A New Waymarker for Circular Construction Emerging from the Nordics
— Reflections on the Launch of the Nordic Ecosystem for Circular Construction
The term circular economy is no longer new.
In Europe, as in Japan, it has spread rapidly over the past few years.
Yet in the construction sector, the situation has felt different.
The ideas are widely shared, but the reality on the ground has remained largely linear.
That gap has been difficult to close.
At the closing of the Circular Build Forum in Denmark, a session titled
“Launch of the Nordic Ecosystem for Circular Construction” marked an important moment.
It did not present a finished answer.
Rather, it offered a glimpse into what is currently unfolding.
In the Nordics, the conversation has already moved on
One of the first things that stood out was what was not discussed.
There was very little debate about how circular construction should be understood in theory.
Instead, the focus was on concrete, practical matters:
- Buildings that have already been realised
- How they are actually performing
- Where progress has slowed, and where it has begun to move again
Hospitals, educational facilities, and public buildings designed with circular principles were treated not as exceptions, but as a given context.
At least in the Nordic region, circular construction no longer seems to be an experimental theme.
The discussion has shifted toward how it can function as a realistic and repeatable choice.
Regulation has quietly become part of everyday decision-making
Another striking point was the role of regulation and LCA, particularly in Denmark.
CO₂ emissions from buildings are already embedded in evaluation frameworks,
and reused or recycled materials tend to be favoured as a result.
No strong advocacy is required; the structure of assessment itself guides decisions.
Listening to this, it was hard not to sense a certain distance from Japan.
At the same time, it became clear that this is not a question of ideology or awareness.
What matters is how systems shape ordinary decisions.
In the Nordics, that process seems to be advancing quietly, almost invisibly.
Progress, but not without friction
This was not a session focused only on success stories.
Circular materials and technologies exist.
Interest from companies is growing.
Yet scaling them smoothly and consistently remains a challenge.
Collection, inspection, logistics, standardisation—
the frictions inherent to circularity have not disappeared, even in the Nordics.
It is in this context that the Nordic Ecosystem for Circular Construction has emerged:
not as a platform to showcase a perfected model,
but as a shared space to move forward while acknowledging what is still unresolved.
The emphasis was less on spreading solutions,
and more on holding an unfinished state together as the next step takes shape.
Thinking about Japan from this distance
Interestingly, the Nordic discussion did not feel remote from a Japanese perspective.
Construction, everywhere, operates under similar constraints.
Long time horizons, large investments, and limited room for reversal.
In both Europe and Japan, the coming years will be defined by renewal and replacement.
What assumptions guide decisions at that moment will matter greatly.
The Nordics do not appear to be a fundamentally different place—
only a place that has entered this phase slightly earlier.
What was shared was not an answer, but a condition
Looking at what is happening in Europe, it does not feel as though a single “answer” is being offered.
Instead, what is becoming visible is a condition:
how far things have come, where they hesitate, and where movement resumes.
That ambiguity was not hidden in this session.
If anything, it was allowed to remain present.
From the perspective of Circular E, this willingness to share an unfinished state feels significant.
Not as a conclusion, but as a marker of where the transition currently stands.