Presentation delivered virtually at the 1st Global Commons Forum, Seoul, South Korea, 2 October 2019 - see comments for complete slide notes

1. Making Room for the
Community Based Circular Economy
Sharon Ede
1st Global Commons Forum, Seoul
October 2019

5. complete the circle!

8. if you are not making locally,
you don’t have a circular economy
local production completes the circle

9. creating a circular economy requires an industrial-scale response

10. but this can be complemented by a community-based
response and associated physical infrastructure

12. GLOBAL = LIGHT
economy of BITS - ‘light’ things
(data, information, shared/open
source design) travel
LOCAL = HEAVY
economy of ATOMS – ‘heavy’
things (atoms, physical production,
manufacturing) stays local

13. • repair and reuse - these spaces also provide opportunities for fix-it
clinics/repair cafes
• reducing resource consumption - through sharing access to
equipment and tools
• avoiding consumption — digital fabrication techniques enable
more precision in the use of materials, creating less waste that
needs to be salvaged in the first place. Design to order,
customisation, and production in small batches also avoids the
wasteful over-production aspects of existing manufacturing.
The Productive Commons: Circular Economy Benefits

14. • lack of funding for access to space and
equipment (typically rent)
• expectations they will be ‘self sustaining’
• meeting regulatory requirements (eg. noise,
use of certain equipment, insurance,
planning/zoning) which are unlikely to have
been formulated with such spaces in mind
The Productive Commons: Barriers
예
그러나

15. Government can play a ‘partner state’ role in enabling and
supporting citizen initiatives that help establish a local
productive commons by assisting with:
- rent, or access to space
- revenue, or how the commons infrastructure is
supported ongoingly (tailoring grants/incentive
programs), business development/marketing support
- regulation, to help the space establish and address any
noise, safety, traffic issues
The Partner State and the Productive Commons

16. MY BIG QUESTION
Where is the reverse ‘value capture’ mechanism for commoners?
How can they access some of the value they create for the city and
society in order to fund their operations, and pay people for their work?

17. Design Global, Manufacture Local
= relocalising production in cities
a productive commons can help cities meet carbon,
waste/circular economy and social policy goals