REFLOW
REFLOW (Number 820937)
H2020-SC5-2018-2
9.794.935
Fab Lab Barcelona
The research project REFLOW sets out to offer a new approach to circular economy (CE) in urban areas. REFLOW will provide best practices aligning market and government needs in order to create favourable conditions for the public and private sector to adopt CE practices. Active citizen involvement and systemic change are needed to re-think the current approach. Concretely, REFLOW will create new CE business models within 6 pilot cities: Amsterdam, Berlin, Cluj-Napoca, Milan, Paris and Vejle and assess their social, environmental and economic impact. In each of the pilots, citizens will be involved in developing and testing circular products, software, and business models for their own city. REFLOW’s ambition is to offer tools and guidelines that other cities can adopt.
Copenhagen Business School, Institut D’Arquitectura Avancada De Catalunya, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V., Politecnico Di Milano, Stichting Dyne. Org, Stichting Metabolic Institute, Materiom Limited, Mouazan Erwan, Organosi Gia Tin Erevna Tin Tekmiriosi Kai Tin Proothisi Ton Omotimon Praktikon, Stichting Waag Society, Gemeente Amsterdam, Stichting Pakhuis De Zwijger, Brinks Management Advice/Techne B.V, Agile Heap Ev, Mcs Datalabs, Comune Di Milano, Wemake S.R.L., Opendot Srl, Fab City Grand Paris, Ville De Paris, Ars Longa, Volumes, Vejle Kommune, Design Society Fond, Municipul Cluj-Napoca, Filiala Transilvania A Asociatiei Romane Pentru Industria Electronica Si De Software, Institutul National De Cercetare-Dezvoltare Pentru Tehnologii Izotopice Si Moleculare-Incdtim Cluj-Napoca
The vision of REFLOW is to develop circular and regenerative cities through the re-localisation of production and the re-configuration of material flows at different scales. More specifically, it will use Fab Labs and makerspaces as catalysers of a systemic change in urban and peri-urban environments, which enable, visualize and regulate “four freedoms”: free movement of materials, people, (technological) knowledge and commons, in order to reduce materials consumption, maximize multifunctional use of (public) spaces and envisage regenerative practices.
Concretely, REFLOW aims at providing realistic best practices aligning market and government needs in order to create favourable conditions for the public and private sector to adopt circular principles. In order to provide critical examples of ways in which cities can adopt a CE model and reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, REFLOW will create new CE business models (Distributed Design Market model, On-Demand System, Corporate Hacking and Corporate Pyramid) within 6 pilot cities (Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Paris, Vejle and Cluj-Napoca) and assess their social, environmental and economic impact.
The project will make use of blockchain technologies in order to incentivise the circular practices in local ecosystems and data visualisation tools to enable continuous monitoring and optimisation of “urban metabolic” processes and rapid interventions management. Networks of sensors, urban computing and geo-localisation will capture data ensuring accuracy, integrity and interoperability of relevant data infrastructures, while data visualisation and standard templates will be available for effective communication, public consultation, and exchange of experiences.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 645198.