Stories of Inspiration: The RDS Circular Economy Programme
A new conversation from Colectivo, watch or listen now
At Colectivo, we start from a simple belief: real change happens when diverse voices are brought together, not when a single organisation acts alone. It's a belief that runs right through our latest conversation with Sarah Keating, Sustainability and Innovation Programme Manager at the RDS Foundation, about the RDS Circular Economy Programme and how it has grown into something far bigger than an awards night.
The RDS has been developing Ireland culturally and economically for nearly 300 years, and its Circular Economy Programme, delivered in partnership with Trinity Executive Education, is a modern expression of that same mission. What began three years ago as a straightforward awards ceremony has evolved into an active community of circular economy leaders across Ireland, connected, upskilled, and increasingly working together to solve shared challenges.
From award night to ecosystem
Sarah is clear that the programme was never meant to be "a great night out" alone. Winners and applicants become part of an alumni community, supported by bursaries and brought together at an annual Alumni Day designed to be immediately useful, packed with practical sessions on policy, investor mindsets, and lessons learned from further afield. Speakers from Zero Waste Scotland and EU policy circles sit alongside Irish businesses, giving Irish SMEs, often a very different scale and context to their European counterparts, a chance to learn what has worked elsewhere and adapt it at home.
Turning a workshop into policy influence
One of the most striking outcomes of this collaborative approach came through the European Circular Economy Act consultation. Recognising that the programme already had a room full of circular economy businesses with direct, practical experience, the RDS and Colectivo facilitated a workshop to capture their perspectives on the barriers and opportunities they were facing, and turned that input into a formal submission. At the time, only one other submission to the consultation had come from Ireland. This was a clear example of co-creation working at both a macro level, an EU-wide consultation inviting public input, and a micro level, a room of Irish business leaders shaping a response together.
Designing for every voice in the room
A recurring theme in this conversation is Sarah's instinct to design for different perspectives rather than the loudest ones. The Alumni Day sessions and the European Circular Economy Act consultation workshop were both deliberately structured to include established RDS members alongside circular-by-design startups pushing for faster change, ensuring every level of fluency and experience had a genuine seat at the table. As Sarah puts it, the judging panel itself reflects this same principle, drawing on academia, policy and industry, because no single perspective can shape a resilient circular economy on its own.
Watch or listen to the full conversation
There's a lot more in the full discussion, including why Sarah chose the words "collective ambition" to describe the spirit of this collaboration, and how that ambition is already translating into real policy influence at a European level.
🎥 Watch the full conversation on YouTube → https://youtu.be/gWFaYNsJl7M?si=T7ttE4au6EGe39R6
🎧 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vxcMBRcQhPW8tXaVviKUS?si=fvq4om5YQi6yN4gGSEUzlg
If you're curious about how community, policy and collective intelligence are shaping Ireland's circular economy, this one's for you.
Colectivo works alongside organisations to bring diverse voices into the room, because the best solutions are never built alone.
