scholarly journals Drivers of adopting Circular Economy in Oman built environment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibtisam Sulaiman Alhosni ◽  
Omar Amoudi
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Government Funding ◽  
Waste Generation ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Survey Responses

Circular Economy is a sustainable transition from the current linear thinking to a circular approach. The construction industry is criticized as the first responsible of waste generation and resources consumption, thus, it will be the sector which has potential of adopting the Circular economy approach. Oman construction industry is not an exception, it also negatively suffers from high waste and therefore adopting CE approach will be crucial to enhance the industry reputation and sustainability aspects. According to previous research, the critical challenges facing the adoption of circular economy concept in Oman built environment were introduced firstly with absence of clear vision and legislation supporting CE, as well as, lack of government funding of research, innovation, and investment as governmental barriers, followed by a technical barrier which is absence of qualified professionals in CE in construction industry. The aim of this study is to explore the drivers supporting the adoption CE in Oman Built Environment. An exploratory study was conducted to explore the main drivers of CE in Oman built environment through 10 interviews of the built environment professionals and 80 questionnaire survey responses of built environment stakeholders. The results revealed that the key findings of the critical drivers of adopting CE in Oman built environment are: governmental responsibility through establishment of a clear vision and regulations of CE, upgrade public awareness, being a role model of CE implementation, as well as, establishing of supportive infrastructure for recovery process through collaboration with the private sector. Finally, gaining momentum in CE in Oman built environment shall be initiated by governmental effort to benefit economically, socially and environmentally.      

scholarly journals Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Kamel Mohamed Rahla ◽  
Ricardo Mateus ◽  
Luís Bragança
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Technical Aspect ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Industry Waste ◽  
Current Trends

A growing concern is given to the environmental impacts caused by the construction industry. Waste generation, resource consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions are the main drawbacks of the rapid urbanization that the world is witnessing. As a response to these pressing issues, policymakers and academia are exploring the concept of Circular Economy (CE) to manage resources better and achieve resource efficiency while eliminating waste. One of the strategies to implement CE in the built environment is to select the appropriate building materials and components from the early stages to carry out the concept's principles along the value chain and create a closed-loop system. Therefore, this study aims at identifying selection criteria for building elements according to CE principles through a review of the latest research. Results have shown that little has been concretely achieved in terms of a paradigm shift to CE since the main focus of the literature is still the use of recycled products and the recyclability of building materials and components at their end-of-life. Although the present study is solely focused on the technical aspect of building materials and components, it outlines current adopted criteria to bring about a circular built environment and highlights the need for a more innovative approach to attain higher circularity levels.

scholarly journals Circular Digital Built Environment: An Emerging Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6348
Author(s):  
Sultan Çetin ◽  
Catherine De Wolf ◽  
Nancy Bocken
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Digital Twins ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Framework Development

Digital technologies are considered to be an essential enabler of the circular economy in various industries. However, to date, very few studies have investigated which digital technologies could enable the circular economy in the built environment. This study specifically focuses on the built environment as one of the largest, most energy- and material-intensive industries globally, and investigates the following question: which digital technologies potentially enable a circular economy in the built environment, and in what ways? The research uses an iterative stepwise method: (1) framework development based on regenerating, narrowing, slowing and closing resource loop principles; (2) expert workshops to understand the usage of digital technologies in a circular built environment; (3) a literature and practice review to further populate the emerging framework with relevant digital technologies; and (4) the final mapping of digital technologies onto the framework. This study develops a novel Circular Digital Built Environment framework. It identifies and maps ten enabling digital technologies to facilitate a circular economy in the built environment. These include: (1) additive/robotic manufacturing, (2) artificial intelligence, (3) big data and analytics, (4) blockchain technology, (5) building information modelling, (6) digital platforms/marketplaces, (7) digital twins, (8) the geographical information system, (9) material passports/databanks, and (10) the internet of things. The framework provides a fruitful starting point for the novel research avenue at the intersection of circular economy, digital technology and the built environment, and gives practitioners inspiration for sustainable innovation in the sector.

scholarly journals Energy-Water-Environment Nexus and the Transition Towards a Circular Economy: The Case of Qatar

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul-Jalil Ibrahim ◽  
Nasim Shah Shirazi
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
National Development ◽  
Supply System ◽  
Water Supply System ◽  
Vision 2030

Abstract Background Qatar’s per capita consumption of both energy and water is among the highest in the world. Documentation of methods to reduce energy and water use and its impact on the environment is crucial. A circular economy (CE) ensures that economic growth must not necessarily lead to more resource consumption. Materials and methods This study aims to discuss the CE approach with a focus on understanding the interdependencies between energy and water and their impact on the environment. The study explores the energy-water-environment nexus and how Qatar can leverage this to transition to a CE. The policy landscape and strategies related to energy and water use sectors are presented, addressing efficiencies and substitutes from a circular economic viewpoint. Results The findings show that electricity and mobility sectors(energy perspective of the CE) and agriculture and water supply system (water perspective of the CE) of the Qatari economy provide an opportunity for regeneration, virtualising, exchanging, optimising, sharing and closing loops to achieve CE growth. Conclusions The nexus between the mobility, electricity, agriculture and water supply system needs consideration for optimal policy outcome for the CE in Qatar. The study recommends a need to embark on public awareness on moving away from linear economic to the circular economic paradigm and developing a comprehensive policy on Qatar’s circular economic approach that consolidates the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2018–2022 to provide policy clarity and communication towards CE.

scholarly journals Circular Economy Strategies in Eight Historic Port Cities: Criteria and Indicators Towards a Circular City Assessment Framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Gravagnuolo ◽  
Mariarosaria Angrisano ◽  
Luigi Fusco Girard
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
City Region ◽  
Port Cities ◽  
Criteria And Indicators ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Life Cycle Perspective ◽  
Circular Design

The circular city is emerging as new concept and form of practice in sustainable urban development. This is a response to the complex and pressing challenges of urbanization, as highlighted in the New Urban Agenda (NUA). The concept of a “circular city” or “circular city-region” derives from the circular economy model applied in the spatial territorial dimension. It can be associated with the concept of a “self-sustainable” regenerative city, as stated in paragraph n.71 of the NUA. This paper aims to develop an extensive form of “screening” of circular economy actions in emerging circular cities, focusing on eight European historic port cities self-defined as “circular”. The analysis is carried out as a review of circular economy actions in the selected cities, and specifically aims to identify the key areas of implementation in which the investments in the circular economy are more oriented, as well as to analyze the spatial implications of the reuse of buildings and sites, proposing a set of criteria and indicators for ex-ante and ex-post evaluations and monitoring of circular cities. Results show that the built environment (including cultural heritage), energy and mobility, waste management, water management, industrial production (including plastics, textiles, and industry 4.0 and circular design), agri-food, and citizens and communities can be adopted as strategic areas of implementation of the circular city model in historic cities, highlighting a lack of indicators in some sectors and identifying a possible framework for “closed” urban metabolism evaluation from a life-cycle perspective, focusing on evaluation criteria and indicators in the (historic) built environment.

scholarly journals History Matters? History's Role in Health Policy Making

2008 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Berridge
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
English Heritage

“History matters—pass it on” was the slogan of a campaign launched in England in the summer of 2006 to raise public awareness of the huge contribution that history, heritage and the built environment make to our qualify of life. A resumé commented,It unites the whole heritage sector, led by the National Trust, English Heritage, the Historic Houses Association and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and events will be held over the next six months at hundreds of historic locations across England and Wales. Supporters include David Starkey, Tristram Hunt, Simon Thurley, Stephen Fry, Bill Bryson, Shami Chakrabarti, Tony Benn and Boris Johnson.

Steel: friend or foe in the face of the climate emergency?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Swann ◽  
Francois Hanus ◽  
Olivier Vasart ◽  
Alan Knight
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
High Potential ◽  
If Steel ◽  
Embodied Carbon ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Recycled Material

<p>Steel is the most recycled material in the world and a key contributor to the circular economy, but todays primary steelmaking methods result in high embodied carbon. In the face of the climate emergency, designers have been tasked with driving down the upfront emissions of the built environment. Naturally the embodied carbon characteristics of all materials have been put under the microscope and those with high impacts are being demonised, primary steel is one of those. So how does a designer balance the immediate needs of the climate emergency with the future needs of society? When confronted with a material like steel with practically perfect circularity characteristics but high embodied impacts how do designers balance the needs of today with those of tomorrow? What if steel could be made with zero carbon emissions? Coupled with its high potential for re-use and its high recycling rates is steel a friend and ally in the face of the climate emergency rather than a foe?</p>

scholarly journals Circular cities: Analyzing bottom-up initiatives for making Amsterdam more circular

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniya Elkina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Efficient Resource

Circular economy is becoming ever more widespread sustainable concept for promoting efficient resource usage; Amsterdam is one of the first cities to implement this approach to solve waste management problems. While the circular transition is mostly examined from a top-down perspective, the role of bottom-up initiatives is often left unstudied. This article determines the contribution of bottom-up initiatives to Amsterdam’s circular transition by assessing their environmental, economic, social impact together with their commitment to circularity. The study utilizes the survey method followed by a statistical analysis to investigate the influence of such initiatives on public awareness, involvement, and behavioral change. The content analysis of initiatives’ official documentation and news articles allows revealing the environmental and economic impact and analyzing initiatives’ commitment to circularity. The results communicate that bottom-up initiatives mostly create an economic value and positively affect citizens’ involvement. However, the environmental impact, the influence on public awareness and partly on behavioral change is insignificant due to their small local scale and inconsistency between the declared and actual priorities. Such initiatives might still serve as trendsetters thereby indirectly tackling waste problem and facilitating Amsterdam’s circular transition.

The future of the circular economy and the circular economy of the future

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-546
Author(s):  
Ricardo Weigend Rodríguez ◽  
Francesco Pomponi ◽  
Ken Webster ◽  
Bernardino D'Amico
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Alternative Futures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Paradigm ◽  
The Future ◽  
Bibliometric Review ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe circular economy (CE) has gained momentum in recent years as a new economic paradigm. While the CE sets a very defined vision for a sustainable future, it still operates in the present. As such, existing guidance on and research into the CE lack a necessary understanding of how to go from the present to the future. What if the future is different from what the CE expects? The CE cannot answer this question adequately and therefore is not capable of developing this understanding alone. To address this shortcoming, this paper proposes futures studies (FS) as a complementary discipline because it offers exactly what CE lacks: methods to explore alternative futures.Design/methodology/approachTo understand the level of interdisciplinary research in the built environment between CE and FS, a systematic literature review is carried out using a bibliometric review and a snowballing technique. This manuscript reviews seminal literature in both fields and their theoretical background.FindingsThis paper demonstrates the lack of collaboration between CE and FS and highlights a systemic failure within CE, which is to consider the future as unknowable. It further provides an initial understanding of where the synergy sits, recommendations on where to start and introduces some of the FS chief methods that could be used by CE in the built environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ bibliometric review and snowballing approach might have missed out on some literature that still falls within the scope. Such limitations are due, on one hand, to the authors’ bibliometric review approach by selecting publications based on matching keywords. On the other hand, the snowballing approach is affected by the authors’ subjective judgements on which of the publications are worth to explore based mainly just on the title and abstract of the paper.Practical implicationsThe inclusion of Futures Studies will allow a stronger focus on approaching possible futures to be integrated overtly into existing work, research and action within the CE community.Social implicationsIt is more reasonable to expect that by cooperatively creating and implementing constructed futures with FS methods and CE principles, a better future for the built environment be reached. This is why it is so relevant for humanity that these two communities start to interact as soon as possible and maintain and open and productive collaboration in transitioning towards a sustainable society.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first of its kind by considering FS into the CE debate.

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