Towards a circular society?
The Foundation’s ‘social design’ lab identifies, initiates and tests social innovation processes towards circularity. Two examples: In the Bavarian town of Markt Schwaben, with active participation of citizens and actors from public utility, local politics and social economy, the social design lab initiated a redesign of the local recycling center as a place of sustainability, learning and communal actions. On a conceptual but soon practice level, the Foundation explores the potential and barriers for circular practices in cities and neighborhoods.
The most recent Hans Sauer Awards – an accelerator for socioecological innovation – have recognized circular pioneers in the built environment, urban communities and more generally in organizations and (social) businesses. A March 2021 Forum on the Circular Society resulted in a loose network of more than 600 people collaborating at circular society. More still needs to be done. As the Foundation writes, “it is essential to pursue local, experimental, and novel approaches, to connect actors across sectors and to transfer new practices and models and the knowledge they generate to other places”.