A 10 minutes read to dive into the REFLOW project
Despite occupying just 2% of the Earth’s surface, the impact of cities spans far beyond their boundaries. Cities generate massive impacts locally and globally, socially and environmentally. Cities are aggregators of materials and nutrients, accounting for 75% of natural resource consumption, 50% of global waste production and 60 to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions.
A circular model aims to redefine growth and generate positive societal and environmental impact. It entails a transition from using finite resources, to using renewable ones (designing the concept of waste out of the system), while building economic, natural, and social capital. Although starting from material resources as a point of departure, the focus of the circular economy gradually extends beyond issues related to material management and covers broader aspects such as social impact and the evolution of urban governance structures. The social components of a circular economy are fundamental to consider within the transition.
Specific circular principles can guide us to make cities more circular:
Circular economy relies on stakeholder action at multiple stages of the transition process. Several barriers currently hinder cities to move forward
The project builds upon the concept of ‘urban metabolism’, which seeks to understand urban contexts through the lens of biological systems and technical processes. In biology, the synthesis of proteins is considered a constructive metabolic process. In urban sciences, the city dynamics that make up the urban metabolism are defined by the flow of materials, information, and the distribution of activities, making cities the most complex systems ever created by humans.
Under the current urban paradigm, cities consume more resources than they produce and the synthesis of energy, food and materials for urban areas degrades, discards or pollutes the environment. In this context, REFLOW aims to provide viable practices aligning public and private actors’ interests to enable an effective and meaningful transition to circular and regenerative cities, contributing in turn to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Activities spanning design and testing of new business models, experimentation with novel technologies and data visualization tools, urban metabolism analysis, citizen engagement, capacity-building and development of collaborative governance prototypes form the backbone of the REFLOW action for the transition to circular and regenerative cities.
REFLOW approaches these objectives through 7 interconnected building blocks:
The REFLOW Knowledge Hub is where you can find methods and resources about the process of becoming a circular, regenerative city. The Knowledge Hub, being developed over the lifetime of the project and based on project outputs and building blocks, organises resources in a four-step circular design thinking transition process: understand, define, make, release. Download the REFLOW Handbook, the Circular Principles & Indicators, the Cities’ Circular Action Plan. You can also browse the REFLOW Handbook on Gitbook.
REFLOW community is the platform for cities, businesses and citizens to explore, share and implement circular practices and strategies to tackle urban challenges. By encouraging knowledge exchange and co-creation, we aim to fuel multi-stakeholder collaboration and innovation. Discuss with the community on the forum, browse through our circular resources of key reports, podcast and e-courses, discover best practices around city policies, circular business models and citizen engagement.
"Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya ""Mafunzo ya Miji"" ya REFLOW, ""Licha ya kuchukua 2% tu ya uso wa Dunia, athari za miji zinaenea mbali zaidi ya mipaka yao." Miji hutokeza athari kubwa za ndani na za kimataifa, kijamii na kimazingira. Miji ni makusanyo ya vifaa na virutubisho, ikishughulikia 75% ya matumizi ya rasilimali za asili, 50% ya uzalishaji wa taka ya kimataifa na 60-80% ya uzalishaji wa gesi ya chafu. Mfano wa mviringo unakusudia kufafanua upya ukuaji na kuzalisha athari nzuri kwa jamii na mazingira. "Hii inahusisha mabadiliko kutoka kwa kutumia rasilimali za mwisho hadi kutumia zile zinazoweza kurejeshwa (kuunda dhana ya taka nje ya mfumo), wakati wa kujenga mtaji wa kiuchumi, asili na kijamii.""" Ingawa kuanzia na rasilimali za vifaa kama hatua ya kuondoka, lengo la uchumi wa mviringo hatua kwa hatua linaenea zaidi ya masuala yanayohusiana na usimamizi wa vifaa na inashughulikia masuala ya kina kama vile athari za kijamii na mageuzi ya miundo ya utawala wa mijini. Sehemu za kijamii za uchumi wa mviringo ni muhimu kuzingatia ndani ya mpito. Miongozo maalum ya mviringo inaweza kutuongoza kufanya miji iwe mviringo zaidi: Uchumi wa mviringo unategemea hatua za wadau katika hatua nyingi za mchakato wa mpito. Vizuizi kadhaa kwa sasa kuzuia miji kusonga mbele Mradi huo unategemea dhana ya "metabolism ya mijini", ambayo inatafuta kuelewa muktadha wa mijini kupitia lensi ya mifumo ya kibiolojia na michakato ya kiufundi. Katika biolojia, utengenezaji wa protini huonwa kuwa mchakato mzuri wa kimetaboliki. Katika sayansi ya mijini, mienendo ya jiji ambayo huunda metabolism ya mijini hufafanuliwa na mtiririko wa vifaa, habari, na usambazaji wa shughuli, na kufanya miji kuwa mifumo ngumu zaidi iliyowahi kuundwa na wanadamu. Katika mfano wa sasa wa mijini, miji hutumia rasilimali nyingi kuliko zinazozalishwa, na mchanganyiko wa nishati, chakula na vifaa kwa maeneo ya mijini huharibika, kutupwa au kuchafua mazingira. Katika muktadha huu, REFLOW inakusudia kutoa mazoea ya kuweza kutekelezwa yanayolinganisha maslahi ya watendaji wa umma na binafsi ili kuwezesha mpito mzuri na wenye maana kwa miji ya mviringo na ya upya, na kwa upande wake kuchangia kufikia Malengo ya Maendeleo Endelevu (SDGs). Shughuli zinazohusisha kubuni na majaribio ya mifano mpya ya biashara, majaribio na teknolojia mpya na zana za kuona data, uchambuzi wa metabolism ya mijini, ushiriki wa raia, ujenzi wa uwezo na maendeleo ya mifano ya utawala wa ushirikiano huunda uti wa mgongo wa hatua ya REFLOW kwa ajili ya mabadiliko ya miji ya mviringo na upya. Mfumo wa REFLOW unafikia malengo haya kupitia vipengele saba vya ujenzi vilivyounganishwa: Kituo cha Ujuzi cha REFLOW ni mahali ambapo unaweza kupata mbinu na rasilimali kuhusu mchakato wa kuwa mji wa mviringo, wa upya. Kituo cha maarifa, kinachotengenezwa kwa muda wa maisha ya mradi na kulingana na matokeo ya mradi na vitalu vya ujenzi, hupanga rasilimali katika mchakato wa mabadiliko ya hatua nne za muundo wa muundo: kuelewa, kufafanua, kutengeneza, kutolewa. Msaada wa Mzunguko wa Mzunguko: Miongozo na Viashiria vya Mzunguko, Mipango ya Utendaji ya Mzunguko wa Miji Unaweza pia kuvinjari REFLOW Handbook kwenye Gitbook. REFLOW ni jukwaa la miji, biashara na raia kugundua, kushiriki na kutekeleza mazoea ya mviringo na mikakati ya kukabiliana na changamoto za mijini. Kwa kuhamasisha kubadilishana maarifa na co-kuunda, tunakusudia kuchochea ushirikiano wa wadau wengi na uvumbuzi. Kujiunga na jamii kwenye jukwaa, kuvinjari rasilimali zetu za mviringo za ripoti muhimu, podcast na kozi za e, kugundua mazoea bora karibu na sera za jiji, mifano ya biashara ya mviringo na ushiriki wa raia.