A useful study that begins to describe some of the positive as well as negative social consequences, disaggregated, in the city of Umea, Sweden in a transition to a circular economy. This study will help to frame the kinds of things that systems designers should be aware of and plan for as they undertake complex systems change.

"The circular economy (CE) model, where resources are kept "in the loop" for as long as possible through a series of reusing, remanufacturing, recycling, and recovery strategies, has been acclaimed for reducing the environmental impacts of our current economic model substantially and has therefore been supported by a wide range of policymakers as one solution to tackling climate change. However, how circular transitions in cities impact people has been rarely researched, and even less attention has been paid to the negative consequences of CE transitions.

This paper presents the findings from a social impact assessment conducted in the city of Umeå, Sweden. We identified several negative impacts of a CE transition across seven social impact categories and explored three areas in depth with stakeholders in the city: employment, access to services and participation. We found that the negative impacts of the CE are perceived to be limited and that the CE interventions are mainly viewed as a win-win-win outcome, i.e., a win for the environment, the economy and people. This raises questions about the level to which societal consequences have been considered and whether all relevant stakeholders, in particular civil society, have participated in the design of the city's CE strategy. Our findings can inform other cities about possible negative consequences of CE transitions and provide insights into how to incorporate different stakeholders in the CE transition process to ensure that no one is left behind.

• Provides the findings from a social impact assessment in the city of Umeå, Sweden, which aims to be a leader in the circular economy (CE) this decade.
• It shows that the transition to a CE in the city is mainly viewed as positive by different stakeholders in the city (government, academia, and industry), with few perceived losers. Participation of civil society and citizens in designing the CE strategy has, however, been low.
• As transition processes are often prone to injustices, we recommend a more thorough consultation and participation process to design CE interventions.

Authors: Vanhuyse, F., Rezaie, S., Englund, M., Jokiaho, J., Henrysson, M., & André, K. (2022). Including the social in the circular: A mapping of the consequences of a circular economy transition in the city of Umeå, Sweden. Journal of Cleaner Production, 380:1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134893.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134893