What does circularity mean when an idea is just being born?
This year, Zero Waste Kiel joined the Prototyping Week powered by Open Campus e.V. in the Starterkitchen as a mentor for Circularity. With more than 50 participants and a wide range of fresh ideas, the energy was high – and so was the potential to think differently about innovation from the very beginning.
Our goal was simple: bring circular thinking into projects at their earliest stage of development. Instead of adding sustainability at the end, we explored how it can shape the core of a business model from day one.
We started with a short introduction to what Circular Economy really means – beyond recycling – focusing on prevention, reuse, long product life, and systems thinking. Participants were then invited to go through a practical “Circularity Check”, a tool we developed to help teams reflect on their concepts and identify opportunities to strengthen resource efficiency and long-term value creation.
At the same time, this check allows us to better understand the current level of awareness and needs regarding circularity within the creative and startup ecosystem in Kiel.
The insights gained during the week will feed directly into the local strategy currently under development within the Creative Circular Cities (CCC) project. This strategy aims to embed Cultural and Creative Sector Industries (CCSI) into Kiel’s circular transition and will be presented as one of the key CCC outputs for and from Kiel.
By integrating circularity into innovation formats like the Prototyping Week, we are taking a concrete step toward making sustainability not an add-on – but a starting point.
