Special Collections:
The Circular Economy
In an age where governments and businesses hold vast amounts of our data, protecting privacy and ensuring democratic information use is paramount. Cities, home to over half the global population and centers of innovation, are crucial for developing new technologies and business models.
However, truly "smart cities" depend on "smart citizens." This requires guaranteeing access to opportunities that develop critical skills for interacting with new technologies.
Join Mara Balestrini, CEO of Ideas for Change, to explore how citizens can harness their city's data to address local problems.
Indonesian reuse businesses present a promising niche market with the potential to disrupt the single-use plastics crisis. Latest infographics showcase their development on Java and the significant potential for accelerating this movement.
Three remarkable entrepreneurs are leading the charge with innovative circular business models. Kecipir offers an e-commerce platform for fresh produce delivered through a reusable system. Muuse provides a seamless deposit system for reusable cups and containers, powered by a mobile app and smart return stations. Zero Waste Warung implements a blockchain-inspired refill system using reusable sachets across a network of local warungs.
Meet these innovators and engage in a live discussion on strategies needed to rapidly scale and accelerate reuse businesses.
C40's Women4Climate initiative empowers women to lead climate action. Through a global mentorship program and leadership events in C40 cities, it aims to foster new thinking and momentum among future leaders.
Women, who comprise over half the world's population, are often disproportionately impacted by climate change but lack representation in decision-making. Enhancing their participation and leadership is crucial for a healthy, prosperous, and sustainable future for all.
Our thinking, shaped by learning, influences the world. Adopting a circular economy demands a learning journey, new practices, and a significant mindset shift.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation supports this transition. Our Learning Team works across schools, universities, businesses, and informal settings to foster new mindsets. Tune in to learn more about our work and its impact.
Human population and demands are rapidly growing, straining our finite resources. By 2050, feeding 10 billion people will require more land, farmers, and energy. The critical challenge is achieving this while regenerating our already degraded planet.
Discover how regenerative agroforestry offers a vital solution. This agricultural system mimics nature, preserving forests, mitigating climate change, and restoring planetary health.
Join Felipe Villela, founder of reNature, and Patrick Worms from the World Agroforestry Centre, to learn more.
While bio-based materials are crucial for transitioning to a circular economy, their role in fully replacing fossil fuels and curbing emissions isn't a simple solution. Many companies are investing in bio-based supply chains for everyday products like fuel, fiber, chemicals, and plastics.
However, producing biomass often demands significant land and nutrient resources, highlighting the complexities and challenges involved in their widespread adoption.
The circular economy is crucial for tackling climate change, as 45% of global greenhouse gas emissions stem from how we make and use products and produce food.
Per Klevnäs, a managing consultant and economist at Material Economics, brings extensive experience from over 100 international energy, resource, and climate projects since the early 2000s. He advises companies on resource and sustainability strategies, covering investment, low-carbon growth, and regulatory planning.
Forest Gardens offer an abundant, beautiful, and climate-resistant way to grow food sustainably. This ancient knowledge, revived for modern use, requires no digging, unnatural additions, or extensive weeding and watering. Primarily perennial, these gardens eliminate the need for annual seeding, providing continuous produce with minimal effort.
The National Forest Gardening Scheme promotes harmony and well-being through planting and enjoying these unique gardens. To make them accessible, the scheme is launching a "Forest Garden in a Box." This initiative is designed for a wide range of settings, including individual gardeners, window boxes, schools, community gardens, and public parks.
The fashion and textile industry significantly impacts the environment, contributing 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Producing polyester consumes 70 million barrels of oil annually and takes centuries to decompose. Cotton also demands vast resources, using 20,000 liters of water per kilogram, alongside significant land and pesticides.
Discover how to create clothes that can be made again. This session will reveal technological solutions from Aalto University and feature Petar Ostojic, founder of the Latin American Innovation Centre for the Circular Economy (CIEC). He will explain how combining the circular economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution can address waste, improve living standards, and tackle other challenges across Latin America.
Nature offers elegant solutions to countless design challenges, from advanced adhesives and biodegradable packaging to incredibly strong materials and the mechanics of flight. The study and application of these natural innovations is known as biomimicry.
Join us to hear from two experts in this field. Richard MacCowan of Biomimicry UK will discuss its role in adopting Industry 4.0 technology, while Veronika Kapsali from University of Arts London will share insights on biomimicry in her textiles work.
Digital technology is essential for transitioning to a circular economy. Data and artificial intelligence, in particular, are critical components in this global shift.
This session will explore how these and other digital technologies can be leveraged to accelerate the move towards circularity.
The transition to a circular economy offers an exciting opportunity to redesign roles and create new jobs. However, critical questions remain: How can we ensure these circular jobs are high-quality, inclusive for both high and low-skilled workers, and genuinely better than those in linear sectors? This systemic shift requires careful consideration of public and private sector roles in fostering an equitable labor market.
Circle Economy is dedicated to securing a positive transition for work and workers. Join us as Circle Economy moderates a discussion with experts and the DIF audience to explore these vital questions and more.
Petar Ostojic highlights the crucial link between the circular economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The Latin American Innovation Centre for the Circular Economy (CIEC) explores how these two megatrends can unite to foster a new era of prosperity in Latin America.
In this session, CIEC founder Petar Ostojic will explain how this powerful combination can tackle critical challenges like waste and elevate living standards for the region's population, projected to increase by 17% by 2030.
Multistreaming with Restream.io.
Waste and pollution are not accidents but consequences of design choices. By viewing waste as a design flaw, we can prevent its creation from the outset.
Our linear economy relies on non-renewable petroleum, making a circular system impossible. Plants, the origin of petroleum, offer a naturally abundant and renewable alternative.
Historically, converting complex plant material into petroleum-like molecules was challenging. However, researchers at EPFL in Switzerland have developed a method to fully valorize and utilize plants as a petroleum substitute.
Join our session, multistreaming with Restream.io, to explore AgriProtein's innovative solutions. Our current food production system is highly wasteful, environmentally damaging, and unhealthy. This challenge will intensify, as more food will be needed in the next 50 years than in the previous 10,000.
AgriProtein, a South African company, tackles two principal food system challenges. They harness billions of "winged helpers" (insects) to convert vast amounts of organic waste into sustainable animal feed. Discover how they achieve this groundbreaking solution by tuning into this session.
Explore our multistreamed sessions covering the circular economy and a wide range of related topics.
We utilize Restream.io for our broadcasts.
Previous years' content provides insight into our diverse offerings.
It was over an ironing board that Jason realized many everyday products are 90% water, contributing to billions of pounds of plastic waste annually. This insight inspired Replenish, a reusable bottle and concentrate refill platform. It empowers consumers to add their own water at the point of use, breaking the endless cycle of waste in consumer goods.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a UK charity launched in 2010, accelerates the transition to a circular economy. Founded by Ellen MacArthur, it is a global thought leader influencing business, government, and academia. Explore their work at ellenmacarthurfoundation.org and connect via YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter.
Algramo scales reusable packaging globally. With over 2,000 convenience stores and 80%+ reuse rates, it attracts brands like Unilever and Nestle. They co-develop technology, such as Packaging as a Wallet (PaaW) for IoT vending machines, enabling Unilever to sell detergent 30% cheaper. Algramo is also developing a flagship store and electric tricycle fleet.
Launched in 2010 by sailor Ellen MacArthur, the UK's Ellen MacArthur Foundation accelerates the transition to a circular economy. As a global thought leader, it influences business, government, and academia, supported by various partners.
Learn more at ellenmacarthurfoundation.org. Subscribe on YouTube and follow on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium.
Jeannette is dedicated to creating circular systems that eliminate disposable packaging. After nearly a decade researching reusable solutions, she launched reCIRCLE in 2016. This network now includes almost 1,000 partner restaurants, replacing approximately 50,000 disposable containers daily. With a Master's in environmental technology, Jeannette envisions reusable systems transforming many industries.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a UK charity founded in 2010 by Ellen MacArthur, accelerates the transition to a circular economy. A global thought leader, it influences business, government, and academia. Explore their work at [www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org](https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org) and connect via social media: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/made2bemadeagain), [Instagram](http://instagram.com/ellenmacarthurfoundation), [Facebook](http://facebook.com/EllenMacArthurFoundation), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ellenmacarthurfoundation), [Twitter](http://twitter.com/circulareconomy), [Medium](http://medium.com/circulatenews).
World record-breaking sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur discusses how her extensive time at sea provided a profound revelation about managing our planet's finite resources.
She shares her optimism for transitioning to a circular economy, a system focused on dramatically reducing waste and pollution.
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The Thinking Game | Full documentary | Tribeca Film Festival official selection
The inside story of the AI breakthrough that won a Nobel Prize.
The Thinking Game takes you on a journey into the heart of leading AI lab DeepMind, capturing a team striving to unravel the mysteries of intelligence and life itself.
Filmed over five years by the award-winning team behind AlphaGo, the documentary examines how DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis’s extraordinary beginnings shaped his lifelong pursuit of artificial general intelligence. It chronicles the rigorous process of scientific discovery, documenting how the team moved from mastering complex strategy games to solving the 50-year-old "protein folding problem" with AlphaFold - a breakthrough that would win a Nobel Prize.
Following its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival and a successful international tour, the film is now available here to watch for free.
Interested in hosting a screening of The Thinking Game for your classroom, community, or workplace? Visit: https://rocofilms.com/films/the-thinking-game/
Director Greg Kohs
Producer Gary Krieg
Executive Producers Tom Dore, Jonathan Fildes
Co-Producer Greg Kohs
Editor Steve Sander
Cinematographer Greg Kohs
Composer Dan Deacon






















