Cities and Regions Driving Europe’s Circular Transition

Lucie Blondel, Policy Officer at the European Commission, will join the Circular Week 2026 as a speaker in the mind-opening session of the track, Levers for Circular Cities. In this interview, she shares insights into how the EU is working with and supporting cities to drive the circular transition.

The EU provides cities with a wide range of funding programmes, initiatives and support mechanisms. How can these opportunities be aligned with the realities and capacities of cities, particularly smaller cities and municipalities?

The EU offers a wide range of funding and support opportunities, but navigating them can be challenging, particularly for (smaller) municipalities with limited resources and capacity.

This is one of the reasons the European Commission established the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI): to provide dedicated support to cities and regions working on their circular transition. The CCRI community offers practical guidance, peer learning and access to technical and financial expertise.

A key element is project development assistance, helping promising ideas become more mature and investment-ready. Through cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s Circular City Centre, more tailored financial and investment support is also available.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach. The objective is to provide the right support at the right stage – helping cities move from ambition to concrete, investable projects.

Cities often have a very practical understanding of what works and what doesn’t on the ground. How do EU funding and support programmes ensure that the experiences and knowledge of cities translate into European policies?

Cities and regions bring essential practical experience to the circular transition. The CCRI provides a space to share what works, what does not, and the challenges encountered along the way.

This experience feeds directly into practical guidance, tools and recommendations developed with practitioners. Concrete examples from cities and regions help turn these lessons into approaches that others can adapt to their own context.

This creates a valuable feedback loop between (local) practice and (EU) policy: we learn from what is happening on the ground, share that knowledge across the community and use those insights to inform the development of more practical and effective approaches.

Ultimately, it is about bringing policy closer to implementation – and implementation closer to the realities of cities.

With the CCRI, the EU dedicates a powerful initiative specifically to the role of cities in the circular transition. Which major learnings can you share from this initiative so far, and which recommendation do you have for our Circular Week 2026 audience?

One of the main lessons from the CCRI is that circularity is inherently systemic. It cuts across sectors, value chains and stakeholders – from urban planning and construction to mobility, resource management and new business models.

Cities and regions are central to this transition, but they cannot do it alone. Stronger cooperation with businesses, investors, researchers and other stakeholders is essential, as is breaking down traditional silos.

The CCRI community now brings together 300 cities and regions across Europe, creating a growing critical mass of experience and solutions. The next step is to turn that experience into investment and scale: helping promising projects become investment-ready and creating opportunities for solutions to be replicated in different contexts.

The message for Circular Week is simple: start where you are, build on what works and create the conditions for solutions to grow. Circular transformation does not have to start big. What matters is turning ambition into action, learning from it and building momentum.

 Many urban challenges cut across policy areas such as climate, mobility, housing, economic development, resource use and social inclusion. How can the EU help cities overcome these (policy) silos and develop more integrated approaches to circular urban transformation?

 Circularity is increasingly recognised as a cross-cutting priority, contributing not only to environmental objectives, but also to competitiveness, resilience and resource security. This is also reflected in the broader EU competitiveness agenda, including the priorities highlighted by the Draghi report and the Clean Industrial Deal.

The challenge now is to translate this integrated perspective into action on the ground. The CCRI’s second phase will bring new cities and regions into the community to test new systemic approaches, connect different sectors and stakeholders, and explore how solutions can be adapted and replicated.

Ultimately, overcoming silos is about creating stronger connections – between policy areas, between public and private actors, and between cities and regions. This is where European cooperation can bring real added value.

Looking ahead to the next phase of Europe’s urban and circular economy agendas, what would you most like to see change in the relationship between the EU and cities in order to scale positive solutions jointly?

Cities and regions are key partners in Europe’s circular transition. They are where many circular solutions are put into practice, bringing together public authorities, businesses, citizens and other stakeholders. Their experience is therefore essential to translating European ambitions into systemic change on the ground.

This relationship should increasingly be one of co-creation: cities and regions bringing evidence and solutions from the ground, and the EU creating the conditions for those solutions to connect, scale and be replicated.

The more effectively these two levels work together, the better European action can respond to realities on the ground – and the faster promising solutions can move from local innovation to wider European impact.

Lucie Blondel, Policy Officer at the European Commission, will be one of the speakers in the mind-opening session “Are Cities and Regions Equipped to Leverage the Circular Economy Transformation?” at the Online Conference of the Circular Week 2026  – register now!

Learn more about the Levers for Circular Cities track here and check out the full Circular Week 2026 programme here.

For further questions, please contact Dr. Flandra Syla-Beqiri.