Brief project description: The Circular City Labs project aimed to support the strengthening of regulatory and normative frameworks related to the circular economy by developing a document of findings and recommendations, and a roadmap for its implementation. This initiative focused on guiding the adoption of circular strategies through public policy, systematizing best practices, and fostering dialogue with local stakeholders to facilitate their validation and adoption.

Implementation period: 2023 -2025

Funders: It is funded through the BMZ Climate and Environment Protection Initiative (IKI). 

Implementing organizations: GIZ and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

Territory(ies) where it was implemented: Globally in the following countries: Colombia, Georgia, Albania and South Africa

In Colombia, in Medellín.

Products developed:

• Technical document of findings and recommendations: Contains a regulatory, contextual and comparative analysis that identifies the strategic pillars to promote reuse systems in the city
• Roadmap for the adoption of reuse strategies
• Webinar series – sharing experiences. 

Key results:

• A common strategic vision on reuse and returnability was consolidated in Medellín, based on international evidence and the local regulatory and operational context.
• The District's capacities to advance in reuse systems were strengthened through the participatory prioritization of actions aligned with local capacities.
• The appropriation and commitment of key actors in the city was promoted, based on the exchange of international experiences and collective learning.
• Technical inputs were generated for the incorporation of recommendations into the district's public policy on circular economy, particularly in reuse and returnability strategies.