Circular infrastructure: the road towards a sustainable future

Realized in The Netherlands

Circular infrastructure: the road towards a sustainable future

Co-writing a proposal for an international action plan ‘circular infrastructure’ together with Rijkswaterstaat.

The Challenge

Internationally, the circular economy in the built environment is focussed mostly on buildings while infrastructure is often forgotten. The Netherlands, as a frontrunner, wants international action on this topic.

The Approach

Rijkswaterstaat, part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, asked Rebel for help with developing a proposal for an international action plan for circular infrastructure. We sought to make a piece that would have the broad support of relevant Dutch stakeholders, going from governmental to business actors, while simultaneously making very specific proposals for actions on an international level.

To make this happen we started with a ‘non-paper’ that was already made by Rijkswaterstaat and built on that via own desk research. Furthermore, we had various interviews with some key players to get their view and input on this. From that we delivered a first action plan that was challenged during a workshop with a broad group of stakeholders.

In the end we delivered the current action plan, which underwent one more review from Rijkswaterstaat and the Dutch Ministry and then finally landed as a chapter in the publication ‘Circular Infrastructure: the road towards a sustainable future’. This publication was launched during the Dubai World Expo.

Impact

An action plan with 4 clear actions on how to unlock circular potential in the infrastructure.

The experience of a Rebel

Exciting project with a huge impact

"It was a very interesting experience to come into contact with many engaged people working on circular infrastructure. The strict deadline was challenging but in the end we delivered on time. Seeing the publication presented in Dubai was very rewarding!"
Jonathan Verdonk