1. The Role and impact of Arts and
culture on the Circular economy
• What is the circular
economy
• Research focus
• Literature review
• Research methods
2. A circular economy is
an economy that is
restorative and
regenerative by design
and aims to keep
products, components,
and materials at their
highest utility and
value at all times.
3.
4. Research focus
To what extent can arts and culture engage
people in and impact on the development of a
circular economy in a city?
5. Literature review
• What is the CE and why is it of interest?
• Why are cities interested in the CE
• What is the relationship between citizens and
the CE?
• How can arts and culture activities engage
citizens in the CE?
6. Literature review cont.
The generic concept of CE has been defined and built upon by 7 main
schools of thought with the main gurus in each field noted below;
• Cradle to Cradle (Michael Braungart and Bill McDonough)
• Blue Economy (Gunter Pauli)
• Industrial Ecology (or science of sustainability, Frosch and
Gallopoulos')
• Natural Capitalism (Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins)
• Biomimicry (Janine Benyus,)
• Regenerative Design (John T. Lyle)
• Performance Economy (Walter Stahel)
1) Hobson Kersty, 2015. Closing the loop or squaring the circle?
Locating generative spaces for the circular economy. Progress in Human
Geography 2) Webster and EMF 3) Qian case study from Tianjin
7. Conclusions
• to achieve a genuinely working CE, the role of
citizens and the wider socio-political context
merits further research.
• The review highlights that research in this area is
extremely sparse and is holding back progression
in the field.
• It is clear that Social research has a role to play in
recognising the impact and ambition of the CE
and as such should be the focus for further
investigation.
8. Research Focus
it should be fashion magazines, not
science journals, that bang the drum
about jewellery sharing, leased jeans
and rental designer handbags; (Stahel,
Walter R. , Nature Volume:531,
Pages:435–438 Date published: 24
March 2016)
9. Research Methods
Using interviews and case studies review cities that have committed to and
are at varying stages of developing a circular economy including;
• Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Zero waste Scotland, UK
Using interviews to review cities who are at varying stages of committing to
and developing urban arts and culture initiatives
• Phoenix Arizona, US
• Brighton, UK
• Bristol, UK
• St Etienne, France
• Coventry, UK
A qualitative in depth look at Coventry will comprise an ethnographic study of
the City Arcade, aiming to connect and work with local people and businesses
to explore the impact of public arts and collaborations on participation in the
CE.
WHAT: We currently have a dominant make waste dispose economy. WHY CHANGE: we have a finite amount of resources, increasing demand for those resources and an environment which is burdened by our current ‘take, make, throw away’ thinking
A working circular economy could be the answer to the world’s resource problems. In recognition of this opportunity, the Ellen Mac Arthur foundation has invested an entire workstream, international research committee, CE 100 companies’ collaboration (including Google, Unilever, H & M, Cisco, Nike and others) and a book series to investigating CE themes, the European Commission has also recently invested €600m to support realisation of the CE in Europe.
