The circular economy has no shortage of ambitions. What it has lacked, until now, are tools that make those ambitions measurable for the organisations and communities that need to act on them. That is exactly the gap CIRCONOMY was designed to close.

On 11–12 June 2026, the project’s Kick-Off Meeting took place at Unitelma Sapienza in Rome, hosted by project coordinator Prof. Piergiuseppe Morone. All 17 partners gathered to align on objectives, agree on ways of working, and formally launch three years of research, development, and real-world testing. PEDAL Consulting’s project manager Kristina Duchoňová was there in person, representing the team from day one.

What is CIRCONOMY?

CIRCONOMY “Unlocking the Potential of Circularity with Smart Indicators” is a Research and Innovation Action funded under Horizon Europe. With a total EU budget of €3,991,382 and a 36-month implementation period running from June 2026 to May 2029, the project unites 17 partners from 8 countries across Europe.

The core challenge it addresses is straightforward: despite growing political commitment to the circular economy, there is still no reliable, standardised way for municipalities, businesses, or households to measure their own circularity performance. Existing frameworks are fragmented, often too complex for everyday use, and rarely comparable across sectors or borders.

What will the project actually build?

Over three years, CIRCONOMY will deliver a set of concrete, practical outputs:

A HARMONISED MICRO-LEVEL CIRCULARITY MONITORING FRAMEWORK
Standardised and modular, designed to work across different sectors, governance levels, and types of organisations, so that results are actually comparable.

A USER-FRIENDLY DIGITAL TOOL
Accessible to municipalities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and households alike, enabling anyone to track and improve their circularity performance without needing a research background.

PILOT STUDIES AND REPLICATION ACTIVITIES
The framework and tool will be tested in real municipal, industrial, and household contexts across Europe, then refined based on what works.

TOOLKIT AND TRAINING MODULES
Practical capacity-building resources tailored to different audiences, from local government officials to industry professionals and community organisations.

POLICY BRIEFS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Evidence-based guidance to support policymakers at local, national, and EU level in integrating circularity monitoring into governance and procurement.

Who benefits?

CIRCONOMY is designed with four groups in mind. Researchers and universities gain better indicators and methodologies. Businesses, from SMEs to large corporations, get tools that help them monitor and report circularity in line with EU sustainability standards. Public authorities and policymakers receive operational guidance to embed circularity into planning and procurement decisions. And civil society benefits from an economy that becomes measurably more circular over time.

PEDAL Consulting’s role: where knowledge meets practice

PEDAL Consulting leads Work Package 6: Guidance, Capacity Building and Policy Integration. We are responsible for the outputs that translate research into real-world adoption: the toolkits, training materials, and stakeholder training sessions that will help municipalities, companies, and citizens actually use what the project builds.

We will also manage project data throughout the full life cycle. Lastly, PEDAL will actively provide input on the monitoring framework, supporting pilot activities, contributing to replication and validation efforts, and shaping dissemination and policy outputs.

Check out the summary of the CIRCONOMY project:
CIRCONOMY – Unlocking the Potential of Circularity with Smart Indicators – PEDAL Consulting

View a complete portfolio of our projects:
PEDAL Consulting – Projects