Circular Cities Week 2020 (ASEAN & London)

Circular Cities Week 2020 – CEC ASEAN & London Leaders coming together

In March 2019, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched the Circular Economy Cities  Project Guide. It was reported that by 2050, two thirds of us will live in cities. However, our urban centres are grappling with the effects of our current take-make-use-waste economy. Under this ‘linear system’, cities consume over 75% of natural resources, produce over 50% of global waste, and emit between 60-80% of greenhouse gases. A circular economy provides opportunities for us to rethink how we make and use the things we need, and allows us to explore new ways of ensuring long-term prosperity.

This year the Circular Economy Club (CEC) Malaysia chapters in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Penang, Penampag and Johor is very proud to be collaborating with CEC Leaders in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines Singapore & London this year to bring the international CEC to our cities. CEC global is the largest international network of circular economy professionals and organizations present in 130 countries. At CEC, we envision a new era where all cities worldwide function through a circular model, setting the end of an age of waste. The circular economy is an alternative economic model to the linear economy in which we live in, where we take resources, produce, consume, and waste. The circular economy model posits that all materials are to go back into the production cycle (by being recovered through circular strategies including sharing, reutilization and recycling) to avoid environmental damage.

This fall, the Circular Economy Clubs (CEC) in ASEAN is celebrating the “Circular Cities Week” from Oct. 27 to Oct. 31 2020. The goal: to urge, with a united voice, for the design and implementation of circular economy strategies with our colleagues in 100 cities worldwide. This effort coincides with the United Nations World Cities Day on Oct. 31. The “Circular Cities Week” is an annual, decentralized global event. As of today, CEC City Organizers in 80 cities have committed to organising workshops online  with circular economy professionals and supporters to identify opportunities and next steps to encourage implementation of the circular economy in each city.

The CEC ASEAN leaders also hope to share our experiences and insights in how we have been implementing circular cities initiatives in ASEAN countries. We  will address how a circular city embeds the principles of a circular economy across all its functions, establishing an urban system that is regenerative, accessible and abundant by design.  It is important to understand how creating circular cities help to eliminate the concept of waste, keep assets at their highest value at all times, and are enabled by digital technology.  We hope you will find our case studies practical, useful and replicable. The CECs in ASEAN works hard and collaboratively to ensure that we can grow circular cities together with our key stakeholders to “generate prosperity, increase livability, and improve resilience for the city and its citizens while aiming to decouple the creation of value from the consumption of finite resources”- Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

We would like to thank CIMB Cooler Earth team, our strategic partner Think City for collaborating with us this year and to include our  programme into their Regional Virtual Conference by dedicating one week to celebrate Circular Cities Week 2020.  This virtual conference is an enviable platform for us to include and engage with key stakeholders from  city governments, private and nonprofit sectors, academia, civil society organisations and members of the public in the region. We look forward to meeting with you all online very soon!