Before “Circular Economy”: Historical Antecedents

More often than not the concept or application of  what is called”Circular Economy” is treated as an entirely new toolbox or approach, that is to say somehow historyless, This is or course far from the case.

The goal of the above  quickly fashioned mosaic is to serve as a reminder — and incomplete reminder — of some of the great men and great thinking that came before, with this listing taking us up to the beginning of this still new century,.  (Surly I have missed here some  of the important figures, who to my mind constitute the Ffounding Fathers of Circular Economy. So please fo not be shy and share your thoguhts on this with us.)

And just in case it did not strike you, they are, to a man, just that: all males. I  don’t quite know what to make of this, but it is at the very  least worth noting.  And worth stressing, that any such concept that does not include full participation and leadership from women as well is doomed to fail. So let’s think about that for a bit.

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Eric Britton
13, rue Pasteur. Courbevoie 92400 France

Bio: Founding editor of World Streets (1988), Eric Britton is an American political scientist, teacher, occasional consultant, and sustainability activist who has observed, learned, taught and worked on missions and advisory assignments on all continents. In the autumn of 2019, he committed his remaining life work to the challenges of aggressively countering climate change and specifically greenhouse gas emissions emanating from the mobility sector. He is not worried about running out of work. Further background and updates: @ericbritton | http://bit.ly/2Ti8LsX | #fekbritton | https://twitter.com/ericbritton | and | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbritton/ Contact: climate@newmobility.org) | +336 508 80787 (Also WhatApp) | Skype: newmobility.)

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Protected: The Emergence of the Modern Circular Economy: A Bibliography (review draft)

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Circular Economy: Peer review request and first response

Dear Eric,

Surprise! I am at my desk and your email asking me about an eventual independent “peer review” on the current state of science and accomplishment under the heading of Circular Economy arrived moments ago and is staring at me. In fact I was at a conference on just this topic in another country, which was OK, except that I could have given virtually all the talks myself.

I didn’t learn very much, which was disappointing. Waste of time, except it got me thinking more about one aspect of the circularity problem. In brief, most of the elements in the periodic table are now “in play”, and most of them are really “hitch-hikers” obtained from the ores of major industrial metals (copper, zinc, aluminum etc.).

DEMOCRACY CAME LATE TO OUR STREETS (Or, Drivers as Victims)

* Wanted: Curators and contributors for World Streets “Drivers As Victims” Department. Contact eric.britton@ecoplan.org

Drivers as Victims

After a century of fearless and uncontested domination, peace and pandering, car/owner drivers around the planet suddenly find themselves in the midst of a raging process of transition to a very different world of privilege and limitation, laws and enforcement, economics and free rides. And unsurprisingly in their own yes they see themselves as victims: having their territory limited step by step to ever-growing parts of the cityscape where they have long been uncontested kings and queens.

Op-Ed: On-street parking fees despite zero public transport?

Can on-street parking fees really help places with poor public transport?

I was asked this many times in Pune, India, while I was there on mission three weeks ago*. Parking is a hot topic in this Maharashtra city of about 5 million people because many Pune streets have extreme parking problems and because the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has a new and progressive draft parking policy awaiting approval. However, public transport in Pune remains unappealing for vehicle owners. Hence the question.

The short answer is yes! 

By Paul Barter, Adjunct Associate Professor, LKY School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Circular Economy – A small open reference library

Complied in support of Master Class on The Future of Business: Circular Economy. 23 June 2017

* Link to working library: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AivPCmA_7fpkh_0qYfxT0IX98O5ivg

Master Class: The Future of Business: Circular Economy

École des Ponts Business School. Master Class of  23 June 2017

Business, management and society are changing at an ever-accelerating pace. École des Ponts Business School is proud to be at the forefront of leading and supporting novel research initiatives.

This event will lead a discussion on how Circular Economy is a “resource-full” alternative to the traditional linear “resource-depleting” economic model of produce-consume-waste. It allows the economic ecosystem to do ‘more with less’ and transition to sustainable growth that fosters innovative practice and thinking.

Post Velo-City 2017 Op-Ed: On the need to re-connect cycling discourses with its core values

 –  Esther Anaya-Boig,  Doctoral researcher at Imperial College London

I have just returned from the latest Velo-city Global Cycling Summit organized this year in Arnhem-Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The best part of the conference experience for me was that it gave me an opportunity to catch up with so many old friends and making new ones who share my deep interest in cycling as a mobility form and as a social act.

I appreciate the hard work and good intentions of the many many people who have contributed and made this event possible. However upon considerable reflection on what I saw and heard during the three days of the conference and associated events, I would now like to share some views and reactions, with all due respect of course.

SLOW CITY TRANSITION: NOTES FOR A THINKING EXERCISE _________ “We are the inventors of a new world , my Sir “ ____

The idea of slowing top speeds on traffic in the city to reduce accidents and achieve other important systemic benefits would seem like a pretty sensible, straightforward and affordable thing to do. For a lot of reasons.  Let’s have a look.

Op-Ed: The Walking Dead in Washington Edit

We’re all focused on the drama and entertainment of Trump’s takeover of the world’s centre of military, security and economic power. For some it’s exciting and entertaining, for others terrifying and apocalyptic. I too have been glued to the news – at various times having each of those responses! But now I’ve come back to earth, recognising it all for what it is. Important, but a sideshow to a much bigger and more important game. And on reflection, I’m glad he got elected.

How can a Trump Presidency be positive? Surely this is a major setback – to action on climate change, to addressing inequality, to human rights and global security. Doesn’t it make the world a scarier and less stable place?  In isolation, all true, but in context, not so much. The context is the key.

– By Paul Gilding, http://www.paulgilding.com/

Sustainable Penang Civil Society Honor Roll

Dear Friends of a Sustainable Penang,

I am hard at work on a challenging book under the title BETTER CHOICES: Bringing Sustainable Mobility to Smaller Asian Cities, which is not about Penang, the focus being much broader. However, at one point in the book I intend to comment on some of the most interesting things I have observed that are being done in Penang via the internet and civil society in order to broaden the debate and inform both concerned citizens, government, the business community, policy makers and the public more generally. We call this The Third Force.

The rough road to sustainable mobility: Values, priorities, behavior . . and finally, understanding people

WHY ARE THEY THERE? NOW? (Work trip in Jakarta on one more busy morning)  Each person behind a wheel there made a choice.  How can we give them Better Choices? That’s the rub.

What many people call “transportation” . .  is at its very essence not about road or bridges, nor vehicles or technology, and not even about money.  Above all it is about people, their needs, fears, desires and the decisions they make. And the backdrop — real and mental — against which they make those decision. The transport planner needs to know more them and take this knowledge into the center of the planning and policy process. What makes them tick, individually and collectively.  What do they want and what they are likely to resist. And people, as we all know, are intensely complicated, personal and generally change-resistant. . But if we take the time and care we can start to understand them, at least a bit better. Which is a start.