De BUCH Circular Center
Feb 2020 - ongoing
The BUCH municipalities have ambitious plans to transform their municipal recycling centres into a circular centre: a central place where several initiatives such as a repair café, a workshop and thrift store are united. Through the collaboration with the lab, De BUCH Circular Center will act as a community of practice for enabling the transition towards a circular economy.
De Buch Circulair Ambachtscentrum
De BUCH Circular Centre is one of ten pilots awarded in the National Program Circular Craft Center. The circular craft center has been included as an icon project in the Circular Economy implementation program 2019 – 2023. Rijkswaterstaat supports municipalities with the development of circular craft centers, so that municipalities can strive for a spatial policy in which various initiatives are cleverly situated in relation to each other to promote the circular economy.
A circular craft center is a place where product reuse is of paramount importance! Unnecessary disposal of raw materials and materials is prevented by, for example, connecting a thrift store, a repair shop, the recycling center and an educational institution.
Participation is seen as a key concept to develop a sustainable Circular Centre for the BUCH municipalities (Bergen, Uitgeest, Castricum and Heiloo) that acts a platform for a variety of circular related initiatives.
Raising awareness for the circular economy
Through the collaboration with the lab, the Municipalities of Bergen, Uitgeest, Castricum and Heiloo aim to use design to raise awareness for the circular economy and to activate its residents to join the circular center.
The work of the lab started with a group of IDE bachelor students in September 2019, whose final projects resulted in inspirational solutions using waste materials from the local recycle centers. Next to the IDE students, also local high schools were involved to use their creative capacity to inspire De BUCH and raise awareness of the potential of a circular transition.
The project deliberately uses the value design to actively involve residents in the center by offering workshops, educational modules and events at the circular center.
Activate and broaden participation
In a second phase, four MSc graduate students are expanding participation, activating a wider spectrum of target groups, including civil servants and social entrepreneurs.
In 2020, two graduates from the PCM lab focused on activating civil servants (Zwagers, 2020) and how to design for participation of households in the circular economy (Thijssen, 2020).
In 2021, two more students are starting on the participation trajectory. Julian Van Deursen is already active in connecting local socio-economic initiatives to the circular platform and we are looking forward to welcome a fourth graduation student to explore active roles for citizens in the circular center.
Team
Esther Keijser (De BUCH), Ingrid Mulder, Geert van den Boogaard
Faculty collaborators
Marie-Claire Looze, Frans Taminiau, Jo van Engelen
Partners
City Making
Lab
From citizen initiatives to citizen participation
City Making
Lab
Designing a Circular Network
City Making
Lab
The design of a toolkit to enhance resident participation in circular initiatives
Transitioning towards a circular economy does not happen overnight, nor is it accelerated by one great idea; it requires cross-over collaborations and new roles.
City Making
Lab
Transition of four circular municipalities
City Making
Lab