The interest in Circular Berlin’s third community meetup on June 26th 2019 was great. Despite 30°C+ temperatures outside, a large crowd of people met at Impact Hub to learn more about tools and methods from some of Berlin’s most active circular economy networks. More than half a dozen very diverse and complementary tools helping to develop circular economy for organisations, consumers and citizens – and therefore cities of course – were presented. The tools could be used by CE new-comers and the one who already wants to explore the topic more extensively.
As sharing and spreading knowledge about circular practices is key to the sector’s growth. Open IDEO has developed an extensive online and free of cost Circular Design Guide aiming to share diverse methods, mindsets, stories and resources, which was presented by Open IDEO Berlin Chapter. Phoebe Blackburn, Berlin ambassador for Circulab Network introduced the crowd to educational boardgames as a fun and effective way of teaching students of all ages, organisations and companies about the concept of circular economy.
We also tried to cover existing tools option for the urban scale and material flows. Lars Zimmermann, founder of MiFactori, presented an Input/Output tool that enables individuals and organisations to figure out option to keep the resources used for producing something in the loop. As the project uses open source, it can be used by anyone. As a doctoral candidate at TU Berlin Georg Hubmann currently conducts research on Circular Urban Metabolism.
Another practical tool in terms of improving the circularity of products and processes is the Life Cycle Assessment, to be more specific the Eco Value Ratio as explained by Circular Berlin member Isabel Ordonez who also works for CURE (Centers for Urban Remanufacturing).
A method specifically designed for private households is BUND’s Abfallcheck. The social organisation’s trained volunteers have visited several hundred households so far, evaluating their use of resources and making recommendations on how to save energy, water and reduce waste by consuming more consciously.
The zero waste audit for restaurants functions similarly. Is it currently being developed by Laura Konieczny from Zero Waste Your Life and Circular Berlin. The aim is to help restaurants getting a grasp on their waste streams and improve their environmental impact by advising practical changes to be made in their working routines.
As the grand finale of the short presentations of tools and methods, Circular Berlin launched Berlin’s collaborative calendar on circular events and Database for Circular Initiatives that can from now on be added to and accessed on circular.berlin.
After the short presentations of tools and methods the crowd engaged in an active discussion and networking session. With loads of knowledge shared and new connections being made Circular Berlin as part of Impact Hub’s Circular Economy Tribe is happy about the outcome of the community event and looking forward to the next one.
Check out the presentations:
