Actions for a Circular Society through Education - ACE

May 4

Timeframe: 01.01.2026-31.12.2027

The Actions for a Circular Society throug Education - ACE- project supports the transition to a circular society by equipping adults, communities, and organizations with knowledge, skills, and tools to adopt circular practices. It introduces and explains circular principles, informs stakeholders about benefits, and inspires engagement through best practices. A series of workshops intents to kick-start local or regional transformation activities towards a circular society.

Programme: Erasmus+ Adult Education

Project Background

ACE focuses on circular society and aims to equip communities, businesses, and individuals with the necessary knowledge, and capacities to live in a resource-saving way. This can be achieved by embedding the principles of a circular economy in society.

We understand a circular society as interconnected material, energy, and knowledge flows that close loops across sectors—ranging from production and consumption to reuse, recycling, and regenerative practices. A circular society builds on collaborative approaches, prioritizing shared value creation, participatory governance, and systemic innovation. Circular economy principles such as cascading use of materials, waste prevention, and renewable energy integration form the foundation of sustainable regional value cycles. By redesigning products and services to facilitate reuse, repair, and resource recovery, circular systems provide a pathway toward long-term social and economic prosperity.

As resource efficiency becomes an increasingly important topic, not only because of the environment but also due to logistical and geo-political matters, a circular society goes beyond economic efficiency—it represents a holistic vision for sustainable living, social inclusion, and resilient communties.

Objectives

I. Introducing and explaining the concept of a circular society to citizens, businesses, educational institutions, and other relevant stakeholders in a target-group-specific format.

II. Informing communities and organizations about the various opportunities and benefits of circular systems in everyday life, business, and community development.

III. Inspiring individuals and organizations to adopt circular practices, such as reuse, repair, sharing models, and sustainable consumption patterns.

IV. Providing learning opportunities on circular economy principles and their application in daily life, business, and local governance.

V. Offering workshops or other events on circular society and its principles equipping participants with the awareness, knowledge and tools needed to use or implement circular innovations.

VI. Creating synergies through knowledge exchange between European countries to accelerate the transition to a circular society.

Planned Project Results

1) Development of online educational resources (OER) on circular society principles, integrating the latest scientific insights to strengthen sustainable practices in communities and businesses

2) Creation of best practices showcasing circular society measures and activities, providing firsthand experiences from various European regions fostering a circular society

3) Implementation of workshops or events to foster knowledge exchange on circular solutions, featuring successful examples from across Europe

4) Facilitation of transnational project meetings to enable learning processes and collaboration between participating organizations