What if repairing products became the default rather than the exception? How can a single day demonstrate what this could look like in practice? How many products could be given a second life in just one day? This will be at the heart of our Repair & Share Festival 2026 in Wuppertal, Germany, the flagship closing event of our FAB Region project.
The festival will bring repair and second-hand practices closer to everyday life and showcase how circular consumption can become an attractive and viable alternative to buying new.
The festival marks the closing event of Circular Week 2026, creating a strong link between regional action and broader discussions on circular economy transformation. It will provide a platform to explore a key question: What does it take for repair and second-hand to become the “new normal”?
A festival for circular solutions
The event will bring together stakeholders from civil society, voluntary initiatives, and the private sector to collaboratively pilot a Repair Hub and foster synergies between grassroots repair initiatives and professional repair businesses. Through a diverse and engaging programme—including a second-hand fashion show, interactive activities for all age groups, and hands-on repair experiences—the festival aims to make circular practices tangible, social, and empowering.
Join the repair movement—and a world record attempt
A central highlight will be a world record attempt for the most repaired items in a single day—read more about this topic on the FAB Region website!
Visitors will be able to actively contribute by bringing and repairing a wide range of items, from electronics, bicycles, and furniture to clothing and everyday household goods.
The festival explicitly invites both individuals and organisations to take part: whether by repairing an item on-site, sharing expertise, or engaging in collaboration around the new EU directives on Ecodesign and the Right to Repair. By opening participation to a broad audience, we look forward demonstrating the collective impact of repair at scale.
Interested in participating with your organisation? Get in touch with Stephan Schaller!
More than repair
In addition to the official programme, food trucks and informal gathering spaces will make for a welcoming festival atmosphere—get ready to be inspired, exchange, and engage!
Event: FAB Festival Repair & Share Date: 31 October 2026 Place: Wuppertal, Germany Language: German and English Cost: Free of charge
The Repair & Share Festival represents both a culmination and a starting point: concluding the FAB Region project phase while laying the groundwork for future circular initiatives in the region and beyond.
Don’t miss it & reach out to Nils Kreft to engage with us!
Algae-based products can contribute to healthier diets, sustainable materials, and sustainable innovations. Yet, despite these advantages, they remain rather unfamiliar and under-adopted. Join our AlgaeProBANOS summer school 2026 and learn how to co-create sustainable products, increase their market acceptance, and creatively showcase their benefits to the wider public!
In the AlgaeProBANOS project, the CSCP supports algae entrepreneurs in increasing the market acceptance of their products by co-creating their sustainability storylines and supporting the exhibiting of their products.
In June 2026, you will have the unique opportunity to join the AlgaeProBanos online summer school to deepen your skills on sustainable innovation, co-creative product development and consumer and stakeholder engagement!
What’s in it?
Together with the AlgaeProBanos partners we have put together algae knowledge and insights from the project and created a 4-week online summer school:
Who is it for?
The summer school is designed for aspiring and active algae and blue entrepreneurs, students and researchers in blue bioeconomy disciplines (including biotechnology, marine sectors and business).
The importance of consumer acceptance
As part of the project, we recently published a report on influencing factors on consumer acceptance of algae-based food, feed, cosmetics, textiles, nutraceuticals and bio-stimulants.
What we found: While health and sustainability are strong motivators, novelty, unfamiliarity, and accessibility are key barriers. Targeting health-conscious, innovative, and eco-conscious segments, and ensuring clear communication and consumer engagement, is essential to scale adoption across sectors. Would you like to learn more? Read the full report here!
Methods to foster co-creation
Beyond understanding why consumer acceptance and engagement matters, concrete formats and structured processes are needed to involve relevant actors effectively. In sustainable product development—particularly in emerging fields such as algae-based innovation—co-creation extends beyond consumers.
It also involves entrepreneurs, value chain partners, and external stakeholders who influence feasibility, positioning, and market uptake. Each group brings different perspectives: strategic, technical, regulatory, or experiential.
In the AlgaePro BANOS project, the CSCP implemented several practical formats to engage both stakeholders and end-users. At the summer school you will learn about our three-stage co-creation journey, leading you from ideation to experimentation to validation. You will also get exclusive access to our “Sustainable Product Guidebook” for algae entrepreneurs.
How creative formats increase acceptance
The CSCP hosted a successful first algae exhibition in Berlin in 2025, to showcase algae’s potential for sustainable product development. This and other creative formats will be presented to you to discuss with your peers and develop your own engagement strategy.
As part of the AlgaeProBANOS project, the CSCP also researched factors influencing consumer acceptance of algae-based products in 6 different product groups and published a report.
Subscribe to the project newsletter and follow the project page on LinkedIn so that you’re first to know when the registrations open!
How can we turn Europe’s circular economy strategies into tangible change in cities and regions? This year, the CSCP has joined hands with INNOWO as a co-organiser of the Circular Week 2026, a European platform turning circular economy ambition into urban action. From 26–31 October 2026, cities, policymakers, and practitioners will come together to explore how circular strategies can be turned into real change on the ground.
Since its launch by the INNOWO Institute in 2018, the Circular Week continues to grow, with the 2026 partnership with the CSCP marking a step forward in advancing cross-border collaboration for circular and climate-resilient cities. Building on a strong Polish–German cooperation and diverse local experiences, the Circular Week 2026 aims to demonstrate how Europe’s circular economy ambitions can be translated into practical, place-based solutions in cities and regions.
The Circular Week brings together cities, practitioners, researchers, businesses, citizens and policymakers who are actively shaping the circular transition. Rather than focusing only on high-level strategy, the 2026 edition puts implementation at the centre: How do circular economy policies become tangible impact? How can cities decarbonise industry and empower communities to take action? What does a circular and resilient urban system look like in practice?
What’s in it for you?
Throughout the week, participants can take part in various activities, including engaging site visits in Germany and Poland, a high-level online conference, and other collaborative formats designed to encourage genuine exchange. The programme will explore how cities and regions are:
A platform to connect and engage
By co-organising Circular Week for the first time, the CSCP reinforces its commitment to accelerating sustainable consumption and production through practical, systems-oriented approaches. The Circular Week 2026 provides a platform to connect European policy ambitions with on-the-ground implementation and to strengthen partnerships between cities and regions across borders.
Become part of the Circular Week 2026
The event is conceived as an open European platform. Circular economy pioneers, networks and initiatives from across Europe are invited to become part of the week or the online conference by contributing case studies, sharing experiences, organising satellite events or joining as partners to increase collective impact.
The online conference explores how policy can empower diverse stakeholders at the city level by bringing together actors from the EU, pioneering businesses and municipal representatives. It addresses key questions such as how to build resilient urban infrastructure, finance circular economy efforts, actively engage citizens, and leverage regulations like the Ecodesign and Right to Repair directives to foster truly circular societies.
Cities are key drivers of Europe’s circular and climate transition and the Circular Week 2026 seeks to amplify their role as laboratories for innovation and collaboration, showing how circular ambition becomes an urban reality.
More information on locations and programme highlights will follow soon. If you are interested in becoming a partner of Circular Week 2026 or organising your own event as part of the programme, please get in touch with us!
Event: Circular Week 2026 Date: 26–31 October 2026 Location: Online as well is in selected locations in Poland and Germany Language: English and German Cost: Free of charge
To learn more about the event, please visit the Circular Week 2026 website.
The Circular Week 2026 is funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Fur further questions, please contact Nils Kreft.
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