An important theme in the cooperation among the EWUU alliance members is Circular Society, which is being addressed by the institute 4 a Circular Society. The four institutions cooperate within this theme in order to contribute to the transition to a sustainable society.
Societal Challenges
The urgency of transitioning from a linear to a sustainable circular society cannot be overstated. Our current patterns of production and consumption exacerbate resource depletion, climate change, environmental pollution, and biodiversity loss, in addition to fostering geopolitical dependence and social inequality.
The circular society in our country is still in its infancy. To significantly enhance positive impact, it’s imperative to adopt strategies that promote circularity. This requires instigating behavioural shifts and systemic transformations. Unfortunately, stakeholders largely lack the necessary knowledge and actionable insights in this realm. This is where science has a crucial role to play: to develop socio-technical innovations and independent knowledge about the complex behavioural and system changes needed, thus driving acceleration of the transition.
Approach
The institute 4 a Circular Society stimulates cooperation between professionals from diverse backgrounds. We prioritize three key activities: research, education and creating societal impact through community building
i4CS aims to play a highly impactful role for two specific types of socio-technical systems: Circular Safe Hospitals (CSH), and Urban-Rural Circularity (URC). Interactive research in these two domains – for example through Living Lab approaches – feeds our Circular Society education program, and generalisations in developing circular theory, methodology and discipline oriented scientific contributions.
Roadmap 2024 – 2027
The strategic focus for the upcoming four years is described in the Roadmap Circular Society 2024 – 2027 (pdf).
>To the team of Circular Society