1 SEP 2025 - 13:42 CET

CirCoCreation is proud to announce the launch of its first Leuven Living Lab, a dynamic co-creation space where citizens, researchers, the construction sector, the city, and social enterprises come together to explore the real-world impact of circular construction. This Living Lab is part of our broader European research initiative to build stronger ecosystems for circular building practices.

Why a Living Lab?

Circular construction is more than just reusing materials—it’s about transforming how we build, live, and collaborate. Through the Materialenbank, partners like Stad Leuven and Atelier Circuler are pioneering new ways to mine, process, and redistribute building materials. The Living Lab helps us understand the environmental, social, and economic effects of these practices—and how to improve them.

The Living Lab unfolds across a series of interrelated and interactive sessions. On August 28 the lab came together a first time to cocreatively define the scope of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to understand to assess the environmental impact of reused materials. Together, we selected four key product streams—flooring, structural wood, insulation panels, and pavement stones—and began mapping their material flows. The session laid the groundwork for quantifying CO₂ savings and identifying hotspots for improvement. A researcher with expertise on LCA, Ponnapat Watjanatepin joined us to facilitate the data collection and analytical process.

What’s Next?

In upcoming sessions we’ll continue the environmental assessment of the impact and complement with exploring social and economic dimensions of circular construction. Through journey mapping, we’ll gather insights from citizens, contractors, and social economy partners to understand how circular practices affect people’s lives—and how we can make the transition more inclusive.

Finally, we’ll bring together the findings from the LCA and societal impact analysis, and present them alongside artworks inspired by circular construction. This closing event invites artists, researchers, and practitioners to reflect on the future of building through science, storytelling, and creativity.

The Living Lab is just the beginning. Insights from these sessions will feed into ongoing research, policy development, and artistic collaborations. By combining data, dialogue, and design, we aim to accelerate the shift toward a circular built environment.