C3000

The partners in this hub are: City of Leuven, SPIT Employment (ViTeS), Leuven MindGate, KU Leuven, UCLL, Ecowerf, Maakbaar Leuven and MAAKbar.

Leuven is already a leader when it comes to sustainability and ecology. Because circularity is a lever for sustainable transformation on a social and ecological level, Leuven also wants to play an exemplary role in this for other Flemish and European cities. That is why this partnership invests in the Hub C3000 so that circular initiatives that are still in 'silos' will work complementary and in synergy so that circular experiments that are still in a pilot phase will be lifted to a higher level.

Therefore, the Leuven hub C3000 builds circular city networks that seamlessly connect to the sustainability ambitions and strategic policy choices of the City of Leuven. Together with the Symbiosis Platform, the hub is working out a classification of actors to visualize a value network. They use this classification to map the Leuven value networks of hard plastics and of textiles. EcoWerf and ViTeS are taking the lead to set up circular test cases around those 2 value networks. These test cases should lead to scalable business models in which social economy is optimally integrated.

To accelerate circular initiatives with social impact, the hub is also developing specific training modules on social economy as a link in new value chains, on textiles and on plastics. These training modules are part of a transformation path that the hub is developing for start-ups and SMEs. This transformation path is distributed among entrepreneurs via the various entrepreneurial networks in Leuven. In order to sensitize citizens and businesses to the circular economy, the hub is also setting up its own online information point.