Transitioning cities toward fundamentally circular models require a broad range of expertise and activities.

To perform this generational journey, it is key that municipalities, not only receive adequate advice but also are taught new ways to comprehend their urban metabolism, plan their journey, and enact change within their urban ecosystems.

The governance of the circular economy in cities and regions: A Checklist for Action (OECD, The Circular Economy in Cities and Regions 2020)

Capacity building is the process of teaching cities how to use the right tools and frameworks to robustly analyse the current state of their cities and make evidence-based decisions to facilitate the implementation of circular solutions. The continuous engagement of municipal partners is also key to develop a clear roadmap that defines their circular transition plan for the coming years, spearheaded by goals that act as guide posts along the way. Capacity building here again plays a key role, as setting up quantifiable goals that can effectively be monitored often requires additional training and skills development across different municipal departments. Capacity building and engagement activities are most robust when aimed at gathering different stakeholder groups to enable the co-creation of the transition roadmap and the circular solutions within it.

By increasing municipalities' capacities with urban analysis, road-mapping, goal-setting, monitoring and co-creation processes, the transition of each city can be fast-tracked.