Definition of circular economy indicators for Living Labs (D4.2)

The main objective of Deliverable 4.2 is to define a set of indicators to measure circular economy (CE) around the water-energy-resources-waste nexus in the B-WaterSmart project context. This set of indicators will contribute to the B-WaterSmart assessment framework that will allow to monitor and evaluate each Living Lab (LL) (industry(ies), municipality, city, region, etc.) performance according to the defined circular opportunities. The final results of the present Deliverable 4.2. are:
- a list of different sources and scientific articles reviewed and updated until today about CE related indicators;
- a set of 28 CE indicators related to the water sector and the water-energy-resources-waste nexus, which have been validated by all the WP4 team members;
- a set of indicators that will contribute to the B-WaterSmart assessment framework and is expected to be replicated beyond the scope of this project.
The WP4 team from B-WaterSmart has analyzed different sources in order to evaluate the state of the art for measuring CE through indicators, analyzing which indicators and criteria have been published until now, and gathering and adapting all the CE-related indicators that could be applicable in the context of B-WaterSmart. After this review, an extended first set of indicators was proposed and then was shared and discussed in a workshop with the WP4 team, the LLs, and other interested members of the project. The aim of this workshop was to finally determine which indicators could be monitored in each LL and could be of interest in the context of CE and the B-WaterSmart project. After the workshop, a prioritization and simplification of the indicators proposed initially was made. Later, the CE indicators were discussed with Work Package 6 (WP6) – which will develop a water-smartness framework – to integrate them with those from WP6, aligned with the definition of water smartness and their strategic objectives and assessment criteria. A second round showing the indicators to all interested members was done, to get the approval from the WP4 team and to get a final list of CE indicators to be monitored later in each LL.