Funding Architecture for Circular Economy (FACE)

Background

The Funding Architecture for the Circular Economy (FACE) Dublin project was commissioned by Dublin City Council in 2025 to address the challenge of delivering housing while meeting climate targets in the built environment.

It builds on earlier research highlighting the need for systemic approaches to urban climate finance and focuses on embedding circular economy practices, particularly through reusing existing buildings.

The project was carried out in collaboration with Dublin Metropolitan CARO, Centre for Public Impact (CPI), and the TransCap Initiative to analyse barriers and design solutions for scaling sustainable urban regeneration.

Solution

The project parameters for FACE Dublin were co-designed and resulted in a two phased project:

Phase one: Map the system, test whether funding is a key barrier, and develop recommendations that address both financial and non-financial challenges. 

Phase two: Translate these recommendations into a portfolio of financial interventions that can catalyse new funding flows towards Dublin’s circular housing goals. 

Benefits of the Solution:

Phase one was completed in 2025 following extensive engagement with stakeholders across local government, national government, academia, and civil society through interviews and workshops, and established the goal of the project to develop circular economy practices across Dublin’s built environment to attract and incentivise funding, build capability and learning, foster community pride, and position Dublin as a leader.  This process alone started to build stronger connections across departments.

The final report was completed in January 2026.  The report found that prioritising adaptive reuse of existing buildings, supported by a systemic funding architecture and strengthened governance, can unlock housing supply, cut emissions, and regenerate vacant properties at scale.

Click here to read the report in full.


Systems Map

Value Flow Diagram