CIRCO Hub Thailand: Demo workshop at Netherlands Embassy

Update

During the month of September the Netherlands Embassy in Thailand is organizing a series of events under the name ‘Orange Green Days’. Today, as one of the events in this series, entrepreneurs and SMEs joined a CIRCO Demo, organized by CIRCO Hub Thailand, at the Netherlands Embassy in Thailand.

CIRCO Demo Thailand

Waste management is a pressing issue in Thailand, the country ranks as the sixth largest global contributor of marine plastic. Factors such as high plastic consumption, high human population density and poor waste management adds to its waste problem, wasteland exhibition shows waste management issues in metropoles around the world. It aims to raise awareness to this global issue, which is also relevant to Thailand, it is connected with the embassy focus on sustainability and circularity.

 

CIRCO Hub Thailand

The CIRCO program inspires and facilitates industry to transition from linear to circular business models and from linear product design to circular product design. The Embassy, in collaboration with the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO) and the Global Compact Network Thailand, have introduced the CIRCO program from the Netherlands and supported the establishment of a CIRCO Hub in Thailand.

Since July 2022, Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT) is running an official CIRCO Hub in Thailand. It has successfully trained the local trainers and shared CIRCO methodology to at least 80 companies in Thailand (as of July 2022). To broaden the outreach of the program and raise capacity for transitioning towards a circular economy, the CIRCO Hub Thailand, together with the Embassy, organized a demo workshop to introduce the CIRCO Business Design methodology.

 

 

Making a circular shift through design

After an official welcome by Ambassador Remco van Wijngaarden, circular economy developments in Thailand were presented by Dr. Surachai Sathitkunarat from the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council. Mr. Freek van Eijk, managing director at Holland Circular Hotspot shared best practices from the Netherlands and presented circular economy trends, building up towards the Demo workshop with context and inspiration. “It all starts with design, and there are circular opportunities in all market segments from the beginning of the value chain to the end”, van Eijk said during his presentation.

 

I am impressed to see how the participants could grab the concept of Circular Design, converse on and generate ideas despite a limited time frame, proving that the methodology helped make CE more digestible for people and that the framework could guide even beginners to start thinking about circularity step-by-step.
Kamonnart OngwandeeTrainer CIRCO Hub Thailand

CIRCO Demo workshop

After an introduction about CIRCO Hub Thailand, its ambitions for Thai SMEs and designers, and the CIRCO program, the participants joined the CIRCO Demo workshop. CIRCO Hub Thailand trainer Kamonnart Ongwandee guided the participants through the demo, introducing them to design strategies, circular design methods and the CIRCO methodology that facilitates companies and designers to go circular.

 

In the Demo the concept of circular economy became very clear to the Thai SMEs joining, but the challenge is for them to see how it could be adapted to local design practices and social contexts. The full CIRCO Track prepares SMEs to implement new or improved circular business models, created during the Track.

 

More information about the CIRCO Track can be found here.

More information about CIRCO Hub Thailand can be found here.

Read more