From circular ambition to icon: Vereniging Circulair Friesland on Bouwurk

Vereniging Circulair Friesland (Circular Friesland Association) works with almost two hundred members, from businesses and governments to education and knowledge institutions, on the Frisian circular economy. Programme manager Nick Boersma, who specialises in circular and biobased building, sees Bouwurk as living proof of that ambition. “It shows what’s possible when you work together and dare to experiment. A building like this speaks not just to the head, but to the heart too.”

What is circularity?

For a lot of people, circular economy is a vague, catch-all term. Nick explains it as a way of preserving and adding value. Not just in materials, but also when it comes to energy, water, biodiversity, inclusivity and health. “It’s about building structures, developing new business models and showing what’s already possible.” By 2050, the Netherlands wants to be 100% circular. This means that by then, everything around you can either be reused or is made of natural materials without harmful substances. “We’ll be more connected to each other and to nature, in a beautiful, clean living environment. And we’ll still be able to do plenty of wonderful things, just in a less materialistic way.”

Circular frontrunner

Vereniging Circulair Friesland was founded ten years ago at the request of businesses. Governments and education institutions quickly joined in after that, to move forward together. Their goal: to make the Frisian economy the most circular in Europe. Research by Circle Economy recently showed that Fryslân is actually the most circular region in the world. “We’re now busy formulating new goals. And we help other regions set up something similar too.”

What’s the secret behind circularity’s success in Fryslân? “Ten years ago, businesses, governments and education institutions looked at each other and said: ‘We need each other, and we’re going to make something of this for Fryslân.’ That’s special, and really effective. Because you really need each other, especially when forming new chains and making agreements. Part of why this works is the regional bond. People trust each other here. It’s less transactional, more about wishing each other well. That sets Fryslân apart from a lot of other regions. There’s also a shared wish here to make it concrete. You can talk about circularity for a long time, but in the end you mainly have to just do it,” Nick says.

Collaboration everywhere you look

A large group of Circulair Friesland members made a direct or indirect contribution to Bouwurk. From builders Friso Bouwgroep, Lont and Dijkstra Draisma to social workplace Empatec, supplier Miedema Bouwmaterialen, waste processor Omrin, and the municipalities of Leeuwarden, Waadhoeke and Noard-East Fryslân, plus the province. “I think it’s wonderful that builders are showing here that they can work together. Where they normally see each other as competitors, you now see a lot more horizontal collaboration. Not just within the supply chain, but also with ‘friendly rivals’. These kinds of collaborations came about at Bouwurk in a fairly light-hearted, close-knit way, between parties that don’t usually work together much. I think we’ll be benefiting from what started here for a long time to come.”

Local crops

Bouwurk also puts the spotlight on various local crops that can play a role in the building and farming of the future. The panels in the Keuken (Kitchen) contain hemp, and the facade shows peat meadow grass. The tables and stools in the Keuken are made from elephant grass.  “We’re busy developing local biobased chains. Fibre hemp is the furthest along: more than a hundred Frisian farmers grow the crop, which will be processed into insulation wool at a new factory in Drachten from the end of this year. More than twenty builders and five housing associations are using it together to insulate at least a thousand homes.”

“We’re also working on flax from North Fryslân and Groningen, elephant grass, and wet crops like reed and bulrush that suit the peat meadow area. We used to have a lot of reed here, but now it mostly comes from China. There are parties who want to bring that back. And together with bulrush, it can give farmers a new business model in areas where the water level needs to rise.”

Heart and head

Nick thinks a big part of Bouwurk’s power lies in its imaginative force. “We often focus on the technical or financial side of circular building, or its impact, to convince people. These are things that appeal to the head, with rational arguments. But to really give people new ways of thinking, you need culture and imagination. People need to genuinely experience and feel that things can and must be different. That goes a layer deeper. Then heart and head go back and forth. We translate the imagination that comes from the heart back into a perspective for action that comes from the head. And once people are moved, they’re also more open to entering into new collaborations. That way you get the best of both.”

Nick sees a clear value in big, visible projects. “A lot of parties working on innovations are looking for a stage for that. Bouwurk is a fully modular building, built with reused, innovative and healthy materials. It’s a kind of experimentation ground for those new materials and applications. With icons like this, you can tell your story more broadly. You shouldn’t think too small. I think Fryslân was different before 2018 than after. Becoming Capital of Culture brought something with it. It gave confidence that, together, you can apparently achieve more than you thought. We need to hold on to that. Bouwurk is that kind of icon. It’s important to hold on to that sense of ambition.”

Building challenges

There’s no denying that the challenges in the construction sector are big. “But if you look at the companies in our network, you see that they’re really keen to show what they can do, and want to consciously contribute to a better, more beautiful and cleaner world. Current policy, however, mainly says: ‘We need to move towards cutting back. The way we build now is good enough.’ But that is not the future of construction. What’s needed is a clear vision. That bar can be set high, as long as it’s clear where we’re heading over the next five to ten years. What builders need most is perspective and a reliable government: once the direction is clear, they can prepare for it. Maybe not every party is ready yet, but they could join in in a few years’ time. Vision, reliability and future-proof criteria are crucial. We need to build with healthier materials, while there’s less space, water shortages are increasing and the energy grid is at capacity. Add it all up, and you see there’s really only one solution: learning to deal with these problems, instead of pushing them ahead of us. That, I think, is the crux of it.”

Inspiration from Bouwurk

“What’s great about Bouwurk is that, besides being functional, it’s also inspiring and fun. These days, building is often about speed, scalability and affordability. We want it to happen mainly with natural, reused and low-impact materials.  But what I love so much about Bouwurk is that it’s also allowed to be genuinely fun. Inspiring and tangible. So construction can simply be beautiful and surprising too. I think we need to bring that into the wider building challenge.”

“I’d like to echo the message of Sjoerd Bootsma, Arcadia’s Artistic Director. He says: the world around us is complex, and definitely not always hopeful. That can feel overwhelming or negative. But if you look close to home and start doing something yourself, that same world suddenly offers much more perspective. We see that with circular building too. If you work with the people around you, in your own region, on beautiful things, then things really can be different. I think that’s the most hopeful thing there is.”