C2C in sustainable spatial development in Greenport Venlo: a case study

Cradle to Cradle (C2C), an ecologically and economically friendly design-concept developed by McDonough and Braungart (2002) proposes to manage materials and waste in such a way, that the materials can be re-used perpetually: waste equals food, either for the next product or for the natural environment. Because of its qualitative ambitions for the interactions between humans, the economy and the environment and because of its positive and creative nature, the concept is appealing to socie-tal groups that do not feel motivated by the principles of sustainable development.
It was already established that the principles of C2C can be applied successfully on the scale of a product or building. Now for the first time, the concept will be used on a regional scale in Limburg for the purposes of regional branding and sustainable spatial development. This research aims to examine what contribution C2C thinking and acting could have in encouraging sustainable spatial development, taking into account the four evaluation dimensions People, Planet, Profit and Process. The Process-dimension is added to the 3Ps commonly used in sustainable development “trilemmas” in this research because sustainable spatial development is a long-term oriented and complex issue and the sustainabil-ity of the made decisions and the support of the local community for these decisions is considered to be very important in the Netherlands. The research had an explorative nature, centred around the case study Greenport Venlo.
The main research question was: How does the C2C concept fit into sustainable spatial development?
It was expected that C2C fits into sustainable spatial development if the appealing nature of C2C can be maintained and if it can be utilised to promote steps in the direction of broader sustainable devel-opment. However, it may not succeed in this for many reasons: some are inherent to the concept (which is not based on scientific research), others are “environmental” (barriers in legislation, et cet-era).
A theoretical desk study was performed to scrutinise the potential benefits and pitfalls of C2C in rela-tion to sustainable spatial development, followed by a field study which included interviews and a workshop to gather practice-based experience with C2C in sustainable spatial planning.

The desk study led to the following results.
Currently, there is no C2C policy: it seems to fall within the scope of sustainable development policy. Since the concept is averse to legislation, facilitation by the government is needed instead. The public debate on C2C reveals the gap between politics (proponents) and science (opponents). The interaction between science and politics on sustainable development is dominated by politics. This may imply that the Planet-dimension is underexposed.
Transition theory defines at least three phases: a pre-transition phase (1), a take-off phase (2) and a post-transition phase (3). C2C in sustainable spatial development in Greenport Venlo seems to be be-tween phase one and phase two, and fits best with Rotmans’ theory in which a transition is motivated by societal change and the government plays a large role as facilitator. Decision-making for sustain-able spatial development takes place in an interactive setting, using a process management approach in which the content of the problem is not the central theme and the most important outcomes are con-sensus and compromise. The C2C concept has several features that make it an attractive approach for sustainable spatial development processes.
Greenport Venlo uses C2C in sustainable spatial development as a tool to manage long-term processes to explore creative solutions (Process) and to kick-start the local economy (Profit). Environmental quality (Planet) is embedded from the design onwards. People co-benefit from the better economy and improved planning process. The C2C approach differs entirely from the carbon neutral approach in motivation (local vs. global), approach (bottom-up vs. top-down) and practice (diverse measures). Some governance conditions and pitfalls were examined: most important conditions were stakeholder satisfaction and the need for development of substantial knowledge, ground rules and monitoring. Neglect of these conditions may create severe pitfalls for the future.

The field study observed the practice of sustainable spatial development in Greenport Venlo in detail.
From the interviews and the workshop, it became even clearer that C2C is used for strategic purposes. The concretisation of the principles is a point of concern: knowledge development is essential for en-tering the next transition phase. The roles of legislation (letting go of norms and focus on quality), financial constructions (disconnection between societal costs and benefits) and governance (leadership with vision essential) were also discussed. The field study confirmed the emphasis on Process and Profit aspects and some negligence on the Planet en People aspects. The desk study and the field study contradict each other on the role of legislation: in the desk study it is regarded as an important govern-ance condition to promote good results and as a framework for a monitoring system, whereas most participants in the interviews and the workshop experienced legislation as suffocating for sustainable innovations.

At last, it is concluded that C2C thinking can contribute to improvements on process issues (like stakeholder involvement) related to sustainable spatial development in the planning phase because of its appealing nature. It also stimulates stakeholders to take an integral long term perspective. However, it is too early to tell how C2C acting will affect the implementation phase. An important remark is that this conclusion is based on only one case, implying that the validity is limited.
It is recommended to focus future research efforts on the overcoming of institutional and social barri-ers to ensure a smooth transition (gamma) as well as research on the technological aspects to concre-tise actual C2C measures for spatial and environmental quality (beta). Next to this, a follow-up study in a few years could determine the progress of the Greenport Venlo experiment. For future policy, it is necessary that the facilitating attitude is combined with a good monitoring system.

	C2C in sustainable spatial development in Greenport Venlo: a case study