About us

CONTEXT

CIRCULAR LOOPS contribute to the generation of businesses that favours the circular economy, contributing to develop a more responsible and sustainable future. As this is a considerably new topic, it is common that there are managers of social enterprises who are not yet able to develop businesses focused on the circular economy, as they have not been trained in this field.

In Austria, Italy and Portugal, the overall and radical rethink of the traditional production model is still perceived as a hard challenge.

In Germany and Spain, managers of social enterprises often lack knowledge on the entrepreneurial process and on setting up a sustainable and circular business model for the enterprise.

In Romania, social enterprises and circular economy are a quite new concept.

OBJECTIVES

CIRCULAR LOOPS aims to foster the approach of circular economy in social enterprises, by promoting the concept of the social circular economy. The project looks for the creation of a transferable package of resources to improve knowledge about the social circular economy in each context.

Circular Loops objectives are:

  •          To identify social economy practices across partner countries, its characteristic, and key success factors
  •         To co-create a creative methodology and methods to support managers of social enterprises to introduce circular economy in their businesses
  •         To set up a learning programme for managers of social enterprises to boost social circular economy practices
  •          To adapt the ‘social circular business model canvas (SCBMC)’ into digital and using a strategic design approach

         To design and implement a peer-mentoring programme for social enterprises to guide them into the process of ‘go circular’


TARGET GROUP

The main target groups of Circular Loops are the managers of social enterprises, trainers, mentors, business advisors, adult educators, and organisations working in the field of entrepreneurship development.

 

PROJECT RESULTS

To achieve these objectives, the project partners will develop 3 main results:

  1. Methodology - Mapping the Scene: inspiring practices and methodology to go social circular: methodological framework starting with an onsite analysis of each partner country regarding practices being implemented and which could inspire innovation.    

    The Methodology for Social Enterprises to Go Circular & The Catalogue of Inspiring Practices are available in English, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, German and Spanish. Download and read the Methodology in: English, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, German, Spanish. Download and read the Catalogue in: English, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, German, Spanish.



  2. Training - Enabling solutions for social enterprises to ‘go circular’ is a systemic and integrative learning programme designed to support managers of social organisations to adopt circular economy principles. 

    The course curriculum covers 35 hours of learning, with materials structured into 4 modules: 

    I. Introduction to the course; 

    II. Introduction to Sustainability; 

    III. Circular Economy; 

    IV. Act for Change. 

    All contents are available in English and in all partners’ country languages. 

     

    In addition to the learning materials, a board game has been produced to support the entrepreneurs in the process of "going circular". The game has been designed to be implemented throughout 9 sessions of 1h30 hour each. Each game session has 3 different kinds of activities: activities to foster dialogue and debate; practical challenges; and activities to promote research, learn more and go further.

    The board game was tested in the pilot phase (IO3), as it was the main support for the peer mentoring programme. Nevertheless, the game has been designed in a way that is not restricted to the mentoring processes nor to business development, and that allows it to be implemented in different settings and contexts, for everyone who wants to explore the themes of sustainability and circular economy.

     

    Check it out here 

    English: https://tinyurl.com/circularloops-en

    Romanian: https://tinyurl.com/circularloops-ro

    German: https://tinyurl.com/circularloops-de

    Spanish: https://tinyurl.com/circularloops-es

    Italian: https://tinyurl.com/circularloops-it

    Portuguese: https://tinyurl.com/circularloops-pt

     

    In order to access the course, opening an account will be required. More information is available in the section "Course catalogue".


  3. The Circular Loops mentoring programme follows a peer-mentoring model, implying that mentors have common characteristics with their mentees. In the context of Circular Loops, a peer-mentoring model means that mentors should have engaged with the path of ‘going circular’ before, presenting somehow expertise in the field of Circular and Social Economy. Mentoring is a process of guidance and advice, aiming for the development of personal and professional competencies. 

    The mentoring process is co-constructed by mentors and mentees together, where both parties contribute and learn from each other. The sessions should happen on a regular basis and in a limited time. The model foresees a length of 4 to 6 months, where each mentoring process is conducted through 9 sessions of 1h30 each.

     

    Download the Circular Loops Mentoring Programme and our proposal for the Mentoring session activities (available also as a board game – see above).