On June 20, William McDonough will be delivering a rousing speech on innovation and progress at the Luxembourg Circular Economy Hotspot, a three-day event bringing together over 200 delegates from Europe and beyond to demonstrate how enterprises and other stakeholders can be an engine for change.
Co-creation empowers Luxembourg’s ambition to become a pioneer in the circular economy. It is more than a potential model for Luxembourg, a country once solely dominated by steel and since become increasingly diversified in product development, it has become an economic imperative. McDonough will encourage leaders to collaborate and embrace positively defined co-creative processes which celebrate diversity for long-term healthy growth and what he calls “continuous currency.”
The concept of continuous currency demonstrates the value in keeping all assets in a closed loop system, a circular economy; however we first need to make sure we are circulating goods, not bads. During his talk, he will share a wealth of examples that illustrate the potential and progress toward a circular economy for Luxembourg and beyond by starting with values rather than value. Travel with him to the Netherlands where he and his team at William McDonough + Partners has led the creation of Park 20|20, a new model of sustainable development that implements the Cradle to Cradle® philosophy at all scales–from the molecular to the city. The buildings in this unique office park exemplify continuous currency–its buildings are long-term assets, designed for disassembly for materials to be reused in another production or returned as raw materials in the future.
McDonough will also speak to other extraordinary examples of circular design, from Shaw Contract Group’s carpets, which draw inspiration from our connection to nature and minimize the use of new materials and eliminates waste, to the newly announced compostable T-Shirts by C&A, the first-ever Cradle to Cradle Certified™ GOLD apparel.
Follow the conversation for the Luxembourg Circular Economy Hotspot on Twitter at #LCEH17. Follow @billmcodnough on Twitter for the latest project news and events, and subscribe to William McDonough’s YouTube channel to see hear his latest insights.
