MAKE IT CIRCULAR CHALLENGE

Meet the thirteen winners of the Make it Circular Challenge, representing innovative strategies for building a more circular society. Initiated in partnership with the IKEA Foundation, the competition now enters an exciting new phase as finalists gain access to a €10.000 award and development training package designed to launch their ideas into action.

MEET WINNERS

ENVISIONING A CIRCULAR SOCIETY

Most economies today are based on a linear model, where value is created by producing and selling as many products as possible. The problem is, it operates on the assumption that infinite growth is possible on a finite planet. Today, we are seeing just how wrong this assumption was, as we face an accelerating climate crisis.

 

Yet when looking ahead at the route to a circular society, many people only see obstacles that they would rather not or cannot take on. One of the most important challenges is to convince them that we can create a new world which makes our lives not less but even more fulfilling.

 

The ability to imagine is the creative community’s ideal domain: seeing what does not yet exist, taking on a challenge, forging ahead with optimism. We have an opportunity to shape a radically different future: one that’s restorative and regenerative by design. A circular society takes the circular economy one step further and considers the social and ethical dimensions of how people live their lives, from sun-up to sun-down. That’s why the Make it Circular Challenge asks designers to deliver new materials or technologies — and create new possibilities.

Want to dive deeper?

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It’s time to build a circular society — one great idea at a time

Introducing the Make it Circular Challenge by WDCD and the IKEA Foundation

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How bad design is driving the ‘take-make-waste’ economy

A closer look at all the ways that we can do better

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5 ways to embed circularity into your creative startup

An interview with Manon Klein from Impact Hub Amsterdam