Evaluating Regional Strategies towards a Circular Economy in the Built Environment

In particular relation to the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development goal No. 12 (“responsible production and consumption”), the implementation of a circular economy into the building industry has special potentials.More circular flows of materialand informationcan simultaneously decrease resource extraction, fossil energy consumption and environmental pollution, while allowing new business models. However, this chancestill remains largely neglected bydecision makers. In order to transform this situation, it is necessary to understand and re-weavethe entire value chain–requiringnew collaborations between variousstakeholder groups. In a three-year project that was dedicated to settingup a strategy for the implementation of circularity in the building sector within a regionin Germany, stakeholders were involved to work towards circularvalue creationbeyond waste management. The project proceeded in three dimensions: 1) Action-oriented networking and strategy making, 2) Conceptualizations and implementation steps for a pilot location that makeshigh-value products from building waste, 3) Identification of action items and project initiations. Based ona stakeholder analysis, this paper reflects upon the entire process, with a focus on qualitative information flows.The paper concludes with a critical view regarding the stakeholder networkmethod of the projectand its efficiency in implementing the circular economy on a regional scale