A model factory called Fabricaion Ciy aims to show how the economy changes when everything it consumes is produced locally. Raw materials are recycled, overproduction is avoided, transport is avoided and regional players are more involved. The ERDF project ‘Fab.Region Bergisches Städtedreieck’ aims to be the first fab region in Germany to drive transformation processes towards a co-creative, sustainable circular economy. The Institute for Work and Technology (IAT/Westphalian University of Applied Sciences Gelsenkirchen) is involved in the project as scientific advisor. Dorothee Gangnus and Kerstin Meyer report on the project in the IAT publication series Forschung Aktuell.

Gelsenkirchen, September 18th, 2024 Technological progress makes it possible for many things to be broken down into their components or for new materials to be brought together individually. Closed material cycles should minimise the material inputs or outputs of a city, region, island or country. Until the current age, the evolution of individual products was essential. Now, in the age of networking, the exchange of knowledge, information and communication – the immaterial exchange – is important, which is evident at all levels. For the members of the Fab City Network, this exchange will be the essential element in identifying the interfaces where a city or region can stand on its own two feet and assert a certain independence.

Local production is not sustainable per se, and not every product can be manufactured locally. Sometimes, locally manufactured products and small-scale production are often more expensive due to the lack of efficiencies and economies of scale of mass production. ‘Despite these challenges, fab cities offer the potential to transform the current system in a more environmentally friendly and socially just direction if they incorporate the characteristics and needs of the regional economy well,’ say the IAT researchers.

The three-year project is funded by the European Union and the state of NRW via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Since 01.01.2024, the Institute for Work and Technology has been working in a consortium with the Bergische Struktur- und Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft, the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Production and Consumption (CSCP), the University of Wuppertal and three innovation locations, Gut Einern in Wuppertal, the Gläserne Werkstatt (operated by the Solingen urban development company) in Solingen and the Gründerschmiede in Remscheid. Together with regional stakeholders from business, civil society and science, the project aims to drive the transformation of the Bergisch city-triangle towards a co-creative, sustainable circular economy.

Originalpuplication:

Gangnus, D. & Meyer, K. (2024): Global verantwortliche Stadt- und Wirtschaftsentwicklung: Kommunale Konzepte für eine Circular Economy. Forschung Aktuell, 2024 (09). Gelsenkirchen: Institut Arbeit und Technik, Westfälische Hochschule Gelsenkirchen Bocholt Recklinghausen. https://doi.org/10.53190/fa/202409

Photo: Kerstin Meyer, IAT, Gläserne Werkstatt Solingen