Enabling circular economy action plans for small and medium-sized cities

Research Project, 2023 – 2026

The circular economy (CE) plays a central role in achieving climate-neutral, sustainable and resilient cities, while improving biodiversity and wellbeing.While cities across the EU have launched a wide range of CE initiatives and plans, and many solutions have been identified that can increase circularity and resource efficiency, potentially contributing to the mitigation of a range of environmental impacts, they now need robust tools to combine existing and new knowledge, and to bring scientific evidence into action.
The circular economy (CE) plays a central role in achieving climate-neutral, sustainable and resilient cities, while improving biodiversity and wellbeing. While cities across the EU have launched a wide range of CE initiatives and plans, and many solutions have been identified that can increase circularity and resource efficiency, potentially contributing to the mitigation of a range of environmental impacts, they now need robust tools to combine existing and new knowledge, and to bring scientific evidence into action. ECLECTIC’s overall goal is to enable the design, implementation and monitoring of integrated, innovative strategic action plans for CE that can effectively contribute to climate-neutral, sustainable and just planning and development of small and medium-sized EU cities. To foster evidence-based co-creative policymaking, planning and governance in cities, ECLECTIC will build on a quintuple helix approach - involving local research institutions, public administrations, industry, and civil society in four city-region living labs, and consider the influence of the natural environment in framing objectives, activities and defining impacts. In brief, the project will co-develop a toolbox, with advanced tools, metrics and recommendations for decision-makers in municipalities, companies and civil society, to co-design, implement and monitor evidence-based sustainable, inclusive and just CE action plans, considering context-specific challenges, targets and opportunities.