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Experience the opportunities and challenges of a circular business transition

“Circular Economy isn’t for us”, “what’s in it for me?”, “We’re already recycling, isn’t that circular enough” – do you recognize those statements from within your company?

Or are you already trying to create a buzz, circular taskforces, or even testing the first comprehensive circular strategies?

Either way, one of the key questions in going circular is: Does circularity make business sense – yes or no? We could debate this question forever, but instead, we invite you to go into action and come experience the opportunities and challenges of a circular transition first-hand.

The 4 week-long program Circularity Hands-On aims to go from abstract ideas to real change and thereby substantially increase the speed of the circular transition.

At the core is the power of experience – you and three other team members will dive into an engaging and immersive learning and networking experience where you must implement several circular strategies in a virtual manufacturing company.

The program: Maximum flexibility to accommodate everyone’s schedule

Small time investment: participants only invest 2 hours/week together with all other participants (in red on Mondays) and 2 hours/week with their team whenever it fits their schedule (in blue).

The online program includes the following elements

1. Circular strategy business game

During 6 rounds of cross-functional decision-taking in the online circular business game The Blue Connection, teams must transition an e-bike manufacturer from a linear take-make-dispose to a circular strategy. Teams do so in their own time and pace over the course of the week, to accommodate everyone’s schedule. Each round introduces new elements to consider: product design | sales contracts with retailers | choosing the right value chain partner | measuring circularity | revenue models | financing schemes with the bank | & more.

2. Debriefs

Getting insights into how the decisions impacted the (circular) performance of the company. This is where mistakes are uncovered and analyzed, where good decisions are laid out and where the (experiential) learning happens!

3. Innovative networking

We will use a state-of-the-art online networking hub called SCOOCS to drive circular collaborations and get-togethers.

4. Inspiring keynotes & showcases

Our track partner KPMG will complement the program with inspiring keynote speeches where best practices, learnings from past experiences, and (un)successful showcases will be presented. Showcases of business models from the real world will complete the bigger picture of circular business models and together with the experience that participants gained from the business game, The Blue Connection, we will build the bridge between circular theory and practice.

Three sessions will be hosted by our partner KPMG:

• General trends around Circular Economy – November 4th

During this first session Arnoud Walrecht, Global KPMG Circular Economy Lead, will introduce the main trends of circular economy. The focus will be on the current EU policy, how we can expect circularity to develop in the future and how companies can deal with the current and expected changes in legislation. Client examples will provide insights into how the industry is reacting to the trends and creating opportunities from new legislations and developments.

• Measuring Circularity – November 11th 

During the decision making with the circular business simulation game, The Blue Connection, Circularity Hands-On’s participants will come across the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI). Those form the KPI’s of the business game. But how was CTI developed and how is it used in practice? With the CTI trainer and sustainability consultant Julius Groenendaal, we will make a deep dive into the indicators that were developed by the WBCSD in cooperation with KPMG and Circular IQ.

• Circular Business Models – November 18th 

Among the learning objectives of Circularity Hands-On is to get an end-to-end helicopter view of how a circular business model looks like and works. Mart Beune, KPMG’s Senior Manager for Circular Economy & ESG Strategy, will shed more light on circular business models and answer questions.  Such as: What circular business models are currently being practiced? What are the key success factors? What are the major pitfalls? What finance issues may arise and how can you fix them?

5. Applying the learnings to your context

To make sure the learnings are translated and applied to your company’s context, we organize speed dating to learn from each other, 1-on-1 consulting sessions and hear experts showcase best practices.

6. Take next steps

The possibility to meet our track partner KPMG who can take your company’s circular journey forward internally after Circularity Hands-On.

7. Get all the basics on Circular Economy

As a part of the program, you will receive a copy of the textbook Mastering the Circular Economy. Using the textbook is optional and is meant as a way to provide all participants with everything they need to have a foundation of knowledge on Circular Economy.

Pricing

• Participate as an individual for €375
• Participate as a team of 4 people for a total of €1400

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In collaboration with our track partner:

Network partners: