Circular Design and Economy

Most things are designed with a "take-make-waste" linear model, which mean we're exhausting natural resources and contributing to global warming. The circular economy and circular design principles propose more sustainable and regenerative models aimed at designing out waste and pollution, and encourage remanufacturing, repurposing, and even dematerialisation.

The Circular Design Guide

This is a go-to resource for anyone looking to design in a more circular way. Create by the Ellen McArthur Foundations (a key reference of circular design) and design agency IDEO, this guide outlines principles for creating products and services in a circular way, as well as workshop templates and methods for applying them.

A few key references

One of the reference organisations promoting circular economy, and creating evidence-based research and tools to put circular economy principles into practice across different sectors and stakeholders. There's also an extensive library of resources by topics, sectors and a repertory of organisations working in the sector.

A non-for-profit based in Amsterdam who are experts in the circular economy, supporting businesses, cities and nations to put the circular economy into actions. They publish reports and research on various topics in their resources section.

Other useful resources

For product designers:

Please note that this page still needs a bit of work, there will be more resources to come. Feel free to suggest some of your favourites in the meantime :)