As part of the Circular PP project, the City of Aalborg (Denmark) has established a new innovative approach to buying playgrounds, one which is based on the principles of a circular economy, as well as grounded in a pedagogical understanding of creative play as an important part of a child’s development.

At the core of this new approach was the idea that a playground should be so much more than a swing-set and slide, and Aalborg set out to make this a reality via a circular procurement process. This required lots of preparation, including understanding the current provision of playgrounds in the city, gathering together the right experts and practitioners from different departments, engaging the market, and selecting the right procurement procedure.

As a result of these pre-procurement activities, Aalborg has developed innovative circular award criteria, which encourage the use of natural features (such as small hills, trees and edible plants) and circular playground equipment (long-lasting, made with recycled materials, and recyclable at end-of-life). Aalborg is piloting these criteria in a turnkey contract for the Stigsborg “Universe of Children and Youth”, which is part of a large new neighbourhood being built on former industrial land. The build will be complete in 2024.

The ultimate intention is to roll this approach out across the city’s playgrounds, in support of Aalborg’s Vision for Municipal Schools, which sets a target that at least 25% of all learning processes should take place outside of school (either physically or digitally), in order to support experimental learning and problem solving. This policy was actually set before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the case for more flexible and outdoor learning has only increased.

Circular PP ran between 2017 and 2020, and was funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme. This guidance was written by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability in collaboration with City of Aalborg.