The OECD Programme on the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions will assist local and regional governments in designing and implementing policies allowing the transition from a linear to a circular economy in a shared responsibility with national governments, with a strong focus on the governance framework conditions required for the transition.

According to the OECD report on The Circular Economy in Cities and Regions (2020), only 10% of surveyed cities and regions (out of a sample of 50, including 38 from Europe) consider themselves at an “advanced” stage in their circular economy transition, while 39% report to be “in progress”, and 57% consider themselves “newcomers”. Moreover, [while] cities and regions recognise the existence of technical solutions to apply life cycle management, reduce waste and material use, improve resource efficiency and transform waste into resources, the governance conditions to put these solutions in place are still lacking: from regulation, to financing, to stakeholder engagement for just and inclusive policies. These findings show the need to support cities and regions in their transition towards the circular economy, identifying the enabling conditions for creating new business models and collaborations across municipalities, regional governments and business. 

• Strengthen the role of cities and regions as promoters, facilitators and enablers of the circular economy, in line with the OECD Checklist for Action, published in the 2020 report. 
• Identify and share knowledge, best practices and lessons to cope with challenges and identify effective solutions and policies for the transition towards a circular economy across cities and regions, through policy forums to enhance peer-learning, surveys to collect and produce data and evidence, and state-of-the-art literature review. To that effect, the OECD Roundtable on the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions, a multi-stakeholder network gathering 100+ cities, regions and institutions will be mobilised. 
• Provide and apply a measurement framework for decision-making and evaluation of local and regional circular economy strategies, based on the OECD Scoreboard on the Governance of the Circular Economy [and in cooperation with CCRI stakeholders], to assess existing enabling conditions for a circular economy, identify challenges and set priorities towards a more effective, efficient and just circular economy transition.

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