Circular business design workshop: Bringing global insights to Victoria
Pieter van Os presenting at ‘Circo: Bringing global insights to Victoria’ The Circular Business Design Workshop launched in the Netherlands in 2014 and has supported 3,000 businesses and organisations worldwide to design out waste and create many products that are built to last, and built to flow. Sustainability Victoria recently hosted business leaders, policymakers and innovators to celebrate the first-ever Circo training workshop in Australia.
The workshop was brought to Australia by The Australian Circular Economy Hub, an initiative of Planet Ark, and was supported through a grant from Sustainability Victoria’s Circular Economy Innovation Fund.
Nine companies participated in the Circo Training, including Officeworks, Coles, Reece, APCO, K5 Furniture, Green my Plate, Purple Pear Pallets, and Golf Ball Recycling. Hume City Council also took part.
'The training has provided tools on how to map out the steps required to get from an idea to an implementation plan that will work within the business frameworks.'
The evening celebration, called ‘Circo: Bringing global insights to Victoria’, was launched by Nina Taylor MP, member for Albert Park, and attended by the Consul General of the Netherlands, Hugo Klijn.
Pieter van Os, co-founder of Circo, and his colleague Bas Roelofs, shared insights from a decade of implementing the Circo program worldwide. Van Os highlighted the growing emphasis on circular economy policies internationally, and the pressing need to address textile and electronics waste. He explained that circular design is becoming a key priority for consumer goods businesses that have extensive international value chains.
Dr. Nicole T. Garofano, Head of Circular Economy Development at the Planet Ark Environmental Foundation, leads the panel discussion. Joining her are Pieter van Os, co-founder of Circo; Hugo Klijn, Consul General of the Netherlands; and Matt Genever, CEO of Sustainability Victoria. There was also a panel discussion with van Os, Sustainability Victoria CEO Matt Genever, and Klijn. They discussed circular economy implementation, and addressed the relationship between degrowth and circular design. They also spoke about maintaining momentum in circular initiatives, and scaling circular design solutions. The importance of the public sector in generating confidence in circular solution design and adoption was another lively discussion point.
As Victoria prepares to transition to a circular future and position itself as a leader in the circular economy field, Sustainability Victoria will continue to bring together the right people to create meaningful systems changes. These initiatives foster innovation and collaboration – key elements in driving the state's circular economy forward.
Register your interest to receive more information about CIRCO and the upcoming workshops in either Geelong (14 to 16 October) or Melbourne (18 to 20 November).
More information about the CIRCO Circular Business Design Workshop.
