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Circle Economy is delighted to announce the launch of v3 of the Knowledge Hub: the open-collaborative library for case studies about the circular economy.
Anyone interested in contributing to the global transition to the circular economy—from entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers to policymakers, consultants and educators—can now openly collaborate in adding and editing case studies to the global library. Experts in specific fields can take on the role of curators to maintain content quality. Finally, organisations with existing case libraries can upload their cases to this common library within dedicated, branded Knowledge Hub ‘collections’ that they can share with their communities.
‘Evidence is critical to inspire action. At the same time the circular economy field is still fragmented and knowledge often difficult to access. By making this knowledge openly accessible and enabling anyone who would like to support the transition towards a circular economy to contribute their know-how into one shared place, we aim to bridge this gap. This is what the Knowledge Hub is all about.‘ — Martijn Lopes Cardozo, CEO, Circle Economy
The use of case studies is popular amongst circular economy practitioners and researchers. Finding the right case study, however—one that is contextually
relevant—, is not always easy.
By compiling over 2,000 case studies, making them openly accessible on the Knowledge Hub and tagging them with key information such as relevant industries, impacts or location, we aim to remove this barrier to knowledge.
Over the past few years, the Knowledge Hub has seen a steady increase in readership, with over 1500+ direct monthly visitors and 10 partner organisations, including ICLEI, Circular Economy Club, Australian Circular Economy Hub Planet Ark, Zero Waste Europe and more.
‘Knowledge-sharing through an open-source database with compelling examples of what works, and what does not, is crucial to develop a global coalition of successful circular economy practitioners. Only together can we challenge the incumbent linear economy and change the rules of the game so that our legacy serves the interest of our future generations. The Knowledge Hub is the go-to source for circular economy case studies, reports or policies. With its convenient filters, open-source set-up and democratically-curated content, it is the ideal place to find convincing case studies or to give your circular economy initiative the exposure it deserves.’—Jelmer Hoogzaad, Founder of Shifting Paradigms
Thousands of people around the world are compiling case examples to demonstrate the potential of a circular economy on a regular basis, from individual professors selecting examples to showcase in their sustainability or business innovation course, to regional circular economy platforms working to compile regional case studies of lighthouse projects and more.
By enabling everyone to add and edit any case study on the Knowledge Hub, in the same way Wikipedia does, we now aim to harness the collective power of circularity advocates around the world and foster the spirit of open collaboration that is so crucial to the transition to the circular economy.
In growing the Knowledge Hub, we always prioritised breadth over depth so as to ensure knowledge can be found. Now, to make sure depth is also available in the library, circular economy and industry experts are taking on the role of ‘curators’: reviewing and giving case studies that pass quality thresholds a stamp of approval.
‘I am excited to be a curator of the Knowledge Hub. This is such a great initiative that aims to share best practices from around the world and make them accessible to all in order to accelerate the much needed transition to a circular economy. Whether you are an expert, a student or a practitioner, come check out our curated case studies and contribute with your expertise and passion.’ — Simona Grande, Researcher at University of Turin, Expert curator on the Knowledge Hub
The wealth of knowledge bases that exist around the world speak to the unique knowledge needs different stakeholders have. Businesses in Australia may not be interested in hearing about the same examples as local governments in Nigeria, for example. Non-governmental organisations working to curate examples relevant to their context may have particular cases in mind they would like to advocate for. While we acknowledge the uniqueness of needs, the entire circular economy community would benefit from knowing about these examples. What if this were to happen automatically and without additional coordination efforts?
Visit the Circular Norway collection →
This is what the new Knowledge Hub ‘collections’ are for. ‘Collections’ enable knowledge organisations to upload their case studies to the common Knowledge Hub library and to make these cases accessible not only to their audience, but to all Knowledge Hub users. Visually, ‘collections’ look like dedicated, branded environments, which allow organisations to offer their communities a curated access to case studies. In time, we aim for ‘collections’ to remove the need for these organisations to build stand-alone, siloed libraries on their own website—so that knowledge can truly be shared.
‘Circular Norway hope that by sharing case studies on the Knowledge Hub, we can inspire others to become more circular. Because the KH is global and open-access, we think it’s the best place to gather all things circular. There are so many filters, so our Norwegian readers can easily find Norwegian examples, but they can also be inspired by others. We think that if everyone starts using the Knowledge Hub actively, it can become the go-to place for circular economy reports, business cases and policy developments.’ — Sofie Pindsle, Project Manager, Circular Norway
‘By researching and collecting circular economy case studies across Africa, we want to give exposure to entrepreneurs and to inspire other people on the African continent to join in the circular economy movement. We are sharing these cases on the Knowledge Hub because we believe it is better to build a rich, global library to advance knowledge-sharing and learning and would like to invite every individual and organisation interested in the circular economy to visit the Knowledge Hub, check out the cases available and publish their case studies.’ Deborah — Deborah Ohui Nartey, Research analyst at Footprints Africa
