NSF Convergence Accelerator Track I: SpheriCity -- Circularity from Molecules to the Built Environment in Communities

This project aims to optimize circularity, from the city up, transforming the linear consumption model of raw material extraction, production, use, and disposal that dominates the global economy. This linear model has led to serious unintended national and worldwide issues, from pollution to resource depletion. This project will reimagine design, from molecules and materials to buildings and American communities. The newly updated and expanded Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) framework will be co-implemented with 11 cities. CAP integrates the open data tool Debris Tracker with data freely available, joining data from nearly 100 countries around the world. The new portal for this project will store the data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 communities aiming to foster dialogue about community circularity and creating meaningful change. To increase circularity, the researchers will help communities address issues, including pollution burdens, lack of infrastructure, and lack of access to services. This research will continue to increase public scientific engagement through the use of open data and free mobile citizen science apps; improve the well-being of individuals in American communities by reducing waste and improving the built environment; and develop a competitive workforce. All communities, partners, and the public will have access to project data, facilitating the use of science and technology to inform public decision-making. In contrast to the linear economy of ‘take, make, waste’, circular economy (CE) decouples economic growth from resource consumption. CE principles are based on the efficient use of resources and eliminating waste from product life cycles. This project will tackle the complex challenges that currently inhibit the circular economy’s growth by deeply integrating many different disciplines through the researchers’ proven holistic systems framework. In Phase 2, the newly updated and expanded Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) framework will be used to converge circularity across plastics (exploring polyfluoroalkyl substance-free alternatives), organic materials, and the built environment in 11 cities. In Phase 1 of this project, a circularity path was connected across multiple materials and scales in two large metropolitan areas. Phase 2 will expand this work by training local implementation partners and further developing a novel dynamic data and education portal. This portal will include city and metadata dashboards to facilitate community dialogue to create systems change. Project partners include the Resilient Cities Network, a city-led network that brings together over 200 Chief Resilience Officers, practitioners, and researchers; the 2030 Districts Network of cities working to catalyze transformation in the built environment to mitigate the effects of ecological change; Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative Mayors; and the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS). This network of networks is the next step in expanding this project into a long-lasting resource and platform for sharing amongst American cities catalyzing change. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.