Designing for a circular network

Abstract

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.