ACTION development started:
New Forms Of Collaboration! – @E_BioReg started the development of an ACTION about
Creating A Community Currency Backed In Organic Waste
Check the: Development Topic
2 Likes
##Products In The Circular City
Hello.
This model is quite interesting and makes me think about how these productive models should be structured. As an industrial designer and university professor of sustainability in the design, I have tried to propose in the classes more sustainable productive models for the products, which has led me to think products that fulfill several purposes that can be applied and be very useful for the Circular city, although this sustainable products are rarely understood in how sustainability is applied and how it will be open to improvements and can really impact the way we manufacture the products.
This is a list of parameters that should meet a sustainable product (many of them are part of the approach of @Lars2i):
Must have 3 parts: one part Re, one part Co, one part Mod
Re- Reusable, Recyclable, Recoverable.
Co- Compostable or combustible.
MOD- a modular base that serves different products or product categories and is the motherboard on which the different systems are mounted.
Mod- other modular parts that help to better integrate the system but not the main base but components that allow its operation.
Each of these parts should also comply with the following specifications:
MOD or mod - being a main element, its useful life should be extended since it should serve as a matrix for new products, where possible tending to an infinite (impossible) life that allows to be used and reconfigured countless times. The mod elements should be able to be coupled each other creating more resistant and complex systems with a greater capacity of use.
Re- These parts that cannot have an extended life time, either by technical characteristics (such as being in contact with food or because they are programmed to suffer some type of wear) or because their duration can not be controlled, must be designed with materials That come from recycling processes or that come from other productive cycles and that they are designed precisely so that they are destroyed and remanufactured. In this way it is possible to introduce these products into closed cyclic models (with a high degree of difficulty) that allow to control their entry and exit.
Co- The latter are pieces that can not definitively be reused or that their materials can not be recovered, so they should be avoided to end in a landfill, so they must be recovered and used for the generation of energy within the productive processes or for The production of organic materials inside or outside other productive cycles, as fertilizer that allows the growth of this organic material. The ultimate goal of this type of product should be to minimize its impact on the environment.
A last important point of this approach is that it must use associated service models that allow the recovery of these components and allow producers and customers to understand how their role is vital to the operation of the system and that the loss of materials are Reduced to the maximum. The physical part of the product is only a 30% of the system, but without the other 70% corresponding to these associated services, this model is impossible to carry out in sufficient quantities to be feasible.
5 Likes
##New Ways To Collaborate
Hello,
in order to reach a truly circular economy organizations need to find new ways to collaborate. We, @Sylke @simonlee and @Alice_audrey are developing a new methodology “CIRCLE Dinner” in order to get those conversations started.
For that we developed this action:
And we are hosting this event around it:
Are you interested? Join us and help us develop this methodologies for circular economy!
4 Likes
##Fun & Games To Transform
Greetings from Seattle:
I have found the perfect place in geologic space for Seattle’s transition into a more Circular City: See www.circularcities.com - I think the Worlds Fair, in terms of celebration, is a good time for all and what if we could through the help of the gaming community, transform the Worlds Fair into a more interactive celebration, say www.circularcities2030.com (insert work in progress), a chain reaction so to speak, one that could happen simultaneously in every city around the world.
If we are to take reality seriously, we know that everything must change. I keep thinking Fun & Games: the solutions to the problems have to be FUN, and seen as how most cities in the world today are located close to sea level, we must act. Pronto. Circular Cities 2030, as a Worlds Fair event, could be one based on the premise of adapting our cities to a changing world. I keep thinking of the new POP culture - Parks over Ports (www.parksoverports.com) - Transforming Trade Routes into Tourist Traps. Fun & Games.
I am reaching out to the OSCE and DIF community to ask a favor: could you help me edit this proposal for a new school in Seattle: Health & Industry
I want to present this idea for Circular Cites 2030 to Magic Leap: they just moved into my neighborhood Georgetown,WA.
I wish I had more time to discuss this here.
1 Like
Hi @RicardoRug
This is a fantastic and very simple way to explain/create Circular Products!
I wonder, do you have any examples for MOD? What do you use with your students?
Plus, I wonder if we can transform this little list of criteria into an ACTION. The ACTION would be to design a circular product with the 3 parts – one Re- one Co- one MOD or Mod.
For the ACTION we would only need a short list with examples for Re-, Co-, and MOD or Mod to set people on the right track or inspire them to find more. When people take the ACTION the list grows…
I would be happy to assist you in the creation of such an ACTION.
2 Likes
Hi @Bee
Creating Urban Games to invent and push the transformation to the circular city is right up my alley 
How can people help you? Do you have a collaborative document somewhere? If you have none yet, feel free to set up one and share the link here. You can use the forum for the document (It has a wiki functionality). If you want to start with a brainstorming we could have one in a video hangouts during the Open Labs for example?
But before I add more ideas - what is already there?
Animation: Regenerative City
https://www.thinkdif.co/emf-stage/building-urban-resilience
I found these animations that were published through the Disruptive Innovation Festival program.
The first one gives a good and more general overview and zooms in at the different perspectives you can look at the regenerative city:
The second one is more interesting because it is a little bit more concrete:
Find more videos about Circular Cities in the DIF Program. And share the links to the ones that inspired you 
1 Like
okay. To respond to your concerns, the first thing is that I have no examples prepared to show because until now we have handled it on a theoretical level by apart, but not according to this component model, but this also I think is good because it could give us freedom to Develop it without biasing the proposals.
Some examples of similar product systems
In this case, MOD is the base containing the motor element on which the different Mod parts (drilling base, caliper base, polishing base) are added. It could be assumed that the RE parts are the spare parts (blades, drills or cutting discs) but there are no CO parts.
Another interesting project that could come to be understood in this way can be this (ARA project) in which on a Standar base (MOD) can be located all the components (Mod) that conform and personalize the product, but neither has CO components nor RE.
Almost always the type of products that exist with an architecture similar are those that under a single base (MOD) allow to add components to be able to produce new uses, but not necessarily so that once it fulfills its life cycle this base serves For another product (whether of the same or different performance) and its components use materials that can be recycled, but not necessarily designed so that a certain part to be replaced continuously can be recycled (for example a typical spare part are batteries or Parts for the tools but they are elaborated in materials of difficult recovery, in addition that often there are no associated services that allow to recover those materials.).
1 Like
If we wanted to create an action to be developed, I think that basic parameters should be established to make it easier to understand the exercise.
I leave some ideas that could become action.
Develop elements for use in a home environment that allow the products to be adapted to domestic use (kitchen, living room, bedroom, etc.)
To develop an appliance that can increase (duplicate or quadruple) the useful life of the appliance through component development (MOD - mod - CO - RE).
Develop products for collaborative use that adapt to the needs of each individual and thus eliminate the need to purchase complete products. (An example would be that in a residential complex there would be some community MODs and each family would have the Mod - RE - CO kit to allow them to wash, transport, dry, cook, etc. depending on their specific needs).
2 Likes
Slightly different to tours but Circular Cambridge has setup a Circular Challenge to challenge folk to move toward more circular ways.
Here is our DIF session wrapping up what was discussed so far and inviting you to continue the conversation here and to join Phase 2 now.
2 Likes
Hi @RicardoRug
###On Modularity
I am looking at modularity for a while now and discovered that in a lot of areas it comes with problems. The Spreading Errors Effect is an important one. It effects your first example.
And Project ARA got cancelled recently because it turned out to be a „terrible idea.“ It would have cost even more …
Don’t get me wrong, I still love the idea of modularity - that is the reason I create this ACTION about it. But it seems it does not work everywhere. We have to look for the areas, where it works.
###On The Product Design ACTION
I think, such an ACTION should be more free. I like the simple idea to just set ‘Make one Re-, Co- & Mod-’ because it makes some restrictions but it is ok, because after this you have maximum freedom. Invent the product you want to - for example a robotic broom that works only on Mars. For OSCEdays this might work better. People like to follow their own ideas - if they accept a framework (materials and construction principles) they should be able to at least pick what they design. It is more fun.
I imagine the key part of the ACTION would be to have a short list for Re-, Co-, Mod- to get people inspired. Does not have to be a complete list. On the contrary. Just enough to make them understand what to look for (how to identify Re-, Co-, & Mod-). And examples for Mod– ? Well ll there are a lot of modular toys out there. This could be a start. And let them come up with the rest.
10 different modular toys made to connect by the Free Universal Construction Kit.
What do you think? Can we collect a list of examples for Re-, Co- & Mod-?
By the way - I have started a collection on modularity a while ago here on the forum:
1 Like
Hello, you are absolutely right, the commitment and complexity to the development of modular elements must be quite strong. The effects posed are generated in the products in this way are frequent and very difficult to control. This is why it also raises than is very complicated to develop this Type of products without associated services or actions by the users and the community that allow these products to be replaced or exchanged and work correctly how were raised from the beginning . other elements than should be taken into account can be in a certain way should Allow the user to create the necessary refractions for the development of these products and many times the market or technical difficulties of each country make this too It will be very complicated.
Now to give some examples of what could be Mod network we could pose the this way are Examples of each (mod co re) module that are not related to each other.
An example of a Mod would be the motor component of a washing machine in which are kept an structure with the dimensions base related for example to the capacity (12 15 21 Lt). This can be usefull becouse the production and disasembly of this part is dificult and dont allow to recycle all the materials, and other parts like the tank or the chains have a minor life time. In this case we can keep the Mod and give the other parts of the machine and allowd to buy only the part i need.
Give some time i create a list of examples.
3 Likes
@RicardoRug Great. I started to develop a frame for an ACTION – Design A Circular Product based on those ideas. I will post the first draft in the coming hours/tomorrow. Let’s continue the discussion then in that thread.
Hi Ricardo, I started the development of an ACTION. Have a look at it. Does it make sense? And let’s continue the development discussion over there:
Regenerative Cities: The animation (6 mins - produced by the University of Sheffield) can be seen here. Unusually good
1 Like
How can you have a circular economy without a circular money? You can see Michael Linton, the designer of the 80’s LETSystem, explain the new Open Money system here. Based on open source principles, it’s scaleable and FREE. Should be perfect for both @E_BioReg and Madrid. Everyone else, please get in touch
Does anyone know how I can get in touch with @E_BioReg?
3 Likes