For the fourth time, Design Forum Finland opened its (virtual) gates and welcomed us to their Talk series about circular economy. Six different guests showed that circular design is possible and can move us towards a sustainable future.

Business is doing great, but the planet is moaning. This has to stop. But how? Join the new format of the EcoDesign Learning Factory: A pilot on Circular Service Design! This brand new format combines different methods from various fields to boost circular economy – and we need you and your brain to make it better.

Since its early days, the Finnish consultancy Ethica has been focusing on circular design. Here, Ethica co-founder and co-developer of the EcoDesign Sprint, Anne Raudaskoski, talks about why they decided to focus on circular design, what experiences they have gained and what is still needed to bring the circular economy to life. 

“Sustainable development: challenges and opportunities” - this is the name of the online conference, which was held on June 2-3, 2020.

The event was the final one in the framework of the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet project “Sustainable Development: from Ecology to Multidimensional Approach”, dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge about the SDGs and their implementation in the EU and Russia. One of the presentations was about our project experiences in relation to the SDGs.

Why are the Nordic countries one step ahead in terms of circular economy?

What do collaboration and trust have to do with climate change?

Find out how alternative packaging made from wood fibre is helping to address our growing waste problem and how the sharing economy helps the climate.

“EcoDesign Sprint” is a training programme for enterprises and designers to generate circular design solutions. Developed by Finnish experts and piloted in Estonia, Finland and Sweden, it was implemented for the first time in Russia.

But how does it work in practice? What were experiences at a furniture factory in Saint Petersburg?

"HerääPahvi!" is a Finnish project about food packaging that is making use of the side streams of food industry. Partners from biomaterial science, paper and paper board making and creative industries and design cooperate and bundle their excellence. The project partners found a way to integrate oat hull fibers in the production of new kind of decorative packaging paper which helps save virgin wood fibers.
We talked about Herää Pahvi with Design Forum Finland.

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Laptops fail frequently and the lifespan of consumer electronics is continually decreasing. A new report of the international network ECOS shows that the EU ecodesign and energy labelling regulatory instruments have a great potential to double laptop lifetimes. Changes are urgently required to shift towards so-called product-as-service business models, as well as to encourage increased innovation and competition in the durability and repairability of devices.

The R2Pi project - The route to circular economy - was a three-year project within the environment theme of Horizon 2020. Its overarching goal was to accelerate the widespread implementation of a circular economy based on successful business models and effective policies. The recently published guidelines compile a series of principles and lessons that the R2Pi team has developed from working with companies in six different sectors.

EcoDesign Audit is a diagnostic tool for enterprises to assess their ecodesign capabilities and performances and to identify circular design opportunities / approaches. It was developed during the regular "EcoDesign Circle" project by the Estonian Design Centre. But how does it look in practice? Here is a recent example from the Estonian concrete manufacturer Framm AS.

The Nordic Report 02 is part of the project SUSTAINORDIC, which aims to spread awareness on sustainable production and consumption in the Nordics in accordance with Agenda 2030. 

The DesignTalks, organised by our partner the Estonian Design Centre, got a glorious kick-off in Tallinn. The first talk focused on the circular economy model and the introduction of circular design, circular economy and design practices.