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3Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is the most important waste stream in the EU in terms of mass, with around 340 million tonnes between 2010 and 2018 (EEA, 2020). Most member states achieved a recovery target of 70% for this fraction, however, it is mainly based on backfilling or downcycling. Materials coming from demolition and renovation work are not often available for reuse or recycling activities, with some noticeable exceptions in the case of some pioneering Urban Resource Centres (URCs). URCs are physical centres that promote the circular economy at local level (Partnership on Circular Economy, 2019) prioritizing reuse, preparation for reuse, upcycling and remanufacturing activities over material recycling. This is an emerging concept throughout Europe, that has received much policy attention given its potential to help achieve Circular Economy goals set by the European Commission. So far there have been no systematic analyses of URCs, their operation and their impact. The goal of our paper is twofold: 1) to understand how frontrunning URCs currently operate and 2) to derive conclusions/policy recommendations/design principles for URCs. This article presents a comparison of seven URCs that to some extent allow the reuse of CDW in their locations. The data has been gathered in guided study visits to the different locations, complemented by additional information provided by the managers of the URCs through their yearly reports and follow up conversations. The research took place as part of the project Centers for Urban Resources, Reuse and Remanufacture (Cure+), which aims to establish URC pilots in the four project cities (Riga, Tartu, Kavala and Barcelona).
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Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) is the main driver of resource consumption and waste generation in Europe. Although most European countries achieved 70% recovery rate of CDW, the majority is used for backfilling. Therefore, opportunities for Circular Economy (CE) practices in CDW management are underexploited. This research identifies the innovative practices, barriers, and enablers for developing tailored-made designs of Urban Resource Centre (URC) for managing CDWs in four European cities namely Riga, Tartu, Kavala, and Barcelona. Qualitative methods using multiple case studies were used to draw generalizations from cases. Data was collected from reports and interviews with different stakeholders, and a validation workshop for designing URC of each city. Current innovative practices include recycling and upcycling of CDWs; use of green points, exchange platforms, and waste management apps; repair cafés; selective demolition; and (pilot) initiatives on resource centers that function as material exchange point, recycling center, workstation for repair and creative ideas, and prototyping hub, among others. The identified barriers and enablers can be categorized as governmental, market, and individual factors. First, local governments (municipalities) play a key role for facilitating CDW management via both support such as provision of subsidies, green procurement, and mandatory waste sorting, and through strict regulatory requirements. Second, URCs must be locally rooted with inclusion of citizens, grass roots initiatives, and schools/universities to increase community acceptance, awareness, and education on CDW management. Third, partnerships with local stakeholders, such as repair cafes, waste management companies, and local NGOs, is needed to operate the URCs both in short- and long-terms. And fourth, the creation of niche markets such as linking localism (e.g. locally crafted CE stores) and supplying to businesses in need of CDWs, can support the operation of URCs. The identified barriers and enablers can help further improve the design of URCs for each city.
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Older persons often have interacting physical and social problems and complex care needs. An integrated care approach in the local context with collaborations between community-, social-, and health-focused organisations can contribute to the promotion of independent living and quality of life. In the Urban Health Centres Europe (UHCE) project, five European cities (Greater Manchester, United Kingdom; Pallini (in Greater Athens Area), Greece; Rijeka, Croatia; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and Valencia, Spain) develop and implement a care template that integrates health and social care and includes a preventive approach. The UHCE project includes an effect and process evaluation
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Cities’ sustainability strategies seem to aim at the reduction of the negative impacts of urban freight transport. In the past decades, many public and private initiatives have struggled to gain broad stakeholder support and thus remain viable. Researchers and practitioners have only recently recognised stakeholder acceptance of urban freight solutions as a challenge. A frst step in achieving convergence is to understand stakeholder needs, preferences and viewpoints. Tis paper proposes and applies an approach to identify the main stakeholder perspectives in the domain of urban freight transport. We use Q-methodology, which originates from social sciences and psychology, to record subjective positions and identify the dominant ones. We explain the approach, operationalise the method for the domain of urban freight transport and apply it to stakeholder groups in the Netherlands. We fnd four dominant perspectives, reflecting how stakeholders normally take positions in the urban freight dialogue. Important fndings concern disparities between industry associations and some of their membership, divergent views about the expected role of public administration, and the observation that the behaviour of shippers and Logistics Service Providers (LSP) appears to be inconsistent with their beliefs. All these factors together can act as a barrier to the implementation of urban freight consolidation concepts. Te Q-methodology is valuable for eliciting perspectives in urban freight and is a promising tool to facilitate stakeholder dialogue and, eventually, convergence.
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Urban Consolidation Centres (UCCs) are often put forward as a solution to reduce the negative impact of freight transport on cities. However, few UCCs have so far successfully attracted sufficient volume to become viable. Receivers of goods can potentially be effective initiators of a UCC, due to their buying power. The purpose of this research is to learn how receiver-led consolidation initiatives develop. We use qualitative data on four receiver-led UCCs in The Netherlands to understand the success factors and challenges in various stages of development. Our research shows that receivers can help during the start-up stage of a UCC, when they have a large volume of goods, can convince internal stakeholders, and are willing to pay or can make suppliers pay. However, receiver-led UCCs still face challenges related to growth in the later stages and require continuous effort to attract volume.
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Across cities and urban regions in The Netherlands unusual collaborations emerge which aim to develop new circular business models that facilitate product and resource longevity through various upcycling strategies, such as reuse, repair, refurbish, repurpose and/or remanufacture. Municipalities, social entrepreneurs as well as multinational enterprises use various experimentation methods to initiate, test or improve new collaborations in urban upcycling. However, little is known about the role of transformative stakeholder participation in these experiments and how they affect business models for upcycling. Therefore, this study investigates how initiators in urban upcycling use transformative and community-based participatory experimentation to develop collaborative circular business models that facilitate upcycling in a city context. Through a multiple case study approach, this research contributes to literature on circular business model innovation by investigating how practitioners in urban upcycling collaboratively develop, test, implement and scale business models for product and resource longevity in a city context.
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With growing environmental concerns, upcycling has become an important theme in literature and practice. Upcycling can help slow and close resource cycles through product life-extension. Cities offer opportunities for upcycling initiatives and seek to tackle challenges in urban solid waste management by encouraging entrepreneurs to create value from local waste streams in urban resource centres and circular crafts centres. However, little is known about what drives urban upcycling and which barriers and drivers occur. This study explores urban upcycling in the context of the Dutch furniture industry, since The Netherlands positions itself as a ‘circular economy hotspot’ and furniture offers promising opportunities and best practices for upcycling. The analysis of 29 semi-structured interviews with experts engaged in urban upcycling reveals personal motives, drivers and barriers. Personal motives include (1) a personal purpose to ‘do good’, (2) an urge to challenge the status quo and (3) learning and inspiring by doing. Key drivers entail opportunities to (1) engage in collaborative experimentation, (2) participate in cross-sectoral local networks, (3) develop resource-based adaptive competences, (4) respond to increasing demand for upcycled products and (5) make social business activities financially viable. Key barriers perceived by upcycling experts include (1) limitations in resource availability, (2) increasing capacity requirements, (3) negative public quality perception, (4) limited marketing competences and (5) an unequal playing field. This study contributes with a comprehensive definition of urban upcycling and a structured overview of key factors that drive and constrain urban upcycling.
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Urban areas provide a promising context for upcycling due to the concentration of consumers and existence of bulky waste resources. Hence, upcycling initiatives emerge across European cities, but little is known about their manifestations. Building on interviews with twenty-four stakeholders from the urban upcycling ecosystem and three focus groups sessions, a morphological model was created with internal and external business model characteristics to analyse a database of 172 collected Dutch urban upcycling initiatives in the furniture and interior sector. The morphological analysis led to eleven urban upcycling manifestations with distinct business model characteristics that make up five generic categories and a landscape of urban upcycling which facilitate future research into the topic. A research agenda to study quantitative implications, regional differences, collaborative experimentation and scaling strategies of urban upcycling is proposed. Practically, the typology may facilitate policy makers and practitioners to create, scale or accelerate urban upcycling initiatives.
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Uit de samenvatting: "Sinds medio 2017 is het Nationaal Lectorenplatform Urban Energy actief. De betrokken lectoren beogen het praktijkgericht onderzoek rond de gebouwde omgeving op hogescholen te verbinden en te stroomlijnen. Dit doen ze teneinde bij te dragen aan de energietransitie: met duurzame bronnen voorzien in onze energievoorziening. Een belangrijk instrument om de expertise van de lectoren te delen is een digitale onderzoekskaart, die beschikbaar is via: http://www.nlurbanenergy.nl. Daarnaast is er behoefte aan meer inzicht als het gaat om termen als vraagarticulatie en onderzoekssamenwerking. Meer precies wilden we achterhalen wat de behoefte is van het mkb aan praktijkgericht onderzoek van hogescholen in het domein Urban Energy. Daartoe hebben we een verkennende studie uitgevoerd naar praktijkgericht onderzoek binnen het domein Urban Energy. Hiervoor interviewden we de betrokken lectoren en ondernemers uit het innovatief MKB. Daarnaast maakten we gebruik van een enquête die we via verschillende kanalen onder de aandacht brachten bij het innovatief mkb."
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What is this publication about?
In this publication on ‘New urban economies’,
we search for answers and insights to a key
question: how can cities foster economic
development and develop ‘new urban economies’.
And, importantly, how can they do that:
◗ in concertation with different
urban stakeholders, ◗ responding adequately to key challenges
and developments beyond their control, ◗ building on the cities’ own identity,
industries and competences, ◗ in a sustainable way, ◗ and without compromising
weaker groups.
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