This document summarizes Oriana Romano's presentation on circular economy in cities at the 11th OECD WGI Meeting. It discusses that circular economy aims to have resources continually reused and recycled, outlines challenges like population growth and climate change that create opportunities, and notes cities' important roles as promoters and enablers. It also describes measuring cities' circularity, facilitating learning between them, and sharing recommendations to unlock circular potential through a proposed timeline of diagnostic assessments, action plans, and international workshops with the goal of producing reports, case studies, and indicator frameworks.

1. THE ECONOMICS
AND GOVERNANCE
OF CIRCULAR
ECONOMY IN CITIES
Oriana Romano
Policy Analyst
Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division,
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
11th OECD WGI Meeting
Zaragoza, 13 November 2018

2. Outline
What?
Circular
Economy
Why?
Megatrends
and
opportunities
Whom?
Cities and
regions
How?
Economics
and
Governance

3. What is circular economy?
“Everything is an input to everything else”
(Pierce and Turner, 1990)
Which thematic areas
of research and
analysis linked to
water governance
would you like to see
explored in the 2018-
2021 programme of
work?
Source: OECD ( 2018), OECD WGI Satisfaction
Survey

4. Why?
Challenges and opportunities
°C
Megatrends
• Demographic growth
• Urbanisation
• Climate change
• Economic trend
Opportunities
• Technological
• Socio-economic
• Environmental
System change
• People
• Policies
• Places
9.7 billion by 2050
By 2050
70% of the world
population
will be urban
Availability and
quality of natural
resources at risks
By 2030, 6.7 $ trillion
per year of
investment needs in
infrastructure
4.5 trillion dollars
potential for
economic
growth by 2030
50 000 jobs
in the Île-de-France
Decreased
pollution;
recyclable
resources
Government, business,
citizens
Urban, rural
Water, energy, waste,
building, food
Source: OECD ( 2018), The Economics and
Governance of Circular Economy in Cities: a project
proposal.

5. A momentum for the circular economy
SDGs Regional and urban agendas Circular Economy agendas

6. Water & Circular Economy
Slovenia: Concern for the conservation of soil
and water quality – the need to harmonize
policies and subsidies, incentives for good
governance and adequate response to
changed climatic conditions (heavy rain,
drought, hail, etc.)
Scotland: Resource Efficient Scotland
brings together three previous
programmes which covered resource use,
waste, water use and energy. It offers the
opportunity for key business sectors to be
supported towards achieving greater
circularity.
Amsterdam: circular procurement of new soils
and road- and water construction projects.
EU: Water reuse can be a valuable measure to achieve the
objectives of the WFD in a more Circular Economy, in
particular in situations of water scarcity/ in addition to
water-efficiency measures, the reuse of treated wastewater
in safe and cost-effective conditions is a valuable but under-
used means of increasing water supply and alleviating
pressure on over-exploited water resources in the EU
Granada: The challenge is to
continue advancing in the
generation of renewable
energy in the water cycle to
achieve total self-sufficiency
and sustained over time, and
provide energy to the city of
Granada

7. Whom?
The role of cities and regions
Responsibilities
Innovation
Investments
Services
Roles
Promoters
Facilitators
Enablers
Clusters
Pioneers
Sector
specialists
Newcomers

8. How?
Mind the gap- bridge the gap
Source: OECD ( 2011), Water Governance in OECD Countries, OECD Publishing, OECD; Charbit, C. and M. Michalun (2009), "Mind the gaps: Managing Mutual
Dependence in Relations among Levels of Government", OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 14, OECD Publishing, © OECD. doi:10.1787/221253707200 :
OECD Principles on Water Governance, http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/OECD-Principles-on-Water-Governance-brochure.pdf .

9. Unlocking the potential
for circular economy in cities
1.
Measuring
2.
Learning
3.
Sharing
Source: OECD ( 2018), The Economics and Governance of Circular Economy in Cities: a project proposal.
• To identify how
circular a city is
• To guide circular
economy decisions,
assessment and
policy improvements
• Harmonization/
replicability
• Policy Dialogues
• Peer-to-peer review
• Recommendations
• Action plan
• City to city learning
• Central –subnational
government

10. Timeline
•City engagement
•Stakeholder engagement
•Peer review
•Expertise
Kick-off
December 2018
•Socio-economic and
environmental trends
•Experiences on circular
economy
•Tailored recommendations
Diagnostic
January-May 2019
•Actions
•Champions
•Timing
Action Plan
May-September 2019
 Outputs:
 OECD report
 Case study for each city
 2 International Workshops
 Indicator framework

11. • What are the main opportunities for the water
sector within circular economy approaches?
• Can circular economy enhance integration
across policies?
• What are the main innovation linked to the water
sector? (e.g. digitalisation, partnerships, etc.)
• How would you like to see circular economy
explored in the 2018-2021 programme of work?
Questions

12. THANK YOU
oriana.romano@oecd.org
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