Vision on industry in the city
Circlemade supports the development and consolidation of circular production companies in the Brussels-Capital Region. The cluster and its members carry a vision on what should be industry in the city.
Vision on industry in the city
The circlemade cluster’s mission is to support the development of circular production companies in the Brussels Region. Its ambition is to see circular companies grow and increase their positive impact on the Region, but also to stimulate the emergence of new projects.
Together with its members, the cluster has defined what industry in the city should be.
Why is there a need for industry in the city ?
The city is a privileged place to do business. It offers a multitude of networks conducive to development.
Proximity to consumers is an asset when it comes to developing products that are well adapted to the market, with a focus on function rather than purchase.
Design and production are intrinsically linked. The lack of production represents a loss of skills that limits future innovation.
Maintaining business skills at local level is a major challenge in terms of autonomy.
Circular production creates local jobs with a wide range of qualifications.
Bringing production closer to the people means reappropriating materials and raising awareness of the impact of today’s unbridled consumption, so as to curb this mechanism.
Maintaining production also means reserving all the value it creates.
What industry ?
Industry needs to remain urban in scale, as space is limited and shared between different functions (housing, production, commerce, etc.).
Generally speaking, there are a number of properties that facilitate or hinder the integration of an industry in a city. Five characteristics can be taken into account: product geometry, product chemical and physical properties, product function, production facilities and product end-of-life.
Economic models
For the cluster, industries can present an infinite number of business models, but must be based on one of the 4 main types of circular economy models, which are circular supply, resource recovery, eco-design and better use of resources.
The industry is built on craftsmanship, while retaining a strong artisanal and creative accent. Human labor remains at the heart of the business, with machine support.
To be able to afford the factors of production in the city – land, labor – the cluster advocates maximum integration in the value chain. This means not just producing, but integrating production with sales to the end consumer, ideally in a service model where the relationship with the customer is constant and the value created is captured throughout the chain, without intermediaries, right up to its highest value.
The challenge of scaling up
The Brussels-Capital Region offers a wide range of start-up assistance. However, after start-up, there’s still a long way to go before you can find your market and have sufficient income to reinvest. Growing an industry is risky.
If we want the circular economy to become mainstream, the Region must be able to support young, still fragile scale-ups, in particular through its financial aid scheme.
This vision was followed by a recommendations document.
The circlemade strategy is defined by its Board
