There are a vast number of actions a city could undertake to support a transition towards a circular economy. The Circular City Actions Framework helps circular changemakers understand the types of circular interventions that are available and can be used to structure circular economy solutions.

There are four key tiers of the Circular City Actions Framework with increasing specificity:

• TIER 1 Five R strategies [General]
  • TIER 2 Circular Actions [General]
    • TIER 3 Solutions [Thematic area specific]
      • TIER 4 Case studies [Thematic area specific]

The Five R Strategies: The framework is structured into five complementary R strategies:

• Rethink: Redesign systems to lay the foundation for circular activities and enable the transition to a circular economy.
• Regenerate: Harmonise with nature by promoting infrastructure, production systems and sourcing that allows natural ecosystems to thrive.
• Reduce: Do better with less by using and supporting infrastructure, processes and products that are designed to minimise material, water and energy use and waste generation from production to end of use.
• Reuse: Use longer and more often by extending and intensifying use of existing resources, products, spaces and infrastructure.
• Recover: Eliminate waste by maximising the recovery of resources at the end of the use phase so that they can be reintroduced into production processes.

Actions: Each of the five R strategies is further broken down into three circular actions that highlight in more detail the overarching potential actions that cities can take. You can find more information on the full list of 15 actions here.

Solutions: While the 5R strategies and 15 circular actions provide a good overview as to the range of possible actions cities can take. The tangible solutions that cities can implement to develop a circular economy vary depending on the particular thematic areas (circular solutions for food are different to circular solutions for the built environment). Therefore, for each thematic area, specific solutions are highlighted.

Case studies: Case studies provide inspiration and guidance and highlight how a particular circular solution has been implemented in the past. Case studies are the greatest level of detail and are linked to specific circular solutions. Sourced from the Knowledge Hub-the world's largest collection of circular economy case studie​​s-case studies have been selected for their specific relevance to the circular transition in cities and provide a global coverage.