Systemic Design for Policy-Making: Towards the Next Circular Regions

The vast transformation the circular economy that will occur in the upcoming years inevitably will change the EU panorama, designing new scenarios from an economical-social-environmental perspective. To best build a circular economy, it is necessary innovative policy-planning with a holistic and systemic perspective that fosters a cohesive and smooth transition to circular business models. This paper explores the impacts of circular economy policy design processes driven by a systemic design and how this expertise could ease innovative and effective paths for policy-planning on a circular transition in EU regions. This examination of systemic design features recent approaches to design as a discipline addressing complex problems, and the literature review on systems and design thinking for sustainable development, and policy design, focusing on existing barriers to circular economy. The discussion is narrowed to the specific case study in which the systemic design methodology is applied to provide a path for five European regions towards the CE: the Interreg Europe RETRACE (A Systemic Approach for Regions Transitioning towards a Circular Economy) project. Including an in-depth examination of how systemic design can address current barriers for a circular transition within an effect in the short, medium, and long-term policy horizon in the transition of the European regions towards the circular economy

Circular Economy in Industrial Design Research:A Review

In the past decades, industrial design practice and research have focused extensively on how to optimize production and consumption, as a way to prevent negative environmental impacts, such as resource depletion, pollution, and excessive waste. Recently, the “circular economy” concept is increasingly used to achieve environmental benefits and economic growth simultaneously. Industrial design can contribute to a circular economy by fostering systems changes to achieve durability, optimal reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling of products and materials. Indeed, researchers have examined both the theoretical and practical aspects of how design knowledge can support the transition to a circular economy. However, this body of knowledge has not been systematically analyzed yet. To address this critical gap, this paper poses the following question: How has industrial design research so far contributed to advancing the circular economy knowledge? Accordingly, we survey relevant design literature focusing on the circular economy, through a review of contributions published in 42 scientific journals. Based on our results, we discuss how industrial design practices can potentially contribute to a circular economy across four thematic areas: (1) design for circular production processes, (2) design for circular consumption, (3) design to support policy towards the circular economy, and (4) design education for the circular economy.Marketing and Consumer Researc

Enhancing a Transition to a Circular Economy in the Water Sector: The EU Project WIDER UPTAKE

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) require an urgent transition from a linear to a circular economy operation/design concept with a consequent resource recovery and more sustainable waste management. Natural resources have to be preserved, and wastes have to become an opportunity for recovering resources and materials (water reuse, energy, sludge reuse). However, the transition toward a circular economy is a complex and long process due to the existence of technical, economic, social and regulatory barriers. These existing barriers are critical challenges for a modern and sustainable WWTP concept. The recovery of resources must be considered a strategic target from the earliest process-design phase. In this context, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 project “Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions—WIDER UPTAKE” aims to overcome the existing barriers (technological, regulatory, organizational, social and economic) toward the transition from a linear to a circular economy model for WWTPs. This study is aimed at increasing the awareness of the existing barriers to a circular economy and summarizes the key contributions of the WIDER UPTAKE project in terms of water reuse, sludge reuse and nutrient recovery

Systemic Design for a circular textile: towards a systemic change

The Circular Economy Action Plan provides a roadmap of actions aiming at accelerating the transformational change required by the European Green New Deal. The textile sector has been identified amongst the industrial sectors recognized of great potential for the reconversion from linear to circular economy. Being one of the world’s most globalized, polluting, and exploitative industries throughout its whole value chain, there is an urgent need for the textile sector to make a transformative and radical shift towards a Circular Economy.  Since 2015, different Circular Economy actions have been implemented across different industrial sectors and at the micro / meso / macro level, but a systemic and cross-sectoral effort is needed to cope with such a complex challenge. Thus, this paper contributes to the ongoing discussion around the topic of design for sustainability aiming to understand how a systemic design approach can foster the transition towards a circular textile value chain

The Role of Design in the CE Transition of the Furniture Industry—The Case of the Italian Company Cassina

Abstract: The literature on circular economy has highlighted the need for more studies focused on investigating the journey of individual companies in the transition toward sustainable processes. This paper addresses this need by focusing on the furniture design industry, showing how the transition requires the re-organization of knowledge regarding materials, processes, technologies, and product quality. This assumption is demonstrated through the design research activity conducted in 2019–2020 as the first part of broader research by Cassina LAB, a collaboration between Cassina Research and Development Centre and POLI.design of Politecnico di Milano. Based on the analysis of the Italian furniture industry between constraints and opportunities, the aim of the research is to identify critical issues and propose sustainable and circular solutions, tailor-made for Cassina. Through this example, the paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it adds to the understanding of how companies are adopting the circular economy paradigm. Secondly, it contributes to defining tools to implement new forms of knowledge of materials and re-design processes to deliver products that are compatible with a circular economy model

Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The transition within business from a linear to a circular economy brings with it a range of practical challenges for companies. The following question is addressed: What are the product design and business model strategies for companies that want to move to a circular economy model? This paper develops a framework of strategies to guide designers and business strategists in the move from a linear to a circular economy. Building on Stahel, the terminology of slowing, closing, and narrowing resource loops is introduced. A list of product design strategies, business model strategies, and examples for key decision-makers in businesses is introduced, to facilitate the move to a circular economy. This framework also opens up a future research agenda for the circular economy.Part of this work was supported by ResCoM, which is co-funded by the European Union under EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), Grant agreement number: 603843. We would like to thank the ResCoM team for their support and encouraging discussions on the topic of the circular economy

Understanding Upcycling and Circular Economy and Their Interrelationships through Literature Review for Design Education

open access articleDesign and engineering are fundamental activities in shaping the world we live in. Educating new generations in design and engineering, therefore, is crucial to build a better and more sustainable world. The changes in education for the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy, in particular, has become a priority for many educators. Aligned with the circular economy, a promising umbrella concept and practice called 'upcycling' is emerging. The concepts and practices in the circular economy and upcycling overlap depending on the definitions of the terms in various disciplines and sectors in different parts of the world. This has caused some confusion and misunderstanding. For educators aiming to teach students about sustainable design, production and consumption, it is beneficial to distinguish between these two concepts. Understanding the relationships (or interrelationships) between them in theory and practice is important for the educators to offer clear guidance and recommendations to future designers and engineers. This paper provides literature review on upcycling and circular economy, compares these two concepts, and visualises their interrelationship as draft teaching materials for design education

Circular design in practice: Towards a co-created circular economy through design

In the efforts to stimulate sustainable development, the circular economy represents the most recent attempt to reduce the pressure on the environment by attaining harmony between the economy, environment and society. In theory, this is accomplished by establishing ‘closed-loop’ flows of resources in a way that enables businesses and society to reap benefits from maintaining products, components and materials at their highest utility and value, while simultaneously reducing the generation of waste.Although the transition to a circular economy is still in its infancy, the concept can no longer be considered a niche discussion as it has rapidly gained a place on political agendas across Europe and is generating increasing traction in industry and academia. The circular economy certainly offers the considerable potential to address the environmental challenges in the design of products and the built environment, yet there are also a number of technical and non-technical challenges to overcome in its implementation. For designers such as industrial designers and architects, it means that the entire lifecycle including the design, production, use and waste phases need to be addressed holistically, and long-lasting collaborations need to be fostered in design endeavours to enable circularity on a systemic level. To date, there have been limited empirical studies into the implications of the circular economy for the practice of design.Therefore, this thesis set out to examine how the concept of a circular economy is currently being operationalised within design practice and explore what design knowledge, tools and methods are needed to support design practice and curricula in designing for a circular economy. The thesis builds on three studies. Study A investigated the current interpretations and operationalisation of the circular economy in design practice across the disciplines of architecture and industrial design; Study B explored the role of stakeholder collaboration and co-creation in facilitating circular design innovation; and Study C explored what knowledge, tools and strategies could further support design for a circular economy in practice.The findings indicate that the circular economy is a complex and multi-faceted challenge that expands the scope of design projects and drives the integration of new knowledge and skills into the design process. Design efforts in the context of the circular economy need to go beyond the focus on technical challenges and the perception of design projects as ‘temporary’ endeavours. Instead, the circular economy shifts the focus of designers away from the creation of physical artefacts and towards the creation of systems, business models, collaborative networks and future visions; thus, ultimately helping clients to look ahead and render the pathways towards circularity tangible. It is apparent that the circular economy requires extensive stakeholder collaboration during (and after) the design process, and the results indicate that ‘designing’ and establishing collaborative networks can be regarded as integral components of circular design and as intangible design outcomes. In this regard, participatory design approaches are found to be important in fostering awareness and knowledge of circularity and promoting collaboration between actors. Finally, the circular economy is blurring the boundaries of scale and disciplines and encompasses considerable ambiguity. This equivocality calls for a holistic design approach and universal design frameworks and language to ensure that the ‘version’ of a circular economy that society will see in the future is the one that aligns with the underlying goals of sustainable development and establishes a systemic shift in how people perceive and utilise resources.To conclude, the findings of this thesis contribute to a better understanding of how the concept of a circular economy is implemented across design practice and identifies pathways to further advance circular design

Design for circular behaviour: Considering users in a circular economy

In a linear economy, a product is manufactured and sold to a customer. Then, little concern is given to what the user actually does with it when they have it. However, in a circular economy where the aim is to circulate products at their highest level of value, the customer’s behaviour can become an important part of the system. Circular design strategies have tended to focus on the physical aspects of a product (e.g., disassembly, material selection), but the design of products and services can also have an influence on user behaviour and, to date, this aspect of circular design has not been fully explored. This project aims to define what key user behaviours are required for circular business models to work and to outline how design can enable these ‘circular behaviours’. This research project consists of a literature review, case study analysis and expert interviews with practitioners. A theoretical framework for designing products and services to encourage circular behaviour is developed. This work provides an initial step towards a better understanding of the user’s role in the transition to a circular economy as well as a preliminary model for how design for behaviour change strategies could be implemented in this context

Exploring Circularity Toolkits for SMEs Learning Ecosystems

This research explores the role of Circular Design and education in facilitating the transition to a Circular Economy for SMEs and start-ups. Despite accessible resources in Circular Design, the extent of their adoption by businesses—and e specially SMEs, who face resource limitations and lack scientific access—remains uncertain. Circular Design operates at a systemic level, requiring consideration of economic, social, and environmental aspects in innovation processes. This study analyzes existing tools and their alignment with SME needs, identifying critical areas for Circular Design adoption. The analysis reveals an emerging and diverse set of resources supporting circular transitions. Learning Ecosystems for the Circular Economy are characterized by multi-sectoral partnerships, flexible learning approaches, and digital advancements. Three key directions emerge for developing Learning Ecosystems: assessing companies’ circular maturity, integrating circular design into company culture, and fostering collaboration with innovation ecosystems. In conclusion, this research lays the groundwork for implementing targeted Learning Ecosystems to advance circularity within SMEs, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and innovative approaches in circular innovation