04 Jun 2018

Sticky Post By Stine Kolding Posted in Events, LAUNCH, News Permalink

How do we make Circularity the obvious choice?

Sticky Post By Stine Kolding On June 4, 2018

LAUNCH Circular Big Think 2018 at eBay's headquarter. Barruch Ben-Zekry from VF Corporation.

How do we make circular and more sustainable choices accessible and affordable for customers, and profitable for businesses?

This question was at the center of this year’s LAUNCH Big Think that was held on April 9th at the eBay HQ in San Jose, California. Together representatives from companies and organizations like IKEA, LEGO, Apple, eBay, Interface, Dell, VF Corporation, and Kvadrat explored this question alongside organizations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, GreenBiz, and the Closed Loop Fund. Together, all 35 participants took a wide and deep view of what attributes are imperative to create a Circular Society by 2030 with customers and new business models being at the center of this change.

To view highlights from the day, take a look at the short video below:

You can also watch the live-streamed videos with IKEA, VF Corp, Interface, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, LEGO Group and eBay at our previous post here.

Curious on the Insights from the Day?

All inputs captured at the Big Think will be actively used over the coming month to shape this year’s Innovation Challenge Statement, to be released in June 2018. If you can’t wait for the announcement of this years Innovation Challenge, we have reflected on the four key innovation opportunities discussed at the Big Think in a Summary Report. The key opportunities identified are:

Trust
Experiences
Ownership
Transparency

To learn more, download the full Summary Report with insights and findings from the Big Think, along with more about the LAUNCH Challenge process and next steps:

“For IKEA, becoming circular is a huge opportunity to innovate and find new ways to meet people’s needs and dreams at home within the limits of the planet. By truly understanding people’s needs, we can design relevant offers and meet customers’ needs in new ways. We are just at the beginning, but are starting to test a range of solutions, including exploring new business models.”

Håkan Nordkvist, Head of Sustainability Innovation, IKEA Group

“eBay as a platform contributes to giving products a second and third life. In that way you can say that our platform is already an important vehicle in the Circular Economy. A key factor in bringing customers and citizens along on this journey towards a Circular Society is convenience. We are excited to host this year’s Big Think and to explore this truly important challenge with world class partners and thinkers.”

Chris Librie, Senior Director – Global Impact and Giving, eBay

We are witnessing a new generation that are used to owning less and sharing more. Some characterize them as the ‘Insta-gratification generation’, but I see strong signs that we are facing a generation that is ready for a fundamental shift in ownership and business-models. We are eager to contribute to this exploration.”

Barruch Ben-Zekry, Director – Sustainable Business Value, VF Corporation

For more about LAUNCH partners, please contact:

eBay: Kari Ramirez, Lead Communications Manager, North America: karamirez@ebay.com
IKEA Group: Jamie Rusby, ‎Head of Sustainability Communications: jamie.rusby@ikea.com
VF Corporation: Craig Hodges, Senior Director, Corporate Communications: Craig_Hodges@vfc.com

For more information about this years Innovation Challenge please download the summary report or contact: Toke Sabroe, Director Operations, LAUNCH Circular @ +45 22 131 293 toke@launch.org

For more information about LAUNCH Circular please contact Sofus Midtgaard Director, LAUNCH Circular @ +45 30220111, sofus@launch.org.

For more information about LAUNCH please contact Kristin Coates, Executive Director, LAUNCH @ +1 415 465 5533, kristin@launch.org

16 Apr 2018

Sticky Post By Sofus Midtgaard Posted in Events, Innovators, LAUNCH, News Permalink

Making Circularity Great Again

Sticky Post By Sofus Midtgaard On April 16, 2018

How do we accelerate the transition to a Circular Society? And what role will customers, corporations, cities and governments play in realizing this vision?

This week, eBay hosted the LAUNCH Big Think on Customer Engagement and New Business Models, an opportunity for brands such as IKEA, LEGO, Apple, eBay, Interface, Dell, VF Corporation, Novozymes, Kvadrat and organisations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and GreenBiz to come together to understand how we can collectively build a circular society. During the Big Think, Sofus Midtgaard, the Director of Circular at LAUNCH, caught up with a number of the Big Think attendees to gather their thoughts on this vital circular economy dialogue and on what it takes to achieve a truly Circular Society by 2030.

“If this group can come up with something that really sparks interest and gets people excited, that would be the biggest thing for me.” Barruch Ben-Zekry, Director of Sustainable Business Value at VF Corporation.

“If we can really answer a need or answer an innovation challenge for consumers, we’re onto a winner.” Tim Brooks, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility at LEGO Group.

“I think there are new conversations that are going to emerge, but ultimately this is just about something that’s better than a broken system that we’ve created.” Del Hudson, Head of US Operations at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

“I hope that we can get a variety of innovations ranging from technology to more social and legislative… To have a mix of that would be wonderful.” Håkan Nordkvist, Head of Sustainability Innovation at IKEA.

“We have to create these systems and these products and services that are just inherently better.” Mikhail Davis, Director of Restorative Enterprise at Interface.

“The opportunity to get that many companies in a room and to talk about the challenges in creating a Circular Society is always a great moment.” Chris Librie, Head of Global Impact and Giving at eBay.

To see more photos from the Big Think, visit the LAUNCH Flickr. For more on the LAUNCH Circular Movement, visit launch.org/circular and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

What happens next?

All inputs given at the Big Think will be actively used over the coming months to form the Innovation Challenge along with further interviews to ensure a diverse representation of voices. By the end of April, we will send you a summary of all insights and the process. Until then, you can read more about the LAUNCH process and next steps in the booklet we sent to you previously this week (see page 12-13 and page 21).

24 Oct 2017

Sticky Post By Stine Kolding Posted in Events, Innovators Permalink

Learn from LAUNCH Partners and Circular Design Innovators

Sticky Post By Stine Kolding On October 24, 2017

Have you ever wondered how the startup companies started their adventure? Or how the big corporations work with Circular Economy? Now is your opportunity to meet 5 Circular Economy frontrunners and entrepreneurs working with Circular Economy. Together with The Royal School of Architecture and Design (KADK), we are hosting 3 open seminars about how to design for a Circular Economy. Meet Kvadrat and Really Cph on October 26th, IKEA and Ecovative on November 16th, and Queen of Raw on December 14th 2017.

Learn from Circular Design Innovators

Through the 3 seminars you will get the opportunity to dive into five different personal and professional journeys towards circularity. You will get insights on their vital learnings and learn from their ups and downs from starting companies and working in this space. And who knows, maybe your career path as a designer is another one than one than you imagined.

The 3 seminars are:

October 26th at 15.00-17.00: ‘Recycling Textile into Furniture and Decorative Elements’ – with Charlotte Bastholm Skjold (Head of Design Management at Kvadrat Textiles) & Wickie Meier (CEO at Really Cph)
November 16th at 15.00-17.00: ‘Design Inspired by Nature’ and Lamps and Packaging Grown from Mushroom Material’ – with Jonas Engberg (Sustainability Manager at IKEA) & Kenneth Lush (Prototype Engineer at Ecovative)
December 14th at 15.00-17.00: ‘Business Models for a Circular Economy’ and an online marketplace for unused fabrics and high quality raw materials – with Stephanie Benedetto (CEO at Queen of Raw)

All seminars is in Auditorium 2 at KADK – read more about each event here:

Kvadrat & Really Cph: Facebook event / KADK.dk
IKEA and Ecovative: Facebook event / KADK.dk
Queen of Raw: Facebook event / KADK.dk

: Wickie Meier, CEO, Really Cph

: Charlotte Bastholm Skjold, Head of Design Management, Kvadrat

: Kenneth Lush, Prototype Engineer, Ecovative

: Jonas Engberg, Sustainability Manager, IKEA

: Stephanie Benedetto, CEO, Queen of Raw

How to Design for Circularity?

Did you know that decisions made in the design phase determines 80% of the product’s CO2 footprint? The 3 seminars will showcase 3 different ways of making sure that the product or concept is designed from a Circular Economy perspective e.g. using fungal mycelium to grow biodegradable replacements for polystyrene, using recycled textiles, or using leftover and sustainable materials.

On October 26th, Wickie Meier (Really) and Charlotte Bastholm Skjold (Kvadrat) will talk about how they have collaborated together with Max Lamb about recycling textiles into decorative elements and furniture.

On November 16th, Jonas Engberg (IKEA) and Kenneth Lush (Ecovative) will talk about how they have collaborated making mushroom packaging. They will also engage you in their newest material developments and how you can design with the materials yourself. Ecovative have scaled their business and impact over the last 4 years due to their collaboration with the LAUNCH eco-system. They use fungal mycelium to grow biodegradable replacements for polystyrene (see video below).

At LAUNCH Circular Innovation Summit in March 2017 at Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon, Jeff Betts from Ecovative talked about his company’s biomaterials products with Håkan Nordqvist, Director of Sustainability of IKEA (and partner in LAUNCH), and former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman.

On December 14th, Stephanie Benedetto (Queen of Raw) will talk about how she connects designers with global suppliers selected for their innovative raw materials, sustainability value, and avant-garde approach to fashion and technology. Stephanie Benedetto is also LAUNCH Innovator 2016 and have therefore scaled her business through LAUNCH. So if you want to learn from her, she will at the seminar give you insights on how to join the movement and we invite you to engage in the discussion. You can see and introduction to the platform (see video below):

Stay Tuned!

For all seminars, we will livestream interviews with the companies. And best of all, we will livestream the whole seminar with Queen of Raw December 14th. So make sure to follow us on Facebook and check in on our account on the seminar dates!

20 Aug 2017

Sticky Post By Stine Kolding Posted in Events, News Permalink

Kicking off #UNLEASHLAB2017 with 900+ SDG talents

Sticky Post By Stine Kolding On August 20, 2017

During this week, 900+ SDG talents from around the world joined #UNLEASHLAB2017 in order to solve 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Leaderlab and Workz proudly worked alongside for the kick-off event on August 13th in Copenhagen.

UNLEASH who?

In August 2017, the first UNLEASH event is held when talents from all over the world come to Denmark for nine days to create real, scalable solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals. UNLEASH is supported by a number of Danish and international companies, 15 Danish foundations and even more international foundations. As such, it has over 200 global partnerships with some of the world’s leading institutions, organizations and NGOs. The executive partners are Carlsberg Foundation, Dalberg, Danish Industry, Deloitte, the Folk High Schools and UNDP.

The goal is that UNLEASH will be an annual event that travels to a new country every year and develops new solutions to our SDGs. The plan is that next year’s UNLEASH will be held in Silicon Valley, then in Singapore, Mumbai and finally in New York in 2030.

Kick-offing of the SDGs

August 13th, the purpose of the day were to bring people together across nation, professional and personal background. The talents were then welcomed by Flemming Besenbacher, Chairman of UNLEASH and President for the Danish Governmental Circular Economy Advisory Board.

We then started the afternoon by doing an icebreaker in order to visualize the diversity and similarities of the talents. Next, we facilitated a case challenge that had the purpose of preparing the talents for the challenging week they had ahead of them. The 7 SDG tracks each had a challenge that various companies wanted the talents to solve. The cases where:

Energy: Kalundborg Symbioses by Per Møller
Urban Sustainability: State of Green by Astrid Kock Grusgaard
Health: Nyt Hospital Nordsjælland by Henrik Schødts
Education and ITC: Microsoft by Regina Murray
Water: Grundfos by Morten Riis
Sustainable Consumption & Production: Danske Arkitekter by Peter Andreas Sattrup

The kick-off became a huge success with lots of energy and enthusiasm in the room. We can’t wait to hear what solutions are presented during this weekend in Aarhus.

30 May 2017

Sticky Post By Sofus Midtgaard Posted in Events, LAUNCH, LAUNCH Nordic, News Permalink

Join the design revolution to enable Circular Economy

Sticky Post By Sofus Midtgaard On May 30, 2017

Imagine a world where every product was a service. A future of zero ownership. A future where all products were designed to last, to be reused, repaired and recycled keeping products and materials in the loop. It sounds amazing, right? This year LAUNCH invites up to 10 innovators to join a design revolution to help make Circular Economy a reality.

At the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) in Helsinki June 5th 2017, LAUNCH partners will be announcing this year’s Innovation Challenge: Design & Manufacturing for a Circular Economy. We seek innovators globally with the potential to create a shift in the way we design and manufacture for a circular and inclusive society. We urge individuals, teams, start-ups and established companies and organisations to apply, and help us find the answers to this year’s challenge.

Joining us for the announcement of this years LAUNCH Innovation Challenge will be WCEF 2017 Keynote Speaker Dr. Cady Coleman, former NASA Astronaut and polymer chemist.

“Never before has international collaboration been more important to accelerate our transition to a more sustainable way of life on earth. I look forward to joining the World Circular Economy Forum in Helsinki to help connect businesses, governments, cities and innovators who are working to enable this transition”, says Dr. Cady Coleman, former NASA Astronaut.

This year LAUNCH offers up to 10 innovators the unique opportunity to join and get access to the LAUNCH network of industry pioneers, government, investors and previous innovators to collectively work to build and accelerate the innovations. This will include receiving personal mentoring and help to test, pilot and scale the innovations.

The LAUNCH partners look forward to this year’s innovators and their solutions and how they can help create new joint ventures and accelerate the circular economy even further:

“At IKEA Group we want to play an active role in the transition to a circular economy. This year we are looking for innovators, disruptive ideas and fresh mindsets who can inspire the whole industry to design products and services for a circular economy”, says Håkan Nordkvist, Head of Sustainability Innovation, IKEA Group.

One critical component in enabling a Circular Economy is that we start designing and manufacturing products in new ways. If products are to last, reused, repaired and recycled we need to empower designers and manufacturers to make better choices regarding materials, binders, coating and manufacturing technologies:

“New design and manufacturing processes are critical to accelerate the transition to a Circular Economy. At Novozymes we look forward to work with and help innovators from around the world, who can help inspire and lead this transition”, says Claus Stig Pedersen, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Novozymes.

Vigga Svensson is a 2014 LAUNCH Nordic Innovator, who recently won the Design Design Award 2017 on best customer experience. Design is at the heart of her success and to this she says:

“To go from selling products to delivering a circular subscription service, you need to rethink how you design both the products, the customer journey and your service. I believe that rethinking design is at the heart of enabling Circular Economy and I hope that we see a lot of great innovators joining LAUNCH this year”, says Vigga Svensson, Founder, Vigga.us – LAUNCH Nordic Innovator 2014

Deadline for applications will be September 1, 2017. In October 2017 the top 10 innovations will be selected and participants will take part in a unique acceleration program that provides support, networking, and mentoring from influential businesses and government leaders.

“Circular Economy is on everybody’s lips these years. But action rather than talk and reports will drive the transition. That’s why I love working with pioneering partners and innovators through LAUNCH. I look forward to hosting this years LAUNCH Forum at Kvadrat in November where we will meet with the selected innovators and help them go to scale”, says Anders Byriel, CEO, Kvadrat

This year’s LAUNCH Innovation Challenge on Design & Manufacturing for Circular Economy will be announced June 5th at 15.00 (CET) at the WCEF in Helsinki (Finlandia Hall) and online at launch.org

Contact information
Download this press release as PDF – Press release LAUNCH Innovation Challenge 2017 For more information about LAUNCH or this year’s Innovation Challenges please contact Sofus Midtgaard, LAUNCH Nordic: +45 30220111 – or sofus@launch.org

For more about the participating LAUNCH partners and innovators please contact:
IKEA Group: Corporate Communications – +46 (0)72 886 57 81 or communications.gl@ikea.com
Novozymes: Rene Tronborg: retr@novozymes.com
Kvadrat: Alice Rasmussen: +45 8953 1862 or ar@kvadrat.org
vigga.us: Peter R. Svensson:+45 22665595 or peter@vigga.us

About LAUNCH
LAUNCH was founded in 2009 as a strategic partnership between NASA, NIKE, Inc., the US Department of State, and the US Agency for International Development. LAUNCH identifies and supports visionaries whose ideas, technologies, or programs have the potential to create a better world. Through a series of meetings, events, and an annual forum, LAUNCH has successfully introduced innovations that are solving urgent challenges facing our society today.

Since its founding, LAUNCH has attracted numerous additional strategic partners and supporters. In 2016, LAUNCH ran multiple challenges focusing on Food, Smarter Chemistry and on Closing the Loop.

LAUNCH Nordic is a partnership between IKEA Group, Novozymes, Kvadrat, Vinnova, The Capital Region of Denmark, Region Skåne, The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Danish Ministry of the Environment, and Malmö Stad.
Read more about LAUNCH Nordic at http://www.launch.org/nordic