Sustainability heads at mid-tier mining organisations face the same problem. The CEO wants a circular economy story; but the board wants numbers, and the site general manager wants to know who is going to take responsibility for the additional work.

The internal demand is there, but most circular economy projects never achieved lift-off because they are not adequately connected to business needs. All too frequently, the declared aim is to improve resource use, but without focusing on the bottom line benefits and challenges projects quickly become derailed.

To close this gap, Cambianz has designed a Circular Innovation Sprint for mining practitioners. A focus workshop available as either a four (half-day) hour or 8 (full-day) hour session, we explore the issues of resource use and goal setting. The output for the day is the creation of a one-page circular proposal brief that can be presented to a senior manager.

The course draws on three successful projects and methodologies:

• Anglo American's CircuLab, a circular economy incubator Cambianz developed and ran for three years. CircuLab anchors every idea to one of three principles:

(i) Designing out waste and pollution

(ii) Keeping materials in use for longer

(iii) Regenerating natural and human systems.

• The Stanford school design thinking model, where project planning is divided into six distinct  short-cycle phases: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test and Deploy.
• The Cambianz Way of Working: our precise, friction-free workflow principles for smooth project delivery, built on 20+ years working for senior organisations including Anglo American, ICMM and the World Bank

How the day runs

The session opens with a masterclass on what the circular economy is, and why it matters in mining. The headline figure to consider: at current rates, humans will consume three planets' worth of resources by 2050.

The remainder of the session is spent ‘in the room’, analysing your waste streams with your team. Participants work through the six Stanford design thinking phases through multiple exercises that engage participants and apply theory to practice throughout.

The output is the creation of one brief per attendee, which defines the need, rationale and resources to create a successful circularity project. It articulates the circular economy principle the project supports, describing the challenge the persona affects, the opportunity, the prototype concept, a test plan and a request for resources. 

Course details

Cambianz runs the course in cohorts of between 6 to 60 people, in two formats: a four-hour intensive course  or eight-hour deep dive session. Either session length can be delivered in-person/on-site, or using the web platform of your choice.

So: if the circular economy is on your agenda, then this course forms the ideal practical introduction to propose and launch a successful project - l contact us today for a consultation.

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