Review 2019

A “circular economy” is a vision of a future society where waste is transformed into resources and circulated in smart and sustainable ways. The vision has the aim to enable us to continue producing goods within the planet’s boundaries. Circular economy has the last few years risen on the agenda with actors as Ellen MacArthur foundation, the development of EU´s Circular economy package and companies taking the lead presenting circular solutions fueled by e.g. the Cradle to cradle methodology and certificate. At the same time, only 7 % of business leaders in Sweden have heard of the concept of circular economy, revealing that we have a long way to go to make it a natural part of every business practice. The circular economy development has had a focus on design and developing material being a good first step. We now have to take the next step. How do we make circular businesses more profitable than linear alternatives? How do we enable the legal structure to be adjusted from a linear to a circular economy without compromising environmental protection? How do we shift the minds of consumers and enterprises to start using resources instead of owning and/ or consuming them? How is the circular economy scaled- and speeded up?

Resource consumption within the planet’s boundaries – EU has led the way transforming global business practice from a linear to a circular economy – Reuse and up-cycling are fueled by renewable energy and at a high degree done locally – The most profitable businesses in Europe are circular – There is a clear and long-term strategy troughout EU supporting a circular development and making it more expensive to use virgin and scarce resources – A broad variety of circular business practices such as product as a service, regenerative agriculture and forestry, industrial symbiosis etc. are well known among business leaders.

1.

Coming just recently back from Africa I am more than ever convinced, that this Continent will mainly shape the future of mankind.The reasons are: Africas political systems are in many cases not stable at all. This may cause great conflicts which endanger bigger and even worldwide conflicts.

Africa and the global south is mostly endangered by climate change.This, together with conflicts may cause huge streams of refugees… Africa is a big rason for hope. There are strong, young and very creative populations that can make this continent a cradle of Innovation for sustainable Solutions for the future. For that reason it is not only a duty for humanitarian reason but also for the future of mankind to support and cooperate with the global south.

Most important is education with future oriented curriculae and fostering especially the role and rights of women.

2. Goals:

• In the next years we must learn, that the global south is the place where the future of mankind is going to be decided. My Goal is to inform people in my Country about this issue.
• For the education of next / future generation the issues of fairness, sustainability, common googs, community and common survival I want to implemented new goals for mankind in curriculae.
• I want to replace the aim of profit by common good.
• Fight climate change to give a chance to the global south
• Support small sclae agriculture and the regeneration of souls and soils in all parts of the world
• Tbd and tbd

We are often confronted with the sentence “organic food is too expensive”. However, in the context of climate change and limited planetary resources, it is conventional food that should be considered too cheap, as it does not properly account for the true costs of food production, i.e. the environmental, health and social costs. We therefore need a paradigm shift in thinking about agricultural practices where prices reveal the true cost of production and consumption, including so-called “externalities”, i.e. hidden costs such as water pollution which the society as a whole currently bears.

Consumers currently pay four times for the (unsustainable) food they buy: when they pay the product prices at the shop, in terms of taxes used to subsidize unsustainable agricultural practices, in terms of taxes to mitigate the negative externalities (e.g. cleaning polluted water), and finally in terms of health costs. In order to transform this clearly inefficient and unsustainable economic and agricultural model, costs and benefits of food production should be accounted for. In other words, positive and negative external costs should be imbedded in the final price. In order to achieve this, food and farming actors along the food supply chain have to work together with policymakers to develop a unified framework of indicators for true cost accounting and value pricing which helps reward practices that deliver public benefits. Only in this way will we achieve real prices for fair markets.

Goals in the short and medium term (2-5 years)

• Through better communication about the environmental, social and health benefits of organic production, consumers globally are increasingly aware of the benefits of buying organic, the true costs behind the food they buy, and the origin of their food. Ultimately, consumers turn more towards local and organic foods.
• Farmers increasingly convert to organic and agroecological practices. In Europe, this is enabled by a reformed CAP which ensures that environmental and socio-economic outcomes delivered by farmers are fully incentivised and rewarded. Access to land for farmers applying organic and agroecological practices will also be prioritised.

Goals in the long-term (10 years)

• Organic is on every table and half of the agricultural land in Europe is managed according to organic and agroecological practices. Particularly, stark improvements have been made in the criteria for green public/private procurement which ensure sustainable diets in public canteens and private sector mass catering.
• A thorough review of EU food-related legislation ensures that there is increased coherence between policies related to food, farming, health, education and the environment. It will no longer be the case that consumers pay for their food more than once due to the external costs of unsustainable agricultural practices.
• The true cost of foods will be known to consumers via a unified framework for true cost accounting and value pricing.

New forms of ownership are the focus of the focus group “new forms of organisation for new business”. Wolfgang Gutberlet, son of the founder of tegut, has set up two foundations in order to secure the long-term management of the company and to be able to use parts of the available company income for charitable purposes. In this way he has secured the family business and made continuity possible. The Purpose Foundation, founded by Armin Steuernagel, supports and encourages companies to follow similar paths. Profit orientation is not an end in itself but a means to achieve an end that serves people, the environment and future generations. Its aim is to make private property available to people who bear responsibility for it. This includes employees and customers who become co-entrepreneurs in the sense of Armin Steuernagel. The focus group is designed with elements of sociocratic consensus moderation in the spirit of lived practice. It is thus a wink for all companies that take employee participation seriously.

Here you can find the results of the Focus Group: GELD MIT SINN

Especially in the tourism sector there are many challenges to be met. For us, sustainability begins with the arrival and continues through the management of the hotel to the satisfaction of employees and guests. Therefore we choose for this forum the “more” that we believe will occupy us the most in the coming years.

The “more” stands for:

– Workplaces in which the employee can develop.
– A hotel stay that is digitally prepared and emotionally touching on site.

Ecology and economy and thus Best Economy begins, works and ends with an employees who is constantly developing and a guest who recommends us.

In this focus group we show ways that this can work.