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Locals.Global - SMART CIRCULAR REGIONS & COMMUNITIES
Description/achievement of initiative

Societal Innovation enabling Sustainable Development and a cross-sector eco-system transitioning to a Circular Economy. A modular scaleable platform supporting and connecting a network of ‘smart circular regions’ supporting the technical infrastructure to facilitate efficient community resource management. Supporting resource categories that include secondary material markets, transparent food systems, physical asset management, product-service network. Promoting the circular economy to enable regenerative communities and a wellbeing economy. Supporting Cities & Regions, organisations and networks, communities, initiatives and individuals while strengthening local economies, promoting regenerative agriculture, job creation, integration, collaboration, networked learning, open data and civic engagement. Enabling access to resources, inspiration, knowledge and technology. - Restoring reliable relationships - Creating new economic opportunities - Reduced waste of resources - Resolving economic, social and environmental issues.

Implementation methodologies

TEST: Piloting in two regions in the Nordics - testing bottom-up and top-down inputs and identifying a methodology to bridge the two. 1. Umeå, Sweden: Top-down public mandate to map the Circular Economy - at local and regional levels. - Inviting stakeholders to participate in the eco-system. 2. Oslo Region, Norway: Bottom-up - crowdsourcing circular initiatives, and starting with a concrete platform encouraging the private sector to focus on developing a secondary materials network prior to large scale mapping of initiatives. TRAIN: Implementation Methodologies and E-learning system with in-depth documentation of resources to spread the knowledge and best practice initiatives. Developing the collaboration of local communities sharing resources via shared documentation, webinars, and social media while providing access to the circular economy and supporting integration to bridge the digital divide. DEPLOY: A scalable platform with a multi-stakeholder partnership supported by a sustainable business model. SUPPORT: Supporting concrete practical regional action initiatives that create local impact socially, economically and environmentally. SCALE: Due to the transparent and collaborative nature of the network. The technology supports a low threshold for on-boarding of new communities.

Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer

The goal of the platform is to support capacity building on a granular level by connecting global networks to communities within a region, connecting the Networks of Networks. Supporting robust regions who work together to promote sustainable development via the Circular Economy. Beyond local impact, we provide the digital tools to report the data to both public authorities as well as research institutes to measure the impact socially, economically as well as environmentally. With a long term (2030) vision of providing technological solutions and a global network to help support the Sustainable Development Goals. A catalogue of online courses is in development to support a self learning network and community.

Coordination mechanisms/governance structure

The development and implementation of network-level governance is an ongoing iterative process, alongside a coordinated project-level governance. TOOLS AND RESOURCES ARE APPLICABLE TO ANY CIRCULAR INITIATIVE SUPPORTING SYSTEMS ENTREPRENEURS TO ENABLE ECO-SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION. Identifying Value exchanges that result from two or more entities establishing a relationship and exchanging value. The value unit can be tangible (i.e. money, a service, a product) or intangible (information, data, reputation). Partnership methodologies supporting a distributed network with a shared intelligence Supported a network that is aligned by fundamental core values to share technology, inspiration, knowledge and data. Enabling researchers to measure the impact in local communities on a regional, national and global level.

Partner(s)

Locals.Global, SmartUse AS, myTurn pbc., Circular Oslo, Nesoddliv, Impact Playground, Brox Consulting, ELVA Hållbart
Progress reports
Goal 1
Goal 2
2.1 - By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round
2.3 - By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
2.4 - By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
2.5 - By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed
Goal 3
Goal 4
4.7 - By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
Goal 5
Goal 8
8.3 - Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services
Goal 9
9.3 - Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets
Goal 10
Goal 11
11.4 - Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage
11.7 - By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities
11.a - Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning
Goal 12
12.3 - By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses
12.5 - By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse
12.8 - By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature
12.b - Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
Goal 13
Goal 14
14.1 - By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
14.2 - By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans
Goal 15
Goal 17
17.16 - Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
17.17 - Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

Data, monitoring and accountability
2018
Development of multiple rural and peri-urban and urban local food systems
2019
Multi-stakeholder partnership methodology
2020
Circular Oslo website
2021
Circular Regions Platform
Dec 2016
Pilot project Nesoddliv, local web portal promoting an active and sustainable local life including the development of a local food distribution system, supporting harvest on demand, reducing food waste and food miles while boosting the local economy
January 2017
infographic “10 Economic and Environmental Impacts of the Open Food Network - to promote launch of official platform
Mid 2017
Social Media campaign 'Library of Things' - Tingenes Bibliotek (norwegian)
Mid 2017
Demo of platform supporting a network of 'Libraries of Things' - Tingenes Bibliotek (norwegian)
Mid 2017
Development of National Platform Lokalliv.no using collaborative documentation, open source knowledge and promoting sustainable projects and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
mid 2018
Infographic - Local Food Systems
mid 2018
Infographic - Libraries of Things
mid 2018
The Nordics first Libraries of Things - Nesodden, Norway "TingenesBibliotek"
Mid to late 2017
on-boarding and support of new communities
Financing (in USD)
400,000 USD
Staff / Technical expertise
Leidang AS - web development, hosting and support. Complete in-house technical solution.
Staff / Technical expertise
Open Food Networks Scandinavia - platform system support
Other, please specify
Privately financed (D.W. Reynolds) supporting the staff, development and testing of the platform to date
Staff / Technical expertise
Smartbruk.com - platform system support & training

Basic information
Time-frame: September 2015 - ongoing
Partners
Locals.Global, SmartUse AS, myTurn pbc., Circular Oslo, Nesoddliv, Impact Playground, Brox Consulting, ELVA Hållbart
Countries
Contact information
Cynthia Reynolds, Founder, cynthia@circularregions.org
United Nations