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

How circular is current design practice? Investigating perspectives across industrial design and architecture in the transition towards a circular economy

The transition to a circular economy (CE) produces a range of new challenges for designers and requires specific knowledge, strategies, and methods. To date, most studies regarding design for a CE have been theoretical and conceptual, hence, limited research has been conducted on the practical implications of designing for a CE. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of how design practitioners interpret and implement the CE concept in practice. To capture the complexity of real-world cases, semi-structured interviews were carried out with design practitioners (N\ua0=\ua012) within the disciplines of architecture and industrial design who have actively worked with circularity in a design agency setting. The results show that the practitioners have diverse perspectives on designing for a CE, relating to (1) the circular design process, (2) the effects of the CE on design agencies, (3) the changing role of the designer, and (4) the external factors affecting circular design in practice. Some differences were identified between the architects and industrial designers, with the industrial designers more strongly focused on circular business models and the architects on the reuse of materials on a building level. In addition, circular strategies and associated (similar) terminologies were understood and applied in fundamentally different ways. As the CE blurs boundaries of scale and disciplines, there is a need for universal design frameworks and language. The CE concept is expanding the scope of the design process and driving the integration of new knowledge fields and skills in the design process. The successful implementation of the CE in practice is based on extensive collaboration with stakeholders and experts throughout all stages of the design process. Design agencies have addressed the CE by establishing dedicated CE research and design teams, facilitating knowledge exchange, developing their own circular strategies and methods, and striving for long-term client relationships that foster the engagement of designers with the lifecycles of designed artefacts rather than perceiving design projects as temporary endeavors. Ultimately, a holistic and integral approach towards design in a CE is needed to ensure that the underlying CE goals of contributing to sustainable development and establishing a systemic shift are ongoingly considered

My apartment is cold! Household perceptions of indoor climate and demand-side management in Sweden

Space heating represents a major share of a households’ total energy consumption and related CO2 emissions. An approach often suggested to improve both the environmental and economic performance of the energy system is demand-side management. However, there has been little research into how households perceive load shifting in space heating. This paper evaluates the thermal perception among tenants in 33 multi-residential buildings connected to district heating in Sweden. Centrally controlled load shifts were applied in eight of these buildings during a two-week trial in early winter. The participants recorded their thermal sensation and thermal satisfaction in a diary, supplemented by opening and closing surveys. The results indicated that indoor temperatures at home were generally experienced as being low, especially in the morning. Control over heating was regarded as insufficient. No statistically significant difference in thermal sensation and satisfaction between days with and without load shifts was identified. However, after the trial, significantly fewer participants than before were willing to accept greater temperature variations to save energy. The study further highlights four factors that may influence the perception and acceptance of demand-side management in residential space heating: (1) set indoor climate conditions, (2) timing and magnitude of load shifts, (3) individual control and (4) communication

Co-creation – a facilitator for circular economy implementation? A case study in the kitchen industry

Although the concept of Circular Economy (CE) has gained significant attention in business and academia, knowledge and strategies on how to bring circularity into practice still remains limited. Most research efforts are theoretical and focus on waste handling, resource use and environmental impact. Only few studies focus on the practical implementation of CE. There is a lack of research on practical cases, where both the design process and involved stakeholders are considered. This paper reports on a case study carried out in collaboration with a Scandinavian kitchen manufacturer, to increase the understanding on how co-creation strategies can contribute to the implementation of circular economy in the kitchen industry. Based on three workshops followed by five interviews with workshop participants, insights have been gained regarding barriers and opportunities for implementation of circular economy in small manufacturing firms. Results indicate that the co-creation workshops have led to an increased understanding of CE and change of attitude towards CE among the participants

“It\u27s never telling me that I\u27m good!” Household experiences of testing a smart home energy management system with a personal threshold on energy use in Sweden

Although smart technologies are widely promoted as enabling flexibility in households\u27 energy demand, they often fail to achieve substantial impact. How smart technologies are actually used and to what extent they enable changes of energy-reliant practices in everyday life therefore needs to be better understood. This paper evaluates a smart home energy management system, Ero 2.0, which was tested by households in a multi-residential building in Sweden. To our knowledge, apart from its forerunner, Ero 2.0 is the first of its kind to include a personal threshold on energy use varying with the availability of preferred energy sources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants, complemented by pre and post surveys, answered by 39 and 32 participants respectively. Overall, Ero 2.0 contributed to raised awareness regarding electricity and water use. To some extent, it also contributed to changes in practices, mainly through changed or reduced use of certain functions. However, it was less effective in enabling shifting practices in time. Difficulties to change practices were found to depend on: (1) lack of flexibility in everyday life, (2) limitations in size and layout of the dwelling, (3) lack of incentives and perceived impact, (4) lack of guidance and (5) lack of possibilities to control devices through the interface. The second point is an aspect that to date has received little attention in smart energy research. Design opportunities for future smart home energy management systems are discussed while acknowledging that such technologies cannot alone achieve the transition to more sustainable energy systems

The role of prototyping and co-creation in circular economy-oriented innovation: A longitudinal case study in the kitchen industry

To bridge the gap between the conceptualisation and implementation of circular value propositions, recent research efforts have focused on linking design-driven approaches with circular-oriented innovation. Such approaches can facilitate iterative processes that emphasise co-creation, prototyping, and real-life experimentation, ultimately promoting practical implementation. Still, there is a lack of understanding how companies go through the process of circular-oriented innovation, and how prototyping and co-creation support this process. This article presents a longitudinal case study of a four-year research project in which two academic teams, from Sweden and the Netherlands, collaborated with industrial partners to explore the potential of circular economy principles within the kitchen industry and develop a market-ready circular kitchen. The results indicate that prototyping plays a supportive role in the circular-oriented innovation process by making the concept of a circular economy tangible for stakeholders, facilitating knowledge exchange, and supporting overall developments towards collaborative circular supply chains. However, prototyping too early in the process linked to project deliverables carries a risk for ‘prototype fixation’, fragmented solutions, and missed opportunities for shared value creation. Co-creation was found particularly impactful during the early stages of circular-oriented innovation where it helped guide the project, enabled shared learning, built confidence and commitment amongst stakeholders, and supported the development of solutions tailored to demands of parties involved. The case study provides deeper insights on the role of prototyping and co-creation through diverse stages of the circular-oriented innovation process and extracts several lessons that might aid researchers and practitioners to navigate future circular-oriented innovation endeavours.</p