| Posted September 21, 2020

Household Waste Analysis Results: Packaging Design Key in Consumer Sorting Practices

Increased circularity in the packaging sector requires more recyclable materials, but also better sorting practices from consumers. But what influences certain consumer behaviours when it comes to waste sorting? What types of packaging and instructions promote or hinder circular behaviours? The CIAP’s Club for Sustainable Packaging Solutions addressed these questions hands-on: with a household waste analysis in the city of Solingen. Most of the current packaging consists of different materials – think of aluminium lids on plastic cups of yogurt as a prime example. If we stick to the yogurt cup, a consumer would need to separate the lid from the […]

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Join our City Loops Online Workshops: Cities and Circular Economy

Cities and regions are key players in the transition towards circular economy. The City Loops project will provide sector-specific Circular Innovation Workshops to support cities close the loop. Climate change and aggravated resource scarcity call for a new way of defining the economy. Governments and intergovernmental bodies alike are reacting to this imperative, a prime example being the EU Green Deal, which is estimated to affect about two thirds of all industry sectors in Europe. Circular economy approaches are one path towards a zero-carbon society, which we have to realise within this decade in order to bring climate change and its […]

| Posted September 17, 2020

Citizens and Civil Society Initiatives Celebrated the Good Life in Wuppertal

The mini-festival “Place of the Good Life”, held in August 2020 at the Platz der Republik in Wuppertal, brought together citizens and civil society actors in a creative and participatory format. The event marked the launch of a co-creation process towards the Day of the Good Life in Wuppertal, planned for 16 May 2021. The ongoing pandemic has reminded us about the importance of our close communities and the value of well-connected neighbourhoods. After all, they provide the setting where much of our daily interaction takes place: meetings, discussions and the addressing of shared experiences and challenges. Three hundred participants from […]

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Listen to the Third Episode of our Academy of Change Podcast: Tools for Creating Behaviour Change Interventions

Do you work on a sustainability project and are wondering how to increase your impact? Have you thought about behavioural tools and how to choose them appropriately for your specific case? Listen to our conversation with Dr. Stefan Kaufman to get an expert account on how to use the right tools for impactful behavioural change interventions. There is a wide selection of tools that have been used successfully to design behaviour change interventions, ranging from prompts, norm appeals, commitment, feedback or incentives. Some tools, such as social norms, are increasingly well used and understood. There are many, however – among the […]

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The CSR.digital Roadshow: Collaborating for Corporate Digital Responsibility

In late summer 2020, the team of CSR.digital went on the road. The agenda: conducting small Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) workshops with Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHK) of North Rhine-Westphalia. The goal is to develop a comprehensive concept that can be used by various Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) as a framework for defining their role and action in the field of CDR. The CSR.digital project created basic workshop formats by locating CDR action fields within a matrix of development. This basic format was tested and expanded at the respective chambers with the direct participation of SMEs. The kick-off workshop […]

| Posted September 10, 2020

Mongolia’s Response to Fast Fashion: Sustainable Cashmere

Unlike other materials, cashmere is a fine, natural fibre that decomposes easily. Nonetheless, its production comes with significant social and environmental impacts. Carbon emissions from livestock, overgrazing, deforestation, lack of supply chain transparency, and poor working conditions of goat herders are some of the major issues. Our STeP EcoLab project is supporting the Mongolian wool and cashmere sector to make the difference: achieve a strong sustainability profile and better recognition in the global textile market. Through an online workshop held in August 2020, the project STeP EcoLab introduced European consumers’ demands and trends for fair fashion, animal welfare and sustainable production […]

| Posted September 7, 2020

Watch Our Explainer Video: The Dialogue Forum in a Nutshell

In this explainer video, Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Julia Klöckner and CSCP’s Nora Brüggemann explain how the Dialogue Forum for the Reduction of Food Waste in Wholesale and Retail is addressing food waste. In line with the National Strategy for Reducing Food Waste, the Dialogue Forum focuses on the wholesale and retail sectors as hallmarks in promoting better food appreciation in the society. The main goal of the Dialogue Forum is to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 – Food Loss and Waste – by facilitating a transparent and open exchange among […]

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First BOOM Camp: Building and Living

BOOM’s unique career orientation programme took place from 2 to 7 August 2020 in Hessen and gave teenagers between 14 and 17 a chance to explore and experience handicraft professions and sustainable lifestyles in preparation for future career choices. Professional craftspeople joined the holiday career camps to provide teenagers with tips and tricks on how to design and create upcycled products. From turning old surfboards into benches to sit on or rebuilding broken tree houses’ roofs and making them functional again, participants of the first BOOM camp got busy being creative and hands-on. During the free time, a wide range of […]

| Posted August 31, 2020

I Am a Bridge Builder for Ideas, Businesses, People and the Planet

Dr. Esther Heidbüchel joined our SBE team as senior consultant with a core focus on the Sustainable Chemicals Management project. What are the highlights of your professional journey so far?  I have always been walking off the beaten tracks, starting with marketing new business units, developing strategies and volunteering concepts, then taking on the challenge to develop sustainability strategies and implement sustainability management systems. Highlights are always those points in time when I manage to win over people to really understand and foster sustainability. In your view, what are the main ingredients for a sustainable life? Well, I think it all […]

| Posted August 27, 2020

ETC/WMGE Report on Electronics and Obsolescence in a Circular Economy is Published

The stock of electrical and electronic equipment has increased to the extent that the number of internet-related electronics produced annually exceeds the number of humans on earth (WEF, 2019). Such rapid increase of the amount of electronics is indicative of growing demand, but also of shorter lifetimes and increasing obsolescence of such products. The European Topic Centre’s on Waste and Materials in a Green Economy (ETC/WMGE) report “Electronics and Obsolescence in a Circular Economy“ offers a state-of-the art analysis as well as examines potential circular business models and policy measures for increasing lifetimes of electronics. The report shows that, in practice, […]

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