Mapping circular urban economy cases

In spring 2023 Sweco’s division of Architects in Sweden was invited to respond to a call for procurement by Formas1, one of the partners in the EU programme Driving Urban Transition (DUT)2 and specifically responsible for the Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway. The call topic was to map ‘good examples of circular urban economy in Europe’, an exercise that consisted of identifying 50+ cases that could showcase best practice in European cities and towns, hereby reflecting the urgent need to accelerate circular economy, in full alignment with the EU Cities Mission.3 Sweco is a leading consultancy in architectural design, engineering, urban planning and sustainable development, with over 22000 employees worldwide and a strong presence on fifteen European markets. The company aims to be climate-positive in 2025 which indicates its ambition, both in terms of its own activities and to support clients in climate transition.4 Sweco’s bid was accepted on 2023-06-19 and the work that followed has been conducted in close dialogue with Formas and DUT, represented primarily through Björn Wallsten and Ann Maudsley, and carried out in an interdisciplinary and practice-based approach in a team of consultants representing Sweco in Sweden and Belgium. Sweco’s team has consisted of a small work group of architects and urban planners, supplemented by a larger team of experts representing a broad field of expertise relating to circular economy. The core team has consisted of: Charlie Gullström, Kathleen Van der Werf, Carlo Negri, Kevin Penalva Harpin, Anders Neregård, Leen Bellens and Emma Sterner Oderstedt. Of the many additional experts who have contributed to the project are the appointed country leaders of Sweco Urban Insight, Sweco’s knowledge platform that regularly reports on relevant topics relating to sustainable development.5 This report concludes the work conducted by Sweco between July 2023 and May 2024, accompanied by the CUE database, delivered as a separate file and a User Guide.6 In the following chapters a discription of the work carried out is provided, along with a series of reflections and recommendations to DUT, based on the results of the collaboration. In practice, the close collaboration that developed between Sweco and the DUT team over almost a year has resulted in an innovative methodological approach, potentially as a way forward for DUT to overview and monitor its own funded projects to generate impact in Europe. As one of several EU instruments to accelerate transition, it is in DUT’s interest to closely overview the development of relevant quantitative metrics and indicators to reflect the multidisciplinary and broad field that circular urban economy represents.

source :

https://dutpartnership.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/DUT-CUE-report-4-jun_v2-compressed.pdf