This event has happened – find presentations from the session here:

• Presentation from the event – with slides from LEGO Group, Cirqle, global Material & Asset Fond, DoBehave and BLOXHUB.
• Circular Innovation City Challenge
  Read about the challenge and the three case presentations on innovative public-private collaborations coming out of the Circular Innovation City Challenge which were launched at yesterday’s event.
• SAP Sustainability efforts and solutions
• White Paper ‘The business of a circular future’
  Learn more about Danish solutions and technologies within circular economy

Globally, more natural resources are consumed than what is sustainable for our finite planet. According to the United Nations, the extraction and processing of natural resources are responsible for around half of all global CO2 emissions and over 90 per cent of global biodiversity loss. It is evident that we have a shared challenge in decoupling growth in resource use from population and income growth. When discussing the challenges, potential and solutions within circular economy, cities and the stakeholders within play a vital role towards a more circular and sustainable society. By 2050 close to 70% of the world’s population will live in cities, and already today cities emit 70% of greenhouse gas emissions, and account for 50% of the global waste production. The cities are a big part of the challenge but can also be part of the major solutions.

A circular and sustainable transition is and will be a major systemic change in the way we look at our resources. Designing circularity in cities can mean providing new jobs and opportunities for all communities and citizens. The radical changes needed will not come without better use of data and insights on the materials and products we use, new circular business models, and new ways of engaging all city communities. This circular transition can be enabled by the same revolution which is seen within digitalisation and use of data.  By utilising the tools of data and infrastructure that can enable a structured use of assets and movements along the value chain, digital tools become as important as physical tools when it comes to determining and steering asset flows within and across value chains.

With the circular and digital transition as aim, five ambitious cities in 2021 collaborated on a call for innovation from solution providers across the world. The cities in the “Circular Innovation City Challenge” are Amsterdam, New York City, Toronto, Glasgow and Copenhagen all wishing to build collaboration between public and private stakeholders as a driver for more circular solutions. The purpose of the challenge was to set the framework for the common and individual challenges in the cities and through this openly invite companies and entrepreneurs to come with their innovations to drive circular economy in cities.

This session will focus on the role of cities as drivers of circular economy and highlight the learnings from the “Circular Innovation City Challenge”, where cities across boarders have invited and engages with multiple stakeholders to identify digital and data-driven solutions.

Read more about the circular city collaboration and challenge.

Official part of Circular City Week New York

• Learn more about how to succeed with public-private innovations when driving innovative circular solutions in cities.
• Hear from speakers sharing their experiences with cross-border, cross-sector and cross-stakeholder collaboration.