Circular start-ups are increasingly seen as key players in the shift towards sustainable urban development, offering solutions that minimize waste, and reuse resources to minimize the impact on the environment, ecosystems and the climate. At the same time, festivals and open city events can serve as living labs; controlled environments for testing new innovations and ideas. Yet, identifying which start-ups are ready to scale - and which are the right fit for a city or region - is a major challenge for municipalities. That’s why the Green Deal Circular Festivals,facilitated by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management-, the City of Amsterdam and Royal HaskoningDHV, co-hosted a research on the scalability of circular start-ups in cities. Through this research, Allegra Dienes at TU Delft, developed the Circular Start-Up Scalability Assessment Tool (CSSAT) to address the scalability challenge.
With her thesis for the Industrial Ecology master’s at TU Delft, Dienes addresses the central research question: How can municipal practitioners assess the scalability of circular start-ups in cities? Her research aims at providing valuable insights to municipalities, event organizers and start-ups, on the conditions that are required to enable the successful scaling of circular innovations: What challenges and needs do cities, events organizers and circular start-ups face when wanting to scale circular start-ups and innovations? In a conversation with Dienes, we discussed how the CSSAT could change the way cities, event organizers, and start-ups collaborate on circular and sustainable innovation.
What is the CSSAT?
The Circular Start-Up Scalability Assessment Tool (CSSAT) is a framework designed to help cities, event organizers, and municipal practitioners evaluate the scalability of circular start-ups. The tool bridges the gap between traditional economic metrics and local priorities like policy and regulations fit, environmental impact, infrastructure compatibility, and social needs. By categorizing start-ups based on their "city-fit" and scalability potential, the CSSAT enables and facilitates the collaboration between cities and event organizers, and provides actionable feedback for start-ups. The “In Residence Open Events programme” of the City of Amsterdam and the GDCF collaboration project “Scaling up Circular Water Chains for Events” provided inspiration for the CSSAT.
Aligning with the city’s needs
For circular start-ups to be embraced by policymakers and municipal innovation teams, they need more than a solid business model - they need to align with the city’s specific needs and priorities. Dienes calls this city-fit: “City-fit is about how well a start-up aligns with a city’s unique conditions, like its infrastructure, workforce, and sustainability goals,” Dienes explains. “The problem is, cities often tend to prioritize economic metrics like profitability or market acceptance. Those don’t give a full picture of whether a start-up is suited to their specific context.”
The CSSAT introduces a more holistic approach. It considers economic viability alongside local factors like environmental and social impact. Start-ups are categorized as "most promising," "promising but needs development," or "not promising," helping cities make targeted decisions about where to direct their support. “The tool helps cities allocate resources more effectively and to get insight in the conditions that need to be strengthened to enable scaling of innovations”, says Dienes. “At the same time, it gives start-ups insights into where they need to improve to succeed in a specific urban context.”
Festivals as testing grounds
Festivals and other events in the public space often serve as controlled environments for testing new ideas - or so called “living labs” - and the CSSAT could make these experiments more impactful. According to Dienes, event organizers can use the tool to validate the claims made by start-ups and collect data on their performance during the event: “Festivals are great for real-time testing. The CSSAT allows organizers to assess how well a start-up’s solution works on the ground. That data can then go back into the CSSAT framework to inform decisions on the selection of innovations to scale and on the scalability conditions to be strengthened.”
This approach benefits all parties. Event organizers can strengthen their role as incubators for sustainable innovation, while cities gain access to tested and proven solutions. For example, a start-up that successfully manages waste at a festival might be well-suited to tackle similar challenges in an urban setting: “Festivals act as the testing ground, and cities use the data to refine their support strategies and policies. It’s a way to avoid duplicative testing and focus on the innovations that are most likely to succeed.” By using the CSSAT, cities can provide funding and regulatory support, while festivals and other events offer a platform for real-world testing of promising start-ups that align with the demands of local policymakers and urban innovation projects.
Smarter resource allocation
One of the CSSAT’s strengths is its ability to streamline resource allocation. Festivals can use it to select start-ups that meet their own and their partner city’s sustainability goals. Cities gain insights into the common barriers start-ups face wanting to scale in their jurisdiction, such as legislation, regulation, or gaps in their innovation business ecosystem. These insights allow for more effective and efficient allocation of public resources. “By focusing resources where they’re needed most, the CSSAT helps reduce inefficiencies,” says Dienes. “Cities and event organizers can save time and money by targeting the right innovations and enabling conditions.”
The tool also enables benchmarking, allowing cities to compare performance indicators across start-ups and share best practices with one another. This could lead to a more coordinated approach to scaling circular innovations from festival grounds to cities and formulating municipal sustainability agendas.
Final thoughts
Dienes sees the CSSAT as a way to build ecosystems of collaboration. “The CSSAT isn’t just about evaluating start-ups,” she says. “It’s about creating a process where cities, event organizers, and innovators work together to tackle shared challenges.” The tool is already helping cities and festivals make better decisions about circular innovation. Start-ups receive actionable feedback, festivals prove their reputation as sustainability accelerators, and cities take targeted steps toward a Circular Economy.
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