UNDP’s Accelerator Labs Network has prototyped a new kind of research and development (R&D): learning from signals of change to see patterns that create global business intelligence. What you will see in this document are “next practices” for circular economies: R&D activities ready to scale globally, future areas for collaboration and a theory of change to drive experimentation for SDG acceleration. Based on patterns we see across Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and beyond, these next practices demonstrate how communities, businesses and governments can work together to build circular systems.

The focus on waste management and/or circular economy grew organically from experiments in more than 50 Accelerator Labs across all five regions. Looking ahead and to frontline R&D, we see strong potential for collaboration across various opportunity areas that can transform waste management, optimize resource use and drive systemic change in support of circular economies.