On 23–24 October I attended the End-of-Year 1 Meeting of the Place Based Circular Society Innovations project. The event included project partners, the Advisory Board, and members of the broader Knowledge Action Network, bringing a very interesting and open-minded group together.

I participated as a member of the Advisory board, wearing both my hat as responsible innovation practitioner through my work at the Foundation, and that as volunteer at Food for Good in Utrecht, one of the project’s case studies.

The meeting featured presentations of a host of circular realities and approaches, with a major focus on one of the Place Based project’s case studies, Heston in the Loop. With apologies and thanks to the other presenters, in this post I would like to focus on focus on this presentation and its accompanying report and tool kit.

The Heston in the Loop presentation and panel explored what a circular neighbourhood looks like in practice—its practicalities, challenges, and lessons learned, all of which is expanded upon in the report Circular neighbourhoods: Heston in the Loop, which is free to download here.  

This easy-to-read report charts the development of the idea of circular neighbourhoods and in particular Heston in the Loop, a pilot project in London. The pilot was set up and run as a joint venture by ReLondon and Hounslow Council, in the west London neighbourhood of Heston.

The ultimate goal of the project was to create a replicable model for neighbourhoods which genuinely transformed citizens’ and businesses’ relationship with stuff, by embedding circular economy practices at a neighbourhood level. As a co-benefit, the project was consciously designed to support measurable social and economic benefits in addition to positive environmental impacts through reduced carbon emissions .

Since developing Heston in the Loop with Hounslow Council, ReLondon has designed a framework to help local authorities build a shared vision for a circular economy neighbourhood, and to guide them through key steps and decisions in setting one up. The Circular neighbourhoods: Campaign Toolkit contains guidance and editable assets for local authorities and organizations to deliver a successful ‘In the Loop’ campaign to support a circular neighbourhood project and is available to download here.

Circular Neighbourhoods

Circular neighbourhoods are described as being areas usually based around a high street ‘hub’, in which local citizens have greater access to affordable, circular products and services which allow them to get, use and dispose of ‘stuff’ in a more sustainable way.

They have been shown to have the potential to deliver considerable social and economic benefits for citizens and businesses, such as greater community cohesion, reduced costs, increased skills, and new business and job opportunities, whilst delivering environmental impact through waste reduction and carbon savings.

The Heston in the Loop pilot project aimed to establish a circular neighbourhood (in Heston) by providing new (or supporting existing) ways to empower individuals and organizations such as schools, businesses, places of worship, and community groups, to waste less and reuse, repair, share and recycle more. The interventions were designed to build awareness of, and support for, more circular behaviour, while helping citizens gain practical skills (such as repair), save money and get to know others in their community better.

The project addressed consumption behaviour in several key materials (plastics, food, textiles, electricals, bicycles), through ReLondon’s five circular business models (using stuff wisely, using stuff again, making things well, renting instead of buying, and sharing).

Designing the project consisted of working through a series of strategic questions based on on six topics: intervention themes, community engagement, project phasing, communication, monitoring and evaluation, and project legacy. It would involve 20 different interventions such as sharing, renting and redistribution of household items via digital platforms, repair cafés, swap shops for clothes, refill shops, repair sessions for young people and community growing and food sharing.

Heston in the Loop Report

The Circular neighbourhoods: Heston in the Loop report highlights a series of desired outcomes including that citizens, schools and businesses would become aware of the project and the activities delivered, have a greater understanding of circular living (including its benefits and where to source products and services locally), and that there would be a sustained increase in the number of circular products and services offered to citizens locally.

Citizens would feel proud of their co-designed project, consume stuff differently, and make repeated use of circular businesses and services while developing and enhancing their own skills and knowledge.

Practices carried out through the 12 months of the pilot (from March 2023 to March 2024) included surplus food redistribution, expanded rental and sharing opportunities, increased and improved recycling facilities, affordable household product refills and the development of skills for repair and maintenance.  The report was published one year after the pilot officially closed (in April 2025), at which time 65% of interventions were still running.

The report highlights the importance of place not only on the neighbourhood scale, but also more locally. A single example, that of hosting events in schools such as the affordable household product refill centres offers enormous insight. Circular activities that take place in structures that are already in use by the community seem to work well and remain, with 5 refill stations still operating at the time of writing.

Both the in-person meeting presentation and the downloadable report emphasize the importance of physical and digital communication channels and network building. C-Change West London Chief Executive Tazz Virdee described their involvement in the project and the importance of collaboration with/participation from a host of other local organizations (such as Heston Action Group) was repeatedly highlighted.

Set of impact questions and recommendations

A post-project evaluation has found a host of positive lasting changes and long-term impacts within the community. Today, Heston is a neighbourhood where citizens, schools and businesses demonstrably waste less and reuse, repair, share and recycle more.  The community reports feeling proud of where they live or work and the project itself.  In summary, the project demonstrates the concept and viability of a circular neighbourhood and supports the scaling and expansion of this approach.

A series of recommendations drawn from the experience include the suggestion to partner with specialists, combine a range of engagement approaches, work closely with the local community, keep it financially accessible and write (and translate) for your specific audience.

Thanks to everyone involved for such an inspiring presentation.

Readers who wish to learn more about the Place Based Circular Society Innovations project, it’s partners and case studies, can join their Knowledge Action Network and receive a regular newsletter via this link.