Circular Movement

The Circular Movement is a multisector initiative coordinated by Atina and supported by DOW and associated companies, bringing together individuals and organizations committed to promoting the concepts of the Circular Economy. With this, we aim to contribute to the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Our tools are education and culture, encouraging the sustainable development of new processes, products, and attitudes for a waste-free society.

Video about Circular Movement

Marina Amorim is the Hub Manager of the Circular Movement, specializing in Communication & Social Innovation. With over 12 years of experience in local development and education projects, she is driven by the idea that the world needs to be a better and less unequal place to live. With a business-focused vision centered on results, recognizing the importance of structuring processes and training teams as key elements, she specializes in the management of social programs and projects.

Vinicius Saraceni and Marina Amorim strategically lead the Movement, aligning daily operations with the organization's objectives. Vinicius was the only Brazilian invited to participate in the Circular Economy Business Model Transformation Program, offered by the Japanese government in 2024. The invitation to join this journey came through AOTS, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Economy of the Land of the Rising Sun. During this Mission to Japan, the Circular Movement was able to create strategic connections, exploring major collaborations that transcend borders.

Eliana Rocha manages finances, accounting, and administrative matters, ensuring the efficient and transparent use of financial resources. Alinye Amorim is responsible for leading the implementation and management of projects, as well as establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships with organizations and stakeholders in Brazil; she was a Circular Academy student. Maria Carolina Stenico leads the implementation and management of projects and maintains strategic partnerships in Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. Marília Banholzer develops and implements communication strategies, including social media, public relations, and promotional materials. Ismaela Silva creates relevant content, manages social media platforms, interacts with followers, and monitors performance metrics to increase engagement and online visibility. Arlene Carvalho creates and develops communication materials, such as texts, images, and videos. Mariana Brizi is Argentine and responsible for supporting the management of social media platforms throughout Latin America, assisting in content creation, follower interaction, metric monitoring, and coordination of region-specific campaigns. Marisol Del Toro, from Mexico, acts as a spokesperson and representative of the institution in academic institutions and other contexts in Latin America, promoting the mission and activities of the organization, establishing strategic partnerships, and collaborating to expand its presence and influence in the Latin American region. Sueli Furlan serves as a spokesperson, not only in academic environments but also in other contexts, promoting the mission, vision, and activities of the organization and collaborating to expand its network and influence in various sectors.

In technology, Guilherme Souza is responsible for leading the information technology team, managing system infrastructure, ensuring data security and integrity, and promoting technological innovation to support operations. Higor Ruan is responsible for providing technical and operational support for information technology infrastructure. Edson Grandisoli is responsible for planning, implementing, and coordinating educational and pedagogical programs, ensuring the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning activities. Thiago Egg is responsible for creating and developing visual materials, such as graphics, logos, website layouts, and promotional pieces, ensuring effective and coherent visual presentation that supports communication and organizational objectives.

Circular Challenge - An initiative to Promote Circular Economy Education in Schools and Universities across Latin America.

The Circular Challenge aims to address the gap in education on circular economy in schools and universities across Latin America. By promoting this education, the challenge seeks to increase awareness and understanding of the principles of circular economy among students and future professionals, preparing them to tackle contemporary environmental and economic challenges through the creation of creative solutions based on classroom learnings. Additionally, by encouraging the adoption of sustainable practices from an early age, the Circular Challenge contributes to the formation of a new generation of leaders committed to the development of circularity.

The Circular Challenge is an educational activity aimed at students and teachers from elementary, middle, and university levels. The goal is to encourage creative and innovative ideas for building a waste-free world based on the concepts of the Circular Economy that can be applied and replicated worldwide. The program is ideal for those already working or wishing to work in education, for teachers who want to learn about Circular Economy, and/or those already developing projects related to the environment and sustainability in their schools. The Circular Challenge is an opportunity to enhance circularity concepts.

The Circular Challenge journey begins with the teacher's registration. After that, participants attend the masterclass and online training held at the Circular Academy, the education platform of the Circular Movement. Subsequently, teachers return to their students to impart content, challenging them to create solutions for the circular challenge, transforming the school into a large science fair. Once the projects are developed, they are submitted to the Circular Challenge's digital platform and evaluated by a panel of experts composed of the Circular Movement's team and ambassadors/researchers. After evaluation, the winning projects earn spots to compete for the International Prize for a Waste-Free World, also promoted by the Circular Movement.

All participants, teachers, and students, receive a participation certificate, mentorship to bring the project to fruition, led by experts collaborating with the Circular Movement, and an educational award. The guiding teachers of the teams initially undergoing Circular Economy training receive an additional certificate with 30 hours of workload.

The teachers become known as "ambassador teachers" and join the Circular Movement community with other teachers from previous editions of the Challenge. The tool used for information exchange and conversations among ambassador teachers is the WhatsApp group function, with one group for each country where the Circular Challenge is held: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina.

In this process, it is important to highlight that the evaluation stage of the proposals submitted by teachers and students to the challenge is carried out by Latin American representatives of the Circular Movement team, partner university professors, also called ambassadors; representatives from DOW, the main financial supporter of the Movement and consequently of the Circular Challenge, and partners such as Coopercaps, a waste-picker cooperative fundamental in the circularity chain.

The Circular Challenge was developed in this way to give voice to visionary teachers and students and offer them the opportunity to share their ideas with the world through our platforms.

We conducted a formative research with teachers and students, aiming to assess the journey each participant had during the Circular Challenge and obtain feedback for improvements in future editions.

The questions were open-ended, focusing on inquiries about the relevance of the content, planning and adherence to the schedule, as well as inquiries about whether participants evaluated the communication with the Circular Movement team, whether the project development process generated practical knowledge, and solicited suggestions for improvements for future editions.

In 2023, the Circular Challenge had the participation of 107 teachers and 408 students from 4 countries in Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina.

Each edition lasts for 4 months, from the launch of the masterclass with the teachers to the announcement of the winners. The 2023 editions took place between August and November. Information was made available on landing pages, serving as focal points for announcements, regulations, and platform access in both Portuguese and Spanish versions (Portuguese Version: http://movimentocircular.io/desafio Spanish Version: https://landing.movimentocircular.io/desafio-circular-lp-es).

Compared to the 2022 editions, registrations increased by 33% in 2023, a significant increase that resulted in positive evaluations, exemplified in the following responses to the evaluation form questions:

Were the contents presented in the training relevant to your project?

Response 1: "Yes, very much. After completing the training course, I felt more confident in guiding the students."
Response 2: "Absolutely, I was able to relate much of what was seen in the course to the project."

How do you evaluate the project development process with the students? Do you believe it generated knowledge?

Response 1: "I believe the proposal brought new perspectives and contributed to knowledge."
Response 2: "I haven't been able to implement the entire project yet; however, from what has been applied, the increased participation and involvement of the students are evident. They are very eager to see the entire project put into practice."

How do you rate the communication with the Circular Movement team?

Response 1: "Excellent, because when I needed information, it was immediately provided. The service is very good indeed. Thank you very much."
Response 2: "Great, the group worked well, all questions were answered, and the organizers were available at all times to clarify doubts."

Suggestions for future editions?

Response 1: "More promotion in schools and more face-to-face courses. Thank you very much." 
Response 2: "Try to increase the audience reach." Response 3: "That we can award projects by different regions of the country."

The need to strengthen the evidence base of the Circular Challenge is particularly evident after the 4 months of intervention by the Circular Movement. We need to evaluate how the projects have evolved over time and to what extent, during the project development, the knowledge gained during the Circular Challenge journey has been useful.

It is also important to measure the practical impacts of the applicability of those projects that have evolved and of the projects that were not awarded but were formed by the Circular Challenge, including which ones have persisted and the impacts of the training on project development.

It is necessary to understand whether the concepts of circularity continue to be researched, applied, and disseminated by the teachers and students who have gone through the editions of the Circular Challenge.

1. What is the evolution of the projects participating in the Circular Challenge after the intervention of the Circular Movement and how does this relate to the lessons learned during the initial journey?
2. What are the practical impacts observed in the applicability of the projects that have evolved and of those formed, but not awarded, by the Circular Challenge, and how do these impacts influence the development of the projects?
3. To what extent are the concepts of circularity continued to be explored, applied, and disseminated by teachers and students who participated in the editions of the Circular Challenge?

Sprint 1-3: Preparation and Planning Week 1-2: Literature review on circular economy, projects from Circular Challenge editions, and impact assessment methodologies. Week 3-4: Development of research plan, including objectives, research questions, methodology, and selection of impact indicators. Week 5-6: Preparation of data collection instruments, such as questionnaires, interviews, and observations.

Sprint 4-6: Data Collection Week 7-8: Implementation of data collection, including interviews with Circular Challenge participants, teachers, and students. Week 9-10: Additional data collection, such as analysis of project documents and observations of practices and applications. Week 11-12: Consolidation and verification of collected data, ensuring quality and completeness.

Sprint 7-9: Data Analysis Week 13-14: Coding and categorization of qualitative data. Week 15-16: Statistical analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. Week 17-18: Identification of patterns, trends, and relevant insights.

Sprint 10-12: Reporting and Results Dissemination Week 19-20: Writing the final research report, including introduction, methods, results, and discussion. Week 21-22: Review and editing of the report, ensuring clarity and accuracy. Week 23-24: Preparation of result presentations for stakeholders, including the Circular Movement team, Circular Challenge participants, and other interested parties.

After the completion of the research and based on the strategic recommendations extracted from it, we plan to make necessary adjustments to the Circular Challenge. This may involve revising project selection criteria, enhancing support resources for participants, developing new partnerships, or making deeper and structural methodology adjustments to improve the journey.

Additionally, we hope to implement a continuous monitoring and impact evaluation system to track project progress. This will enable us to assess the effectiveness of interventions and make adjustments as needed.

The results obtained from the research will likely also allow us to scale the Circular Challenge to more countries in a more structured manner. With end-to-end data collection and measurement throughout the journey, guided by strategic decisions, we aim to grow the program and the impact we intend to promote as the Circular Movement, fostering a possible and successful transition of the economy towards circularity.

The expected outcomes with the implementation of the LEAP Project in the Circular Challenge methodology are:

1. Strengthening of Evidence Base and Knowledge: One of the main desired outcomes is the strengthening of the evidence base and knowledge related to the Circular Challenge. We expect that the summative research will provide valuable insights into the program's effectiveness, the impacts achieved by participating projects, and stakeholders' perception of circularity concepts. This evidence base will allow us to make more informed decisions and guide the future development of the Circular Challenge.
2. Continuous Improvement of the Circular Challenge: Based on the research results, we expect to implement significant improvements in the Circular Challenge. This may include adjustments in project selection, enhancement of support resources for participants, development of new strategic partnerships, and the introduction of new initiatives that promote circularity.
3. Continuous Monitoring of Impact on Participants: Additionally, we expect the results of the LEAP Project to lead to lasting impact on Circular Challenge participants and enable us to monitor it. This includes the development of skills and competencies related to innovation, sustainability, and systemic thinking, as well as a mindset shift towards business models and consumption practices. We hope that participants will become agents of change in their communities and drive the adoption of circular practices in their personal and professional lives.
4. Recognition and Replication: Lastly, we expect the results of the LEAP Project to increase recognition of the Circular Challenge as a prominent initiative in promoting circular economy. This may lead to opportunities for program replication in other regions or contexts, as well as greater visibility and support from partners and potential funders.