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Knowledge category: Tools and methods

A Guide for Developing a Circular City Strategy

Updated on 11.02.2025

The guide for developing a circular city strategy aims to help city authorities develop a circular city strategy through a step-by-step approach. Developed by the Circular City Centre - C3 within the European Investment Bank (EIB), it is valuable for city officials, businesses, NGOs, and civil society focused on urban sustainability. It provides practical tools, case studies, and guidance on key aspects such as stakeholder identification, baseline assessment, focus area prioritization, governance mechanisms, financing strategies, and monitoring frameworks.

Author: European Investment Bank
Year of update: 2024

Relevance for Circular Systemic Solutions

The guide provides a step-by-step approach to help cities develop a holistic and cohesive circular city strategy, offering hands-on advice, practical tools, and case studies to address key success factors and challenges. Its core building blocks include stakeholder identification, baseline assessment, focus area prioritization, governance mechanisms, financing strategies, and monitoring frameworks. Developing such a strategy is a crucial first step for cities to lead the circular transition, ensuring a systemic approach that aligns stakeholders and coordinates efforts toward achieving circular targets. This guide can serve as a useful resource for cities and regions in the Map and Design phases of the circular solution deployment.

How to use this tool or method

The guide is a comprehensive document-based tool that offers a clear, step-by-step methodology for cities transitioning to a circular economy. It features well-structured sections that allow users to follow a logical sequence or directly access specific areas based on their needs.