Interview with Ladeja Godina Košir, Founder and Executive Director of Circular Change, and Cathrine Barth, Natural State’s Head of Circular Economy, from the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform’s annual conference in Brussels earlier this year.

The Natural State team of Cathrine Barth and Martin Hagen recently had the joy to take part in the Nordic Day in Warsaw on invitation from The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Warsaw on the topic of decarbonising cities. Read here our experiences and learning from the trip.

What does it take to measure the circularity of a country? In the case of Poland, it took a year of work and a dedicated team of experts—together with a whole network of international collaborators, not only from Poland, but also from Norway, the Netherlands, and beyond.

In February, a team from Natural State had the chance to take a learning journey to the Mecca of circular economy innovation, the Netherlands, where they visited the floating cities of Metabolic to the reimagined oasis of the Blue City and the strongholds of circular know-how at the Circle Economy and Holland Circular Hotspot headquarters.

‘Squaring the Circle: Policies from Europe’s Circular Economy Transition’ is the World Bank’s first comprehensive report on the topic of the circular transition and decoupling growth from material consumption. The report takes a strong stance on the importance of having a far-reaching suite of circular economy policies to accelerate the transition.

In today’s globalised, urbanised and digitalised world, most people live in cities. In fact, by 2050, cities will be home to two thirds of the world’s population. This puts them at the forefront of our future and the future of the planet. Global circularity is dependent on how well our urban centres take up the mantle in the coming years. For this reason, the concept of a Circular City has seen a huge uplift. But what are its definitions, lived realities and future implications?

Together with the Polish research institute Innowo and Amsterdam based impact organisation Circle Economy, Natural State will be analysing the state of circularity in Poland to drive the country’s circular transition. The analysis, funded by the EEA and Norway Grants program, will deliver tailored recommendations for a circular economy in Poland, and connect Norwegian and Polish circular opportunities.

In 2020 Natural State founded Circularities — Circular Economy by Natural State, spearheaded by Cathrine Barth. The purpose of the department is to offer competence, circular transition strategies and market solutions for clients within public and privat sector. In the beginning of March we spent half a day with Blank, where we looked at circular economy in the design and technology industry.