NSF Convergence Accelerator Track I: SpheriCity -- Circularity from Molecules to the Built Environment in Communities

该项目旨在优化循环性，从城市向上，转变主导全球经济的原材料开采、生产、使用和处置的线性消费模式。这种线性模型导致了从污染到资源枯竭的严重的意想不到的世界性问题。这个项目将重新想象我们是如何设计的，从分子和材料到建筑和社区。将与11个城市共同执行新更新和扩大的环形性评估议定书(CAP)框架。履约协助方案将开放数据工具碎片追踪器与免费提供的数据结合在一起，加入了来自世界各地近100个国家的数据。该项目的新门户将存放第一阶段和第二阶段社区的数据，旨在促进关于社区循环的全球对话，并创造有意义的变化。为了增加循环性，研究人员将帮助社区解决系统性和交叉性问题，包括污染负担、缺乏基础设施和缺乏获得服务的机会。该项目将通过一个名为AquathRead的现有播客进一步开发一个代表不足的声音的平台，该播客由佐治亚大学的NPR附属机构Wuga制作和录制。这项研究将继续通过使用开放数据和免费的公民科学应用程序来提高公众的科学素养和对科学技术的参与度；通过减少浪费和改善建筑环境来改善社会个人的福祉；并培养一支具有全球竞争力的多样化劳动力队伍。所有社区、合作伙伴和公众都将能够访问项目数据，从而促进利用科学技术为公共政策提供信息和支持决策。与“索取、制造、浪费”的线性经济相比，循环经济(CE)将经济增长与资源消耗脱钩。CE原则以有效利用资源和消除产品生命周期中的浪费为基础。该项目将通过研究人员成熟的整体系统框架深度整合不同学科，解决目前阻碍循环经济增长的复杂挑战。在第二阶段，新更新和扩展的环形性评估协议(CAP)框架将用于在11个城市的塑料(探索无多氟烷基物质替代品)、有机材料和建筑环境中汇聚环形性。在这个项目的第一阶段，一条圆形路径连接并汇聚在两个大城市地区的多种材料和规模上。第二阶段将通过培训当地执行伙伴扩大这项工作，并进一步开发一个新的动态数据和教育门户。该门户将包括城市和元数据仪表板，以促进社区间和社区内的对话，以实现系统变革。项目合作伙伴包括复原力城市网络，这是一个由城市主导的网络，汇集了200多名首席复原力干事、从业者和研究人员；2030年地区城市网络，致力于催化建筑环境的转型，以减轻气候变化的影响；密西西比河城镇倡议市长；以及上中西部校园可持续发展协会(UMACS)。这个网络网络是将这个项目扩展到可持续未来的下一步，作为一个持续的资源和平台，在世界各地的城市之间共享，催化变化。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to optimize circularity, from the city up, transforming the linear consumption model of raw material extraction, production, use, and disposal that dominates the global economy. This linear model has led to serious unintended worldwide issues, from pollution to resource depletion. This project will reimagine how we design, from molecules and materials to buildings and communities. The newly updated and expanded Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) framework will be co-implemented with 11 cities. CAP integrates the open data tool Debris Tracker with data freely available, joining data from nearly 100 countries around the world. The new portal for this project will house the data from Phase I and Phase II communities aiming to foster global dialogue about community circularity and creating meaningful change. To increase circularity, the researchers will help communities address systemic and intersectional issues, including pollution burdens, lack of infrastructure, and lack of access to services. The project will further develop a platform for underrepresented voices through an existing podcast called Aquathread, produced and recorded at WUGA, the University of Georgia’s NPR affiliate. This research will continue to increase public scientific literacy and engagement with science and technology through the use of open data and free mobile citizen science apps; improve the well-being of individuals in society by reducing waste and improving the built environment; and develop a diverse, globally competitive workforce. All communities, partners, and the public will have access to project data, facilitating the use of science and technology to inform public policy and support decision-making.In contrast to the linear economy of ‘take, make, waste’, circular economy (CE) decouples economic growth from resource consumption. CE principles are based on the efficient use of resources and eliminating waste from product life cycles. This project will tackle the complex challenges that currently inhibit the circular economy’s growth by deeply integrating diverse disciplines through the researchers’ proven holistic systems framework. In Phase II, the newly updated and expanded Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) framework will be used to converge circularity across plastics (exploring polyfluoroalkyl substance-free alternatives), organic materials, and the built environment in 11 cities. In Phase I of this project, a circularity path was connected and converged across multiple materials and scales in two large metropolitan areas. Phase II will expand this work by training local implementation partners, and further developing a novel dynamic data and education portal. This portal will include city and metadata dashboards to facilitate inter- and intra-community dialogue to create systems change. Project partners include the Resilient Cities Network, a city-led network that brings together over 200 Chief Resilience Officers, practitioners, and researchers; the 2030 Districts Network of cities working to catalyze transformation in the built environment to mitigate the effects of climate change; Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative Mayors; and the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS). This network of networks is the next step in expanding this project into a sustainable future as a continued resource and platform for sharing amongst cities around the world catalyzing change.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.