the development of the final concept. The final concept, Expedition One Planet, consists of thematic journeys through the exhibition and the surrounding exhibition rooms. A thematical focus enhances the learning experience as it provides guidance and introduces a goal for the visit. It gives visitors the opportunity to engage with, and discuss a subject for a longer time. An outline for the expeditions was created demonstrating the elements that are part of each expedition: a booklet, exploration boards, question boards and the end point where visitors can write down and share a sustainable challenge. The elements are the same, but the content differs per theme. One theme was elaborated to illustrate and test the concept. Eight families tested the design. The concept proved promising in providing a meaningful learning experience for both adults and children. Due to the thematical focus parents felt more motivated to explain information to their children and the activity stimulated the family members to explore the exhibition together instead of separately. The elements that included dialogic participation, the question board with a multiple choice question and writing a challenge, did stimulate visitors to reflect on their own behavior and to discuss the subjects with their family members. The sharing of challenges was seen as a potential source of information for sustainable behavior. Equally important, the elements of the expedition were perceived as enjoyable and interesting by the families. Further development is required, but the concept is feasible and has the ability to make visitors feel more involved in the global issues presented in One Planet.