Shift Cycling Culture promotes circular design course

Shift Cycling Culture is delivering a circular design course, designed specifically for the global cycling industry, with the aim of creating a deeper understanding of the opportunities the circular economy presents, with course attendees making a start with actual projects to work on.

Previous editions of the course have seen some of the largest brands in the cycling industry participate, including ASSOS of Switzerland GmbH, Cervélo, Specialized Bicycle Components and Trek Bicycle.

Whether you are into bikes & parts or into apparel, this is a relevant course for you!

Chad Manuell, former Director of Engineering, Trek Bikes: “Our team had a great time, and it was incredibly valuable connecting the corporate program with what we are doing in product development and retail.”

During the Circular Design Course, participants will develop a deeper understanding of circular business. Along the way, they will be helped by means of a facilitated design process with knowledge, tools and interaction with other companies and designers. Afterwards, you will have developed both a long-term vision and a concrete plan that you can put into action right away.

The CIRCO Method​

The CIRCO method is based on an academic framework of the Technical University of Delft in The Netherlands called ‘Products that last,’ written by C. Bakker & M. den Hollander, ea. This framework explains five circular business models and six circular design strategies.

CIRCO expanded this framework with tools and insights, to make it even better suited to application in the business environment. The method offers concrete design tools. Inspiring cases & examples, and it offers trainer support & interaction.

Value proposition

The 6-week course will explore the concepts of circular design, with participants identifying business opportunities and utilising circular design strategies to redesign their own company’s propositions, products, services, and business models. On leaving the course, participants will have developed a concrete Implementation Roadmap ready for implementation at their companies, resulting in tangible outcomes from the highly effective course. 

Participants will join other entrepreneurs, designers and industry professionals, learning to adapt the principal elements of circularity to their own organisations. While every company develops its own value proposition, the peer-to-peer discussions and knowledge sharing between companies has been cited as an incredibly valuable aspect of this course.

Over a period of six weeks, participants will:

• Learn about circular design strategies and business models

• Redesign their product or service using circular design strategies

• Develop a new circular business model for their product and service

• Create a roadmap for implementation to transition to their circular model

• Build a strong network of like-minded people and companies

Details

• 6 online sessions (three hours each) & two individual coaching sessions

• Coursework between each session (expected 1-2 hours per week)

• Total time investment time, approximately 30 hours

Delivery Method

• Sessions will be hosted on Zoom

• Exercises and activities are delivered via Mural 

Dates & Times

• Tuesdays: Sep 20, Sep 27, Oct 4, Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25

• Session times: 16:00-19:00 (CET, Europe); 15:00-18:00 (GMT, London); 10:00-13:00 (EST, New York); 07:00-10:00 (PST, Los Angeles)
  
  *Session times may change due to daylight saving timezone variations. A calendar invite will be sent for sessions before the course begins.

Number of Participants

• 8-12 organisations (two participants per organisation)

A team of two

To make the most of this course, we recommend each company has two members of their organisation joining the sessions: a creative participant working in design/engineering to think out of the box, and one decision-making participant working in sales/marketing to move things forward.

Course Trainers

The Circular Design Course will be hosted by two experienced CIRCO trainers & cycling industry insiders, Erik Bronsvoort (Circular Cycling), and Mars Holwerda (Studio MOM).