The circular economy is telling us something about what it means to be productive. The flow of products, components and materials goes from throughput to ‘roundput', and if waste can be minimised and more of the value in the flow captured then it promises better returns. It's like a pipework, in the imagination it has endless flows - powered by renewables - and everything can be ‘made to be made again’.

This pipework analogy might make flows more efficient, but is that the best or even the more realistic outcome we could strive for? Ken Webster doesn’t think so. By modelling our economy on insights from living systems, he argues we could build an economy of abundance; one that is regenerative by design and accessible. Not a flow of wealth but a wealth of flows! But to get there we need a different way of thinking. Watch the video to find out more.

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This video was produced by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for the Disruptive Innovation Festival 2017.

All rights reserved Disruptive Innovation Festival 2017.