PCM #15 - What are the challenges for getting cities circular ? (Oriana Romano - OECD)
Channel: Metabolism of Cities
Date: 2020-04-17

Welcome to the Circular Metabolism Podcast. This podcast is hosted by the Chair of Circular Economy and Urban Metabolism held by Aristide Athanassiadis and Stephan Kampelmann at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. In this podcast, we talk with researchers, policy makers and different practitioners to unravel the complex aspects of what makes urban metabolisms and economies more circular.

On episode number 15 of the Circular Metabolism Podcast, I exchange points of view with Oriana Romano, Coordinator of the Cities and Circular Economy Programme of the OECD. 

In this programme, Oriana and her colleagues explore what is a circular city and what are the challenges for implementing the circular economy in cities. Indeed, while a number of technological solutions exist already, legislative and economic barriers are perhaps the most challenging ones to overcome in order to get closer towards circular cities.

For Oriana, perhaps one of the most promising additions of circular economy in traditional environmental regulations is its systemic approach. However, due to the added complexity it is extremely important to have extended dialogues with relevant stakeholders at different levels as well as encompassing the local context. In this quest towards circular cities, dialogues and exchanges between cities sharing similar struggles and similar stages of progression in order to understand how different circular economy principles land in different contexts, are also vital. 

However, these differences beg the question whether there should be a unique way to adopt circular economy and how do you compare circularity between cities. Oriana says that while it is not ideal to benchmark cities at this stage but it is essential to understand what are the important pieces of information that we need to monitor in order to take better decisions. In other words, what do need to measure and why. 

Enjoy this episode and don’t forget to visit our website www.circularmetabolism.com for the rest of our productions. Before you go, please help us improve our podcast by subscribing to your favourite app including Youtube, iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher and leave us a comment with your thoughts. 

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For more information on the work of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) on Circular Economy in Cities and Regions, visit :  https://www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/circular-economy-cities.htm