Domain III — Circular & regenerative economics
From take-make-waste to systems of renewal.
The linear economy — extract, produce, discard — is running against its own physical limits. Circular and regenerative models offer a coherent alternative: economies designed to keep materials in use, eliminate waste, and regenerate the living systems on which all enterprise depends.
What it means
Three principles, applied at every scale.
Eliminate waste
Design out pollution and single-use logic from the beginning, not at the end of the pipe.
Keep materials in use
Products, components, and materials circulate at their highest value for as long as possible.
Regenerate nature
Move beyond doing less harm — actively support the recovery of soils, waters, and living systems.
Why now
Ecological pressure meets economic possibility.
Multiple planetary boundaries have been crossed. Climate, biodiversity, freshwater, and biogeochemical flows are all under strain. At the same time, circular models are moving from theory to industrial practice — the frameworks and tools exist.
What is still forming is the wider institutional and financial architecture that would let regenerative enterprise become the default rather than the exception.
Convergence
Circular economy · AI · Co-operation.
Circular systems are, by nature, informational: they depend on being able to track materials, coordinate flows, and share knowledge across enterprises and regions. AI, well designed, could support that coordination. Co-operative ownership could ensure the value it creates stays with the communities generating it.
The three domains reinforce one another. Held together, they begin to describe an economy worth building.
Questions we are exploring
How do we move from linear economies to systems of renewal — at scale, and in time?
- 01
What does regenerative enterprise look like in different sectors?
- 02
How can AI support material flow tracking without becoming another extractive layer?
- 03
What financial and legal architecture supports patient, regenerative capital?
- 04
How do we measure progress against planetary boundaries, not GDP?
- 05
Where can co-operative structures accelerate circular practice?
- 06
What are the leverage points where policy could unlock regenerative business models?
Related resources
Organisations shaping this field
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Leading global work on the circular economy — research, learning, and systems-level design across industries.
Wellbeing Economy Alliance
A movement of organisations reorienting economies toward human and ecological wellbeing rather than growth alone.
Doughnut Economics Action Lab
Translating Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics into practical tools for cities, communities, and enterprise.
Stockholm Resilience Centre
Interdisciplinary research on social-ecological systems, planetary boundaries, and resilience thinking.
Build with regenerative practitioners.
The CAISCEN knowledge centre gathers organisations, tools, and reports across circular and regenerative economics.