WE ARE C2C NGO
Problems can only be solved by those who have seen through them – as an accelerator for Cradle to Cradle, we promote this through our educational work. C2C NGO connects business, science, education, politics and civil society.
Our volunteers, who are organized nationwide, carry the idea of Cradle to Cradle into the world. Our Congress is the world’s largest C2C platform: Every year, over 1,000 participants from the C2C community meet here with key figures from science, business and politics. Forums, lectures and workshops offer space for exchange and networking.
In 2019, we built the C2C LAB in Berlin: the world’s first comprehensive refurbishment of an existing commercial unit according to C2C criteria. As an educational center, NGO head office and real laboratory, the school of thought and design concept can be experienced in practice. Anyone who wants to get involved in leaving a positive footprint can get involved with us.
VISION
THIS IS TOMORROW
Cradle to Cradle is a matter of course in the human thinking and acting of tomorrow. Following nature’s example, all waste is also a nutrient for us. With the production of “garbage” our species has interrupted all natural cycles, but no one does that anymore.
Based on the function of a product, we only use materials that are recyclable and suitable for your usage scenario: healthy for us and the environment.
We design resilient and productive systems because we adapt everything to its environment and thereby create diversity; we have also learned this from ecosystems.
We generate energy exclusively with recyclable systems from renewable sources. All people work under conditions that secure their rights and enable them to lead a good life. We have stopped striving for renunciation: instead of doing less of the wrong thing, we only do the right thing. We no longer fall from one crisis to the next because we have found interlocking solutions to our ecological, economic and social problems.
We are no longer neutral, but leave large positive footprints: ecologically, economically and socially. Now we humans are beneficial.
MISSION
HOW WE GET THERE
With C2C NGO we are accelerating the implementation of Cradle to Cradle: we are driving forward ideas that turn people into beneficials.
We bring organizations and people to rethink and redesign . We demand and promote an intact world. From the Berlin C2C LAB, our head office, training center and real laboratory for C2C innovations, we initiate groundbreaking C2C projects. We connect people from science, business, education, art, civil society and politics, that can change the way we think and act. We accompany and advise municipalities in their transformation to a C2C region. We organize workshops, panel discussions and specialist conferences, as well as the annual C2C Congress as the world’s largest C2C platform. We create educational materials and key personalities from politics and business ask us how they can better integrate C2C into their actions.
In order to realize our vision, we build alliances and cooperate in strong partnerships. Together with our volunteer work, we give impulses and encourage change. We spread our ideas and the fruits of our labor through all channels: we take a stand and get involved in public debates.
OUR SUCCESSES & HIGHLIGHTS
From the foundation as a non-profit organization in Lüneburg in 2012 to the first pioneering C2C lighthouse projects in Berlin in 2018. Here we show you the highlights of our work so far – to be continued…
Together for a positive footprint. Under this motto, Nora Sophie Griefahn and Tim Janßen founded the Cradle to Cradle NGO in 2012. The goal: to bring the concept of Cradle to Cradle out of the professional debate and into society.
In Lüneburg, volunteers join forces to form the first regional group of C2C NGO.
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The work becomes more diverse, the tasks more. The office in Berlin makes it possible to provide better support for the volunteer regional groups and to organize the first C2C Congress.
Understanding. Rethink. Design! This is the motto of the first International C2C Congress 2014 in Lüneburg. Over 600 participants attend the first ever major event on the topic of C2C under the patronage of Federal Environment Minister Dr. Barbara Hendricks and Prof. Dr. Sascha Spoun, President of Leuphana University. The congress is subsequently held annually and becomes a success story with up to 1,000 participants.
The first issue of our print magazine NÄHRSTOFF is published. Since 2015, we have been summarizing our work about once a year, supplementing it with the basics about C2C and printing the whole thing - compostable, of course. The print edition is available on request at kommunikation(at)c2c.ngo and the digital issue is available on our website.
In August 2015, the first C2C Academy takes place in Leipzig, which we organize at least once a year since then. The academy is the platform for networking, exchange and further education in the voluntary sector on various Cradle to Cradle topics.
In March 2019, renovation work begins on the future C2C LAB - the world's first comprehensive renovation according to C2C criteria. On 400 m2, C2C school of thought and design concept will be experienced in terms of content and practice as an educational center, NGO head office and real laboratory. The first major lighthouse project of C2C NGO shows how C2C can be applied in new construction, renovation and urban development.
The grand opening of the C2C LAB on September 10, 2019 makes waves in the media and attracts 100 high-ranking guests: Regine Günther (Berlin Senator for the Environment) and Canan Bayram (Member of the German Parliament) give greetings; Florian Pronold (Parliamentary State Secretary, BMU) and Klaus Mindrup (Member of the German Parliament) give keynote speeches and Matthias Horx (trend & futurologist) gives the ceremonial address.
September 11, 2019 marks the kick-off of a new series of events: The C2C Summit on a focus topic. Stakeholders from the respective industries, politicians, and representatives from science and civil society spend a day discussing selected topics and sharing their experiences in implementing C2C.
With around 1000 guests and 70 speakers from politics, business and NGOs, the 6th edition of the International Cradle to Cradle Congress is held in Berlin for the first time. Under the patronage of the Federal Minister for the Environment, Svenja Schulze, our motto "less bad is far from good" is the common thread running through more than 30 panels, lectures and interactive forums. v
Due to Corona contact restrictions, we face the challenge of bringing our formats, which thrive on exchange, into the virtual world. The first LAB Talk with a member of the parliament Delara Burkhardt, produced and streamed live by our newly established Digital Production team, shows that we have succeeded in this step.
Our now 6th C2C Academy will take place for the first time completely digitally from September 21 - 26, 2021 due to the Corona pandemic. However, this also allows us to open up the format to more people.
The C2C Regions network starts and registers the first members. It offers municipalities, NGOs and companies that want to shape their region for the future with C2C a platform and opportunity for exchange.
For the 5th issue of our print magazine NÄHRSTOFF, we are completely revamping the design and also turning the content upside down. But one thing remains the same: The magazine provides a deep insight into the C2C world and offers information about our work for a positive footprint.
The Corona pandemic makes major events difficult to impossible. But canceling our biggest event is out of the question for us. So we are holding the 7th International Cradle to Cradle Congress 2021 as a hybrid event: With three stages in three cities, on-site and digital. In July in Freiburg on scaling C2C in industry, in September purely digitally from Berlin on plastics of the future and in October in Mönchengladbach on municipal development according to C2C. A total of around 800 people are taking part in the congress under the patronage of Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, both on site and digitally.
The New European Bauhaus (NEB) project is initiated by the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The goal? To fill the EU's Green Deal with content by allowing all Europeans to submit ideas, examples and challenges. We share many of the substantive goals, become an official partner organization and get involved in shaping the NEB.DasProjekt
Climate change, species extinction, raw materials crisis, corona pandemic ... A look at the world shows: We need a master plan now, otherwise we will continue to stumble from one crisis to the next. Together with a broad network from the C2C community, we are formulating the following in time for the 2021 federal elections ten opportunities for a C2C circular economy together with a broad network from the C2C community, addressed to the new federal government, just in time for the 2021 federal elections, and handing over the briefing to numerous MdBs (Members of the german parliament) directly in front of the Bundestag.
Educational Work for Cradle to Cradle has always been our core task as an NGO. Educational work for Cradle to Cradle has always been our core task as an NGO. Our Education Department is now bringing the concept into schools - through modular educational materials as an integral part of lessons at different grade levels.
Four days full of exchange, workshops, summer atmosphere and above all a lot of Cradle to Cradle: that is the Cradle Camp! C2C NGO volunteers and all other C2C enthusiasts came together in Berlin in preparation for Labor Tempelhof. There, the participants were prepared for their role as C2C ambassadors and learned more about Cradle to Cradle and the project Labor Tempelhof.
Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen provided three concerts in August 2022 at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin for a laboratory. The aim is to show how Cradle to Cradle solutions that already exist today can lead to a circular economy that offers economic, ecological and social added value for society as a whole - and how, derived from this, major events with a positive impact on people and the environment can also become standard.
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LOOP is a learning excursion, experimental laboratory and creative workshop all in one.
The goal is to find answers together for the pressing environmental issues of our time and to empower young people to think about challenges themselves and to help shape solutions.
Back in Berlin: The 8th International C2C Congress at TU Berlin was filled with exciting discussions about the state of the circular economy, inspiring best practices from C2C companies and those on their way there, scientific discourses and plenty of opportunities for exchange and networking.
As part of the C2C event series with twelve decentralized events in the Berlin districts, we are discussing proposed solutions for a circular economy according to Cradle to Cradle. Be inspired by what the Berlin of tomorrow could look like! Because Berlin, you are so cradleable!
2023 we have published a lot: How can C2C be implemented in schools? How can C2C be incorporated into public procurement? And what options are there for organizing major events in a circular way? We have covered all of these and many other topics in a wide range of publications.
The new year has barely begun and our 12-part event series "Berlin, you are so cradleable" continues! To kick off the year, we were guests at the NochMall in Reinickendorf, the used goods department store of the state-owned Berlin city cleaning service, to talk about C2C in clothing, carpets and other textile fabrics. A total of two conferences and 12 events with over 2,000 participants took place in Berlin with the support of the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie.
Of ants, cherry trees and infinite cycles: On February 29, we celebrated the opening of the C2C exhibition "Circle instead of Crisis" at Freiraum in der Box with around 130 guests and words of welcome from politics and business. After four months and 1,500 visitors in Berlin, it is now going on tour.
If you are interested, please contact us!
Our Academy brings C2C to the wider community. For ten years, the format has been the perfect opportunity for exchange for all cradlers who promote C2C in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on a voluntary basis. The program included everything from political levers to regenerative viticulture, from discussion rounds to film evenings.
On the fringes of the first day of the concert, we spoke with 150 participants, political guests and implementation partners of the lab at the "C2C Summit: Labor Tempelhof" about how C2C is changing the future of the cultural sector and our society and what role the lab project is playing in this.
Our Labor Tempelhof continued on a hot August weekend. As in 2022, at the first cradelig designed concerts with Die Ärzte and then also Die Toten Hosen, we showed as many C2C-oriented climate and resource-positive products, processes and innovations as possible and tested their scalability. Together with our partners, we have with the Labor Tempelhof: Large-scale events can be implemented in such a way that they are as good as possible for the climate and produce added value instead of waste.
We are delighted that our Labor Tempelhof transformation project was awarded the special prize of the German Sustainability Award this year for its "pioneering role in the implementation of environmentally friendly and resource-positive events based on the Cradle to Cradle principle". We were also awarded the TransVer Prize by the GDV, the German Insurance Association, which recognizes organizations for particularly valuable contributions to sustainability. for the sustainable transformation of our economy and society.
During the constituent session of the Bundestag in March, we will present our five proposals for a future-oriented economy. As a C2C NGO, we support politicians in an advisory and evaluative capacity and show how they can actively shape a circular future in line with C2C principles for the benefit of society.
As the sustainability partner of IFA Berlin 2025, we are strengthening our commitment to the C2C circular economy and sustainable consumer electronics, thereby providing strong impetus for the industry. At our booth and on the main stages of IFA, we are presenting the latest developments and highlighting the opportunities offered by recyclable electronics in inspiring keynotes, exciting panels, workshops, and microtalks in cooperation with the Bertelsmann Foundation and together with companies from our network.
The C2C LAB in Berlin is growing – and with it, the opportunities for innovation, education, and networking. The LAB is the world's first comprehensive renovation based on C2C criteria. In the next phase of expansion, an additional 150 m² will be added to create a hub for the many players in the C2C and circular economy community – opening in spring 2026!
ORGANIZATION CHART OF THE NGO
