Circular Economy and Circular Built Environment Definitions

Definitions are hard to come up with and sometimes they can be abstract or reductive. However, the meaning-making processes that precede them are of great value. In this video, Olga discusses the origins of circularity and the widely accepted Ellen McArthur Foundation and also presents with a tentative definition for the ‘circular built environment’ put together by the members of CBE Hub during the ‘Definitions and Philosophy Workshops.’

Click on the following links to learn about the theories that form the origins of circular economy:

• Regenerative Design
• Performance Economy
• Cradle to Cradle
• Industrial Ecology
• Biomimicry

• The Ellen McArthur Foundation definition
• The Ellen McArthur Foundation (2013): Towards the Circular Economy
• EU 2015 Action Plan
• EU 2019 Action Plan

• Kirchherr, J., Reike, D. & Hekkert M. (2017). Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions. In Resources, Conservation & Recycling 127, 221-232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.005

• Corvellec, H., Stowell, A .F. & Johansson N. (2021). Critiques of the circular economy. In Journal of Industrial Ecology 26: 421-432. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13187.
• Hobson, K., & Lynch, N. (2016). Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: Radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world. In Futures 82: 15-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.05.012