Real conversations, real progress: a promising start of the first CCRI communities of practice
Published on 18.09.2025
What can cities learn from each other about integrating circular principles into urban planning? How are municipal waste companies in different regions helping to accelerate the circular transition? And what approaches are proving effective in supporting local circular businesses?
These are just a few of the questions being explored through the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative’s (CCRI) newly launched communities of practice (CoPs). With four communities already launched in May and June 2025, the CoPs were kicked off, are each exploring on one key theme: urban planning, supporting local circular businesses, municipal waste companies for circular cities, and cutting consumption-based emissions through circular economy.
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Each community brings together a group of cities and regions focused on a specific topic, providing a structured space for peer exchange, practical learning, and collaborative problem-solving. The first meetings set a constructive and open tone, with participants sharing experiences, identifying common challenges, and defining learning priorities for the months ahead.
The participants are largely new to the CCRI community, bringing with them extensive expertise and experience in circular economy within their respective topics. This influx of fresh perspectives alongside existing members strengthens the network, enriching peer learning and broadening the collective capacity to drive circular transitions. Expanding the CCRI community in this way is a crucial step toward fostering more diverse and impactful collaborations across Europe. Discover all participating cities and regions here.
Over the coming year, the CoPs will meet regularly to explore real-life cases and approaches, supported by CCRI facilitators. Some groups will also organise an in-person peer learning visit, providing participants with an opportunity to learn directly from each other’s local practices. Key insights and solutions from the CoPs will be translated into further capacity-building efforts, including training sessions, case studies, and hands-on guidance. All of these will be available on the CCRI website.
Coming this September: new call for cities and regions
A second opportunity to join a CCRI community of practice, focusing on four more topics, will open in September 2025. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to take your work to the next level, CCRI offers a space to connect, exchange and grow.
For any questions, contact info@ccri-communities-of-practice.eu.
This programme is managed by the CCRI Communities of Practice team.
large 500 000-200 000, medium 200 000-50 000, and small cities 50 000-5 000
large metropolitan area >1.5 million, metropolitan area 1.5 million-500 000
predominantly urban regions, intermediate and predominantly rural regions, refer to TERCET typology NUTS 3 region
