New Nordic Circular Hotspot Partners
The Nordic Circular Hotspot is a partner driven initiative co-funded by Nordic Innovation, with representatives from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. Since we founded the Nordic Circular Hotspot in 2020, we have grown from eight managing partners, to now having more than 70 companies engaged in our partnership program. This week we are launching our first transition groups, where companies within selected value chains will work together to secure a circular market transition.
In the first years of the Nordic Circular Hotspot we were only a few partners: Swedish Cradlenet, Norwegian Natural State and Circularities, Danish Life Science Cluster, Icelandic Festa Center for Sustainability and Circular Solution and Business Finland, all supported in every way by Nordic Innovation. Recently we also welcomed RISE and RE:Source to our extended group of managing partners representing Sweden.
Since the launch of the Nordic Circular Hotspot Partner Program in 2021, we have become so many more. Today, 70 companies with circular ambitions and mindsets have joined, all ready to help accelerate the circular economy in the Nordics.
Corporations and academia
Some are close and dear like WholistQ Holding in the Netherlands, some are big corporations like Aker Carbon Catpture, Mercuri Urval, Atea, Posten Norge, Mandag Morgen or Flying Tiger. Others are educational and academic institutions like Norce, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Henley Business School, Lapland University of Applied Sciences or Ècole de Ponts business school. Circular leaders like Holland Circular Hotspot, the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP), Circle Economy and Doughnut Economy Action Lab (DEAL) has become partners.
Design community and network organisation
The design community is represented with companies like Danish Design Centre and Eggs Design. Key network organisations the likes of Ethica Finland, Verona, Startup Norway, Green Product Award, The Ocean Opportunity Lab, Business Finland, Trondheim Bærekraftsenter and Næringsforeningen I Trondheimsregionen are all now valued partners. In a joint venture, all Dutch embassies in the Nordic countries joined as a partner earlier this year.
Specialised sector
Specialised sectoral companies like Nordic Circles, Low Impact Ltd, buildingSMART Norway, Loopfront, Omtre, Lopp, Mamitou or Excess Material Exchange. There are exciting organisations like ReGeneration 2030, CirBES, Needlab and SHIFT Business Festival are some of the others who have decided to join in.
With such a strong, knowledgeable and resourceful force of change makers beeing a part of the Partnership Programme, we are well rigged for the next challenge ahead: getting the Nordic Circular Transition Groups off the ground, making sure we tackle the challenges of making circular value chains work. We invite all our current and future partners to join in on the work to solve circular challenges together in a cross-Nordic context.
We are looking to set up about 10-20 Circular Transition Groups together with relevant partners and stakeholders within this year, but to start us off, these four topical groups will now start working:
Leadership for circular transition
Bill of materials system
Regulatory overview
The built environment
Join in on our online event Tuesday 4 May at 11:00-12:00 to learn more about what the Transition Groups are all about and how you can take part.
