This report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, as part of the Programme of Work and Budget of the Regional Development Policy Committee. It is the result of an 18-month policy dialogue with 100+ stakeholders from public, private, non-profit sectors as well as representatives from the national government, the autonomous community of Castile and Leon and the municipality of Umeå, Spain.
The report and underlying policy dialogues were co-ordinated by Oriana Romano, Head of the Water Governance and Circular Economy Unit, under the supervision of Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division in the CFE. The report was drafted by a core OECD team of experts comprised of Oriana Romano, Luis Cecchi, Policy Analyst and Ander Eizaguirre, Junior Policy Analyst in the CFE.
The OECD Secretariat is grateful to the Mayor of the City of Umeå, Mr Hans Lindberg, and to Ms Janet Ågren, Deputy Mayor, for their for their high level of commitment and leadership towards circular economy in the city.
Warm thanks are also extended to the admirable local team in Umeå for the excellent collaboration throughout the dialogue, in particular: Albert Edman, Senior Project Manager (Municipality of Umeå, currently at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden); Agneta Filén, Business Developer (Municipality of Umeå); Jonna Lindström, Project Co-ordinator (Region Västerbotten); Philip Näslund, Project Manager (Municipality of Umeå); Liv Öberg, Project Co-ordinator (Region Västerbotten); Johan Sandström, Environmental Development Manager (Municipality of Umeå); Karin Söderström, Sustainability Manager (Vakin); Emmy Sundin, Development Strategist (Municipality of Umeå); and Sussane Thurén, Development Strategist (Municipality of Umeå). Special thanks are also due Laura Vidje, Sustainability Consultant (Esam AB), who supported the municipality during the policy dialogue process with passion and professionalism.
Furthermore, the policy dialogue benefited from insights from peer reviewers who are warmly thanked for sharing their valuable expertise and city experience, participating in the case study missions and providing international best practices as well as guidance on the report, namely: Rosa Huertas Gonzalez, Director of the Innovation, Economic Development, Employment and Commerce Department, City of Valladolid, Spain; Gonzalo Jimenez Espinosa, Director of Sustainable Development and Research and Innovation, Water and Sanitation Company of the City of Granada, Spain; and Anita Ravlic, Circular Economy Manager, Agency of Urban Ecology City of Paris, France. The OECD Secretariat is grateful to Ashima Sukhdev, Government and Cities Programme Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, for her contribution during the policy seminar held in Umeå, Sweden, on 23 October 2019.
This report builds on a series of interviews with 100+ stakeholders during the OECD visits to Umeå, Sweden (18‑21 March 2019 and 23 October 2019) (Annex B), as well as insights from the OECD Survey on the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions and desk research. Interim findings and progress results were presented at the 1st OECD Roundtable on the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions (4 July 2019, Paris, France).
The draft report benefited from written comments by stakeholders engaged throughout the policy dialogue, in particular: Stern Hutjes (RISE Interactive), Joanna Lindström (Region Västerbotten), Philip Näslund (Municipality of Umeå), Liv Öberg (Region Västerbotten), Sussane Thurén (Municipality of Umeå), Anna Olofsson (Municipality of Umeå), Daniel Remes (Harvest Umeå AB), Cynthia Reynolds (Circular Oslo – Circular Regions), Elin Söderberg (County Administration Board of Västerbotten), Karin Söderström (Vakin), Märta Streijffert (Municipality of Umeå), Mats Tysklind (Umeå University) and Laura Vidje (Esam AB).
The report was submitted to RDPC delegates for approval by written procedure by 6 March 2020 under the cote [CFE/RDPC/URB(2020)4]. The final version was edited and formatted by Eleonore Morena, and François Iglesias and Pilar Philip prepared the manuscript for publication.