Pioneering Circular Solutions: INDEED Innovation in the EU Interreg Circular Economy Office Project
Our team is delighted to share the exciting news that INDEED Innovation is part of the groundbreaking EU Interreg North Sea Region project ‘Circular Economy Office.’ This visionary initiative is set to thrive until May 2026, boasting a substantial budget of €4.1 million. It unites the expertise of 13 project partners from 6 different EU nations. All joined in pursuing the Interreg objective: ‘Promoting the transition to a circular and resource-efficient economy’ under Priority 2 – A green transition in the North Sea Region.
30% of Northern Europe’s emissions come from building construction and operation. Keeping as much material and value as possible in circulation through a circular built environment is essential, drastically reducing the footprint. We are happy to contribute our part to the topic of circular system innovation for interior design and furniture as part of it.
Heiko Tullney, Executive Director and Project Lead
The office furniture sector in the EU is currently linear, with a take-make-dispose approach resulting in 80-90% of furniture being incinerated or landfilled. Previous EU projects in the North Sea Region have yielded promising office furniture circularity initiatives – but these are not implemented at scale. One key reason for this lack of scalability is the missing link between the promising initiatives and the changing demands in the work environment.
It is great to be part of this project as a private-sector entity. Scaling circularity must involve private and public sector partners, coupled with research – EU funding is a crucial enabler in bringing together these actors and their expertise.
Dr. Ilka Weissbrod
Building on our experience in systems mapping and our understanding of the furniture sector through working with manufacturer Vitra, we will contribute to the project as an expert partner by deriving innovative solutions and opportunities based on human behavior within the dynamic system of circular office furniture. A key outcome of our work will be a high-level systems map of the office furniture ecosystem.
We are mainly contributing to the project’s front-end in 2023 and 2024. We anticipate commencing this work in close coordination with the project lead, the Hamburg Institute for Innovation, Climate Protection, and Circular Economy.
Among the other project partners are the Municipality of Copenhagen (Denmark), City of Malmö (Sweden), the City of Utrecht (Netherlands), the Local Authority Pévèle-Carembault (France), the East Netherlands Development Agency, the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (Netherlands), the Enschede Textile City Innovations Enterprise (Netherlands), and the Technological Institute Forest Cellulosis Wood in Construction Furniture (France). In addition to us as an expert partner, there are three talented partners from Belgium: wood.be, PRICELESS, and Kringwinkel Antwerp.
While the Interreg Circular Economy Office project primarily focuses on office interiors, our ultimate goal is to extend these transformative insights to furniture in schools, hospitals, and households, further scaling circular furniture principles.
Dr. Ilka Weissbrod
Sustainable Circularity
