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The Ellen MacArthur Foundation works with business, government and academia to build a framework for an economy that is restorative and regenerative by design. Our mission is accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
Below you can find a sample of our circular economy resources.
System Reset
Imagine if we built an economic system built on abundance rather than scarcity. Taking advantage of the latest digital tools, computational power, material science, biomimicry and a somewhat older idea – the commons – this new system could have the power to transform how we live and work. System Reset is a feature-length documentary which explores this story of change in our economy.
Shot in London, Amsterdam and Barcelona, this film is a DIF 2018 exclusive. It features some of the leading thinkers in materials, economics, the commons movement, FabLabs, digital citizenship, urban planning and architecture. Don’t miss your opportunity to see them collectively weave a picture of how our economy could operate.
Is this the Future of Global Food Systems?
Leontino Balbo Jr has developed an approach to organic sugar cane production with the potential to disrupt the whole agricultural sector itself.
In 1986, Leontino began experimenting with “ecosystems revitalising agriculture”, a new approach that he believed could increase crop yields, reduce pest numbers and restore natural capital, all while reducing reliance on natural resources.
29 years later, Leontino’s sugar cane farm, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has enjoyed unprecedented success with his work becoming a paragon of regenerative agriculture. A hypothesis has transformed into measurable results, with Leontino claiming to be able to produce higher yields, while not raising production costs, using only one third of the resources and providing a swathe of environmental benefits.
Re-thinking Progress: The Circular Economy
There’s a world of opportunity to re-think and re-design the way we make stuff.
‘Re-Thinking Progress’ explores how through a change in perspective we can re-design the way our economy works – designing products that can be ‘made to be made again’ and powering the system with renewable energy. It questions whether with creativity and innovation we can build a restorative economy.
Values in a Circular Economy
This activity handout explores the questions of what the notion of ‘circular economy’ means individually and why.
The circular economy appears to offer a positive systemic model or framework for addressing some of the serious global and local economic and wider societal challenges
confronting us in the 21st century – in ways that make sense. Yet, everybody understands and deals with a circular economy in a different way due to the difference in their personal values.This activity helps to clarify differing personal interpretations of a circular economy.
You can download the PDF file here.
Challenging Common Conceptions
This lesson plan provides a good introduction to the circular economy, and can be taught as a stand-alone lesson. For more teaching handouts, explore our Schools & Colleges Resources.
You can download the PDF file here.
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