The Circular Economy Show Podcast

What is the circular economy? Who's doing it? And what are some of the best examples of it in action? In part one of our what is the circular economy series, Joe Iles and Ellen MacArthur consider what this idea might mean for cars, packaging and sandwiches.

When you hear the word ‘design’, what images come to mind? Do you think of someone sketching products or creating a 3D model? A team making a prototype? A beautiful, timeless object? Dr John Maeda says that type of design is in the past. Through his diverse career - including work at MIT, the creation of the ‘Laws of Simplicity’, Presidency at Rhode Island School of Design and now at startup Automattic - Maeda says design has changed forever. Design truly can change the world, from tackling inequality to improving our cities. But to have a meaningful impact, designers will need to move beyond aesthetic design’ and embrace the new frontier: computational design. Recorded at DIF 2017. Find out more at thinkdif.co

What is the goal of economics? Does GDP really tell us all we need to know about a country's wealth and well-being? Our guest in this show argues that our economic system should be designed to meet everyone’s needs, while living within the means of the planet. Kate Raworth is the author of the acclaimed book ‘Doughnut Economics’. We spoke with Kate to explore a new 21st century economic model, and why she believes so many economists have got it wrong for so long. Recorded at DIF 2017. Find out more: https://www.thinkdif.co/

Rich Gilbert from the Agency of Design dives into product service systems, highlighting their potential to prioritize mobility over ownership. Gunnlaugur Erlendsson of Enso Tyres shares insights on providing tires as a sustainable service for electric vehicles, emphasizing circularity. Natasha Franck, founder of Eon, discusses her subscription-based model for fashion, aiming to promote upcycling and reduce waste. Together, they explore how these innovative approaches can reshape consumer experiences and contribute to a more sustainable economy.

The information technology revolution has only just begun, yet it is removing jobs faster than its creating them in a global economy which has faltering growth, social tensions, unemployment and resource issues.  What are the consequences, what needs to be done? In this episode we hear from Nikki Silvestri, a social entrepreneur who knows we have to nurture society through these disruptions. Nikki was recorded at the launch event of the Disruptive Innovation Festival 2016. This podcast was recorded as part of the 2016 Disruptive Innovation Festival. Find out more at thinkdif.co. Check out the rest of the Circulate Podcast series two here.

How well do you know the circular economy? It's not a new idea, but a term that has gone from relative obscurity only five years ago, to one which any serious CEO now has on their radar. Understanding the concept is one thing; implementing a framework which requires whole systems change is quite another. Join the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as we discuss both the concept and how businesses and governments have begun to take it on. This podcast was recorded as part of the 2016 Disruptive Innovation Festival. Find out more at thinkdif.co. Check out the rest of the Circulate Podcast series two here.  

Google believes that business has a key role to play in being part of the solution to move from a global economy based upon ‘take-make-dispose’ to one that is based on designing waste out of systems. Google’s goal is to embed circular economic principles into the fabric of its infrastructure, operations, and culture. We speak with Jim Miller, Google's Vice President of Global Operations to find out from him about what the circular economy can do for this leading contemporary's business. This podcast was recorded as part of the 2016 Disruptive Innovation Festival. Find out more at thinkdif.co.  

Before the middle of this century, the world's cities will face challenges like never before. A projected 50% growth in world population, hand-in-hand with the concentration of people in urban centres, means our cities will have to be prepared for the social, environmental and infrastructural challenges coming their way. 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) is an organisation dedicated to helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges of today and the future. From Accra to Yiwu, cities around the world are supported in their distinct challenges by 100RC. We speak with Elizabeth Yee, the Vice President of City Solutions for 100RC and help us to ask what we can learn from how cities are overcoming resilience challenges. This podcast was recorded as part of the 2016 Disruptive Innovation Festival. Find out more at thinkdif.co.

 What do we mean by low to middle income economies or emerging markets? Why has there been so little research on the circular economy opportunities in these contexts so far? How can economies dependent on intense resources extraction take advantage of a new regenerative model? Seb Read is joined by Luisa Santiago, CE100 Brazil Programme Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, where she conducts circular economy business research initiatives in the Brazilian context. This episode accompanies the publication of articles from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Head of Innovation Ken Webster, which explores what the circular economy means for low to middle income countries. Read the article one here.

In public discussion, the circular economy is often described as a way to allow technical products and their components to be used as endlessly as possible. But we can't forget about the biological cycle - how does it work when we come to the system that sustains life: agriculture? In this episode, Hunter Lovins argues that we need a 'circular economy of the soil' to feed a growing population, restore soil quality and ultimately reconcile farming systems with natural cycles. L. Hunter Lovins is President of Natural Capitalism Solutions (NCS) and is co-author of Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution. Listen to the previous episodes of _A New Dynamic podcast series _   _This podcast series presented by Colin Webster explores the recently published book A New Dynamic 2: Effective systems in a circular economy. Each programme features an interview with authors of the book’s chapters. These leading experts on architecture, agriculture, design, business or engineering, provide unique insights that reflect on the necessity to develop a whole-system approach to re-think our economy. _ Order your copy of A New Dynamic 2: Effective systems in a circular economy