Circular Design: An urban and territorial perspective for systemic and cultural change

Abstract

Design thinking and design theory in regard to shaping the built environment are at the forefront in efforts to achieve climate-neutral cities in Europe. A green and resilient transition of cities and territories as living places and as main stages for change is on the agenda. The circular economy offers pathways for innovative creative design sectors that are active in this transition and are crucial for necessary cultural change and social inclusion. In a multidisciplinary approach, the Circular Design (CiD) Innovation Alliance addresses existing gaps in research, but also skills gaps in architecture, urban design and planning, and product/service design. The Alliance works on a radically new model of how to link design to circularity and urban transformation: it rethinks design for a circular economy and orients multidisciplinary collaboration towards the goals of carbon-neutral cities and systemic change of the construction sector and of value chains. To made advancements in bio-based construction, a strategy of using bio-materials from other sectors is pursued, creating circular bioregions and establishing buildings as bio-machines. The Alliance develops multidisciplinary flows of research and innovation in circular design but also in academic and continuing education. Entrepreneurship is fostered through a creative accelerator and cross-sectoral collaboration in order to upskill for emerging labour market profiles and support the creation of green start-ups in design and planning.

As part of a double event also featuring a lecture by Maddalena Ferretti (Marche Polytechnic University, UNIVPM, Italy), this lecture contributes to the DFG research training group ‘Urban future-making’ at HCU Hamburg. Discussion on ‘methodologies of matter’, the overarching topic of the lecture series, will be moderated by Claudia Massioni, a fellow of the research training group.

The lecture relates to the Circular Design Innovation Alliance, co-funded by the European Union.

About the lecturer

Jörg Schröder is a full professor and chair for Territorial Design and Urban Planning at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH), dean of research of the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, and directs the doctoral college Architecture of Territories. As an architect and urban planner his focus is on urbanism and architecture for sustainable transition and territorial innovation, with a focus on design research, emerging creative habitats, and circular dynamics. Currently, he is coordinating the European Circular Design Innovation Alliance. Recent research projects include Creative Food Cycles, Medways, Cosmopolitan Habitat, Dynamics of Periphery, and Creative Heritage, among others. Together with Riccarda Cappeller, Alissa Diesch, Federica Scaffidi, and Anna Pape he published the book Circular Design with Jovis in Berlin.

More information
@territorialdesign, www.cid-innovationalliance.eu, and on Instagram @cid.innovationalliance