Learning through sharing: beyond the traditional North-South learning models for a circular built environment

There is a general assumption that knowledge sharing takes place in a North-South direction; with North Americans and Europeans providing pearls of wisdom to the global South. At a recent Sustainable Built Environment knowledge sharing workshop this assumption was challenged. The workshop brought together building and circular economy experts from governments, public and private sector, financing organisations and researchers. The aim of this workshop was to share experiences between experts from The Netherlands, actively engaged in promoting and applying circularity principles in the country and the region, and Sustainable Building and Construction (SBC) partners engaged in promoting sustainable building and construction practices, including circularity, internationally. Participants were from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia and the EU. The workshop was set up in an interactive, action research format. The key messages arising from the workshop supported that South-North learning was equally valuable as North-South learning, supporting knowledge sharing rather than knowledge transfer. There was a recognition of the imminent danger of global system collapse if current practices were not changed immediately. Urgency was recognised as being a key driver to move to a new paradigm shift both in the North and the global South. There was also a recognition that since the task is complex and there are multifaceted considerations, it is not helpful to wait to align all stakeholders to develop common solutions. Grass roots engagement and development need to be supported and nurtured in alignment with various stakeholders. Governments can support circular processes through a top-down policy platform. Traditional and cultural practices in the global South may provide not only ideas for engagement but also new ways of thinking in a quest for diversity of solutions to be applied to reach our sustainability goals.