Booster Circulaire: A way to build skills in new sectors relevant to social economy (France)

Launched in 2018, Booster Circulaire is a publicly supported programme that helps furniture makers across France reduce their environmental impact and operate within the circular economy. This initiative highlights the potential for policymakers at the national, regional and local level to utilise the social economy to achieve specific social and environmental objectives. Partly financed by the European Social Fund, Booster Circulaire also collaborates with a diverse set of partners ranging from public authorities and social economy actors, to construction firms and commercial furniture manufacturers to obtain waste materials, encourage responsible manufacturing processes, facilitate networking and raise the profile of the circular economy.

Established as a joint effort by Les Canaux, a French social economy support association that was launched by the city of Paris in 2017, and Valdelia, a non-profit producer responsibility organisation – éco-organisme – that recycles, refurbishes and reuses office furniture, the programme provides participants with training, commercialisation support, networking opportunities and other guidance over an 18-month period. For its first edition in 2019, Booster Circulaire worked with 15 entities across France, most of them being social and solidarity economy organisations, to develop activities in a circular fashion. The furniture was featured in the 2020 Paris Design Week as part of an exhibition on responsible manufacturing and the circular economy.

The second round was launched in 2020  has adopted a greater focus on the south-western region of Occitanie in France and is co-operating with Sicoval, a community of municipalities (communauté d’agglomeration) which promotes the social economy in the region southeast of Toulouse. This round will work with an additional 20 entities over the course of 18 months. While a smaller share of the accepted applicants operate within the social economy due to the edition’s focus on developing industrial networks, all participants are familiar with the principles, objectives and business models of the social economy and encouraged to cooperate with social economy organisations.

This initiative highlights how policy makers can support business development and create new market not only through funding capacity-building initiatives but also the development of strategic partnerships with actors from the social economy and traditional businesses.