Master Class Series Cities Supporting Cities: Towards Circular Economy Concepts, Frameworks, and Actions

Attendees heard from Fort Collins, USA, as they offered their city as a case study as they embark on an update to their Economic Health Strategic Plan with a first-time focus on circularity.

One question on Fort Collins’ mind – what is the right circular economy framework for this planning effort? To help answer this question for cities that are moving from conceptual into strategy, leading circular economy consultant Metabolic will share their circular economy framework, how it differs from other frameworks, and how to determine which framework is useful for enabling action.

Bonus: Start thinking creatively about connecting waste streams back to production processes in your city’s Miro board

In this second session, participants learned how policies, interventions, and strategies from the local government could support industrial manufacturing operations to implement circular business practices. During this interactive session, participants will get the opportunity to ask questions to representatives from New Belgium Brewing Company, HP, Leapin Lizards Labels, and Riopele and better understand what cities can do to support more circular business practices.

In this interactive workshop, Circular Economy Expert Erin Kennedy from Metabolic, and Holly Pummell and Molly Saylor from the City of Fort Collins worked with participants to think about how cities can develop and implement their circular economy plan.

This session integrated key takeaways and allowed participants to apply them to their own cities. Participants were challenged to think about all the ways cities can take action to address barriers to achieving a circular economy, building on the strategies that cities came up with in the first session.

Hear what circular economy strategies ended up in Fort Collins’ Economic Health Strategic Plan and from Metabolic on some of their favorite strategies from across the U.S. and Europe. Also, hear about what strategies are missing from plans and what is needed if there are gaps to close. Participants are encouraged to share their favorite strategies (either actual case studies or ideas they have), which will be captured and shared back with the group after the session.