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Circular-Cities research project launched!

On February 17, the research project Circular-Cities started at the FernUniversität in Hagen under the direction of Prof. Töller. In cooperation with the Wuppertal Institute, the team from Hagen will be researching the waste prevention strategies of independent cities in North-Rhine Westphalia over the next 13 months. The research project, which is funded by the EU under the ERDF program and by the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, aims to establish a solid knowledge base about waste prevention measures taken by cities to date as well as their driving factors. At the same time, their measures will be systematically evaluated to elaborate recommendations for municipalities as well as the state government. “Waste prevention is the linchpin of an innovative circular economy, but it poses a difficult challenge. I am pleased the Circular-Cities project has now started. With our four researchers and three research assistants, we have established a competent team. I am looking forward to working with them,” says Töller.

Over the course of the coming weeks, the team at the FernUniversität in Hagen will focus on developing a research design, which will provide the basis for data collection. Subsequently, researchers will conduct an individual case study for each of the cities, collecting and analyzing key data. “Since we only have 13 months for the realization of the project, every step we take must be right from the start,” according to Töller.

The results of the project are to be published in different formats. A dedicated website will be set up for the project over the next few days so interested parties can follow its progress. In addition, several articles to be published in scientific journals will present the research results to the scientific community. Furthermore, the Wuppertal institute is planning to develop a special tool to help municipalities prevent and process waste. At the end of the project, two conferences will serve to present the results to third-party sponsors as well as the public.