CIWM partners with URGE to deliver design skills pilot programme
Design Skills for Embedding Circularity has officially been announced: designers learn from waste-site visits and expert sessions, then tackle end-of-life in a June sprint. URGE needs you.
Design Skills for Embedding Circularity has officially launched.
CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) has partnered with URGE to deliver Design Skills for Embedding Circularity, a year-long pilot programme developed with the Design Council, WRAP and the Circular Economy Institute.
The initiative seeks to strengthen existing links and foster sustained collaboration between the design and waste sectors to address the disconnect between circular design theory and reality.
Sophie Thomas OBE FCIWM, co-director of the programme, says:
“Waste is a design flaw, and it becomes obvious when you see your product in the pile in front of you. Designers want to understand how their work ends up in waste streams, and what they can change to enable repair, reuse or recovery. This programme is built on seeing is believing.”
The announcement follows an initial call for participation shared through the URGE newsletter in September 2025, ahead of the programme’s cohort selection and launch this January. The pilot has assembled a design cohort through a process of applications and interviews to represent the diverse design community in the UK. Through direct exposure and applied learning, participants will develop new insights for a design sprint, with the resulting concepts to be presented at a final symposium.
A cohort of UK-based designers is already taking part in site visits, expert sessions and collaborative work that reveal how everyday design decisions play out in real recovery systems, and where interventions could truly improve circular outcomes.
Site visits
Access to live operational environments will be provided by participating organisations, including Biffa,DS Smith, SUEZ, SWEEEP and Tech Takeback, alongside a visit to Elvis & Kresse to explore circularity across technical and biological material cycles.
Alongside field experience, participants will participate in a variety of expert-led sessions. These sessions will feed into the summer design sprint, where designers test new approaches to end-of-life challenges and present outcomes at a public symposium in September.
The findings from the pilot will be shared with industry and government in autumn 2026, contributing evidence to discussions on circular collaboration and green skills development. Watch out for news on the Symposium and exhibition.
The programme is actively seeking partners interested in contributing live challenges or supporting future iterations of the programme. Challenges will feed into the Design Sprint running from June to July.
The pilot is a proof of concept for future skills development at scale. The potential reach is national or global, depending upon opportunities to secure future funding.
