Cities & Regions
Driving Circular Cities
Our team strategically positions cities to drive the transition to a circular and sustainable economy. Guided by global agreements like the Paris Agreement and methodologies such as science-based targets, we guide cities and regions across the globe to function and develop within planetary boundaries. We provide governments, NGOs, and private organizations with a systemic analysis of where they stand in the sustainability transition, and offer effective strategies to help cities reduce carbon emissions and realize their sustainability goals.
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Our team strategically positions cities to drive the transition to a circular and sustainable economy. Guided by global agreements like the Paris Agreement and methodologies such as science-based targets, we guide cities and regions across the globe to function and develop within planetary boundaries. We provide governments, NGOs, and private organizations with a systemic analysis of where they stand in the sustainability transition, and offer effective strategies to help cities reduce carbon emissions and realize their sustainability goals.
How we work towards circular cities
We bring a diverse skill set that span urban planning, systems thinking, stakeholder engagement, and innovative sustainable materials. Our focus is on cultivating long-term partnerships, guiding projects from the vision stage to tangible business case implementation.
Circular Urban Scan (CUS)
Our Circular Urban Scan quantifies and visualizes a city's 'metabolism,' swiftly identifying areas ripe for significant impact reductions and opportunities. By mapping all seven pillars of circularity — Materials, Energy, Water, Health & Wellbeing, Culture & Society, Biodiversity & Nature, and Economic Value — our holistic scan serves as a critical first step in understanding where impacts are highest and value is lost. This forms a robust foundation for a sustainable strategy. The CUS employs a scientific methodology, identifying the city’s weak spots with open-source data and connecting them to proven solutions, streamlining the complex process of standard city analysis.
Strategy Co-creation
Working closely with city staff, the private sector, and community members, we co-create a city-wide circular economy strategy and roadmap tailored to local contexts and stakeholders. Accompanied by a measurement framework, our co-creation emphasizes implementation, focusing on systemic transformation through the identification of hotspots, opportunities, and enabling conditions. This methodology ensures a shared understanding of the current state, goals, ambitions, and the path forward.
Spatial Mapping
Our circular and sustainable spatial mapping visually pinpoints areas for the most impactful interventions in cities with graphics. This method combines economically and socially relevant data, including population density, energy consumption patterns, and demographics, to establish a connection between high-level circularity goals and a comprehensive overview of spatially explicit data.
Urban Monitoring
For cities to meet citizens' needs while remaining within planetary limits, measuring and monitoring progress toward a circular economy and sustainability goals is crucial to building the future we envision together. Our Urban Monitoring service leverages our policy expertise and ready-to-use monitoring tools, allowing us to track and measure the efficiency of strategies and regulatory frameworks.
Material Flow Analysis (MFA)
Understanding material, energy, and human inflows empowers cities and regions to shape strategies and policies for material demand reduction, creating a clear picture of outputs and waste for a circular system. Our analysis measures the different flows existing within a city, focusing on specific industries or topics to pinpoint hotspots and opportunities to close the loop.
Capacity Building and Organizational Change
Our Capacity Building and Organizational Change service guides city governments, developers, and financiers in transitioning to new ways of urban planning and development with essential tools, insights, and knowledge.
Team
Fenne Folmer
Gerard Roemers
Jan van ‘t Hek
Jorrit Vervoordeldonk
Liesbeth Sträter
Max Läuger
Rianne Stelwagen
Sophie Hendriks
Stijn Louca
Thomas Rieff
Projects
Portland’s Clean Industry Hub
Circular Cities Program Poland
Circular area development in the Achtersluispolder
New strategy for raw material management in the Southern Region of Denmark
Mapping the flow of textiles in the Central Region of Denmark
De Ceuvel: A cleantech playground
News
New research: 6 strategies for building homes in the Netherlands within planetary boundaries
Cleveland’s Approach to Closing the Loop through Collaboration
New multisector coalition to spearhead the regenerative and equitable circular transition in cities across the globe
The interconnected city:
Imagining our urban lives in 2050
A roadmap for public and private sectors to build regenerative, circular cities
Pillars of the circular economy: seven cities showing the way
connect with us
Specialized in guiding visions from conception to implementation, Gerard and his team support cities, regions, and urban professionals in the transition towards a circular and inclusive future.
