NiCE Solution Box
The NiCE Solution Box is a practical toolkit designed to help cities, NGOs, SMEs, and citizens transform urban spaces into hubs for circular lifestyles. Based on experiences from eight pilot cities across Central Europe, it provides tested methods, tools, and case studies to reactivate vacant spaces, engage stakeholders, connect online and offline commerce, and promote sustainable behaviour. The Solution Box supports scalable, transferable solutions that make city centres more resilient, resource-efficient, and community-oriented
Methodology Kit on stakeholders' engagement in circular lifestyles
This toolkit presents practical methods for initiating participatory processes with local stakeholders to reactivate urban spaces for circular offers. It provides guidance on activating civic engagement, encouraging behaviour change, involving local actors and citizens, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of circular solutions beyond the niche.
Guide: How to build, run and sustain a multifunctional resource centre
A comprehensive guide for planning, operating, and sustaining multifunctional resource centres that support circular lifestyles in revitalized city centres. It offers strategies for space use, service development, economic viability, and community engagement. The guide includes practical tips, financial models, and case studies to help stakeholders create centres that foster local, sustainable trade and consumption.
How to link sustainable e-commerce with city centres
This practical guide outlines how to connect sustainable online commerce with local city centres by reusing urban spaces and resources to support circular lifestyles. It includes a checklist and diagnosis tool for local authorities to assess readiness and identify opportunities for integrating circular practices into e-commerce and urban planning. The guide also shares insights and lessons from transnational pilot projects, offering real-world examples, challenges, and scalable solutions.
Circular Water Kit addressing water re-use and water saving in cities
A practical toolkit for promoting water reuse in urban areas, aimed at reducing water waste and supporting circular water management. It offers guidelines on implementing water-saving technologies, greywater reuse, and rainwater harvesting, tailored for local authorities and city planners. The kit includes case studies and scalable best practices from cities successfully applying circular water strategies, along with insights on how to tackle common implementation challenges.
Circular lifestyle tools
This section provides practical and strategic resources to support cities, organisations, and communities in advancing circular lifestyles. It combines analytical tools, policy frameworks, and evidence-based insights to help stakeholders assess their current situation, define priorities, and monitor progress over time.
Circular lifestyle monitor tool for cities
The monitor tool is designed to support a quick analysis of the current status, key challenges, and potential opportunities for promoting circular lifestyles in cities. It helps local and regional authorities identify priorities and guide strategic action.
Strategy framework to enable circular lifestyles in cities
This report presents a strategy framework that outlines practical ways to promote and establish circular lifestyles in cities and city centres. It is designed to serve as a guidance tool for local and regional public authorities, helping them support the transition towards more sustainable, resource-efficient urban communities.
Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for circular initiatives
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, named Circular Cities Project Excellence Framework (CC-PEM), is a practical tool designed to assess circular lifestyle initiatives by examining enabling factors such as objectives, leadership, stakeholder engagement, resources, and project processes. It also evaluates results, including environmental, social, and economic outcomes, stakeholder satisfaction, and the potential to transfer successful solutions to other cities.
Article: Transition to circular economy of urban areas and communities with special attention to lifestyles
The article explores how cities can foster circular lifestyles by analysing 101 examples of circular offers and initiatives from Bologna, Budapest, and Würzburg. It highlights the importance of community engagement through Living Labs and the inclusion of key sustainable consumption activities (“Big Points”) to effectively support circular economy citizenship in urban areas.
Educational materials
The educational materials inspire people of all ages to adopt circular lifestyles through practical, creative, and engaging activities. They build knowledge, skills, and responsibility by showing how reusing, repairing, and sharing can be simple and rewarding, encouraging mindful consumption and sustainable everyday habits.
Games
Circle City - a cooperative board game about sustainable life in the city
- people do not waste resources,
- they think ahead,
- they take care of nature and their health,
- and they make decisions that make sense today and do not harm the future.
Climate Scales - the Card Game
This card game answers questions about climate protection in everyday life, while encouraging discussion:
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Which actions save the most CO₂?
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What is the ecological handprint?
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What are the levers and obstacles?
The card game is great for use in schools and extracurricular education, as an engaging element for workshop and seminar groups. You can also use the free accompanying materials for an entire lesson unit.
The game variants can be flexibly and creatively adapted to suit the type of event and the number of players. The game aims to spark conversation and promote sustainability skills in everyday life.
Quizes
Quiz on saving water
Pub Quiz and Educational Game about circular economy
The game is divided into 4 rounds, with an optional 5th round featuring specific questions about the circular economy/ waste separation in Austria.
After the quiz, there is a brief overview of the circular economy and tips on how private individuals can integrate the circular economy into their everyday lives. There is also a PDF version with the questions that can be used immediately as a presentation, but without the individual explanations for the answers. In addition, there is an extra sheet in the appendix that can be printed out for participants to write down their answers.
Workshop guides
Workshop "From Inspiration to Action: Circular Lifestyles in Practice
Workshop for student groups on circular lifestyles
The educational material provides a step-by-step guide for facilitators to conduct an interactive workshop focused on mainstreaming circular lifestyles. The guide combines individual self-reflection with collaborative problem-solving, allowing participants to transition from understanding basic circular economy concepts to identifying actionable lifestyle changes.
Designed for inclusive learning, the material is suitable for university students and diverse citizen age groups.Ultimately, this workshop empowers learners to redefine their role in the urban transition toward sustainability.
Upcycling workshop guide: sewing a pillow from textile scraps
This document provides a step by step guide for teachers to conduct a beginner level pillow sewing workshop. It combines short theoretical introductions with hands on practice, allowing participants to learn by doing while receiving structured support. The guide describes how to introduce tools and materials, teach safe and accurate fabric preparation, and lead participants through the full sewing process. It also includes prompts for discussion, reflection and learner autonomy, helping participants build both technical skills and confidence. The material is designed for inclusive, small group learning environments and can be adapted to different age groups and experience levels.
Special content
Plant-based circular cookbook
This educational brochure provides an engaging introduction to plant-based cooking for children, designed for use both at home and in school settings. It combines 10 original, child-friendly plant-based recipes with short educational facts and practical tips related to healthy eating, food preparation processes, and environmental awareness. Each recipe is presented in a clear, step-by-step format, encouraging hands-on learning while promoting safe and responsible kitchen practices.
Young researchers approach for circular economy education
This document presents a youth research approach that engages young people in structured, practice-oriented inquiry on circular economy topics within their local environment. It guides participants through the full research cycle, from defining a question and conducting fieldwork to analysing results and presenting their findings publicly. The methodology promotes critical thinking, data literacy, creativity and independent learning while strengthening young people’s understanding of circular lifestyles and local resource use. A central element is the public presentation of research outcomes, which builds communication skills, confidence and the ability to explain and defend conclusions. The approach is flexible, low cost and easily adaptable for schools, youth centres and community organisations seeking to involve young people in shaping more sustainable city centres.
Project NiCE is supported by the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme with co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund
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