Lead Analyst Cities and Built Environment - Metabolic
In this interview, Ivan discusses his background and the role he has played in leading the Circular Buildings Coalition (CBC) programme. He also outlines his vision for the future of the circular economy in the built environment.
Introducing Ivan Thung
Ivan studied architecture and philosophy at the Delft University of Technology in Rotterdam and worked briefly as an architect. He then worked mainly as an urban planner in developing countries such as Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Myanmar and Somalia, looking at sustainable urban development in fast-growing countries and how to ensure sustainable urbanisation in these contexts. He then moved into post-conflict planning with reconstruction and rehabilitation, looking at how to plan for life after conflict from an urban planning perspective and how to make sure that the humanitarian response moves a lot towards development in fragile states.
He has been with Metabolic for over 2 years now as programme lead for the Circular Buildings Coalition. At the same time, he also manages and does projects with a strong analytical component. These are projects with modelling of different scenarios for a built environment, both for area development projects but also for cities, the CBC and Europe as a whole.
Below, Ivan shares his thoughts on the importance of collaboration in the built environment, what he expects from CBC in the next two years and more.
QN: Why is it important for you, on a personal note and as an organization, to be a part of the CBC?
A: As Metabolic, we've been working from the beginning to help the world transition towards a more sustainable state, and that's sort of the core identity and mission of Metabolic.
We believe that you cannot do it alone, so you need partners to do it with. And we see it as a great opportunity to combine the more technical expertise of Metabolic, because we go quite deep into systems analysis, with the reach of organisations like WorldGBC, WBCSD to really make an impact. We thought there was a space to really be agenda setting at a European level and to be a group that through outreach and analysis can identify systemic challenges towards the transition because we all know it's going quite slow. But we believe that through careful analysis and thinking deeply about issues, we can bring to the surface some of the challenges that are holding back the transition.
QN: Are there any specific actions you’d like to see over the next two years within CBC?
A: It's very important to engage those organisations that are trying to implement the circular economy right now, companies that either need to change something or are starting initiatives that are very specifically focused on the challenges. And getting that critical mass of those types of organisations is important to us. The other thing that's important for us is to help reframe the conversation, so that companies also see the circular economy as an opportunity.
QN: From the Metabolic viewpoint, what are the levers we benefit from?
A: With the CBC, we've always been really focused on making sure that there's not only a supply of technical solutions around circular economy, because there are lots of them, but also making sure that there's ademand for the solutions. So to do that, there's a lot of different little configurations that you have to do to the system, which can be at the government level, let's say, procurement systems, or it can be with companies to help them better understand how to capture the value of approaches based on circular principles. And really stimulating demand in that way, or really finding new initiatives and projects that can increase demand. We think that's a big leverage point.
"What's important for us is to help reframe the conversation, so that companies also see the circular economy as an opportunity."
