The Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities was designed to identify and test promising approaches and tools for resource efficiency in pilot cities around the world, especially in the global South.

After a comprehensive review during the initiative’s early stages, one of the Initiative’s primary goals is to improve policymakers’ understanding of urban metabolism and systems approaches to city planning that take into consideration the long-term implications of resource use, with the narrative of building a circular economy at the city level becoming more and more important.

The report „Growing in Circles“ gathers the lessons and insights from the first phase of GI-REC’s work with city leaders and technical professionals. It summarizes practical pathways towards resource efficiency and a circular economy at the city-level, providing research highlights and giving examples of cities in different contexts. The case study reports for each of the eight pilot cities are available below the main report.