2.1. Selection for national workshops

Three ASEAN countries — the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia — were selected based on the following selection criteria: (1) having existing national/local policy frameworks/programmes which have relevance to Regional-CES, (2) having policies focused on strengthening local resiliency or sustainability; (3) having projects/programs which might be applicable for/relevant to Regional-CES.

2.2. Outline of national workshops

Three national-level workshops were organised on 17–18 February 2022 in the Philippines, 20–21 October 2022 in Thailand, and 10–11 May 2023 in Indonesia. The first national workshop was organised in the Philippines and held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and national workshops in the other two countries (Thailand and Indonesia) were organised in person. All three workshops were designed with several sessions, including a session to explain the concept of a circulating and ecological sphere, followed by sessions to discuss the applicability of the Regional-CES in each country’s context, including its relevance to policies and actions at the local, sub-national and national levels (Figure 2). Breakout group exercises were conducted in each workshop to explore entry points related to challenges and enable environments to mainstream the Regional-CES concept in development policies and plans at national, subnational, and local levels.

2.2.2. Overview of Group Discussions

Participants were divided into several groups (Figure 3). First, all participants were classified according to stakeholder types (national government agencies, local governments, community organisations, academia or researchers). Each group consists of representatives of each type of stakeholder. A facilitator was selected for each group, and the groups were given a number of prepared discussion points to facilitate interactive discussions that would lead to identifying potential entry points for Regional-CES application and discovering any challenges in applying the Regional-CES. Discussions were also instrumental in bringing up possible solutions for mainstreaming Regional-CES into policy processes that would enhance the localisation of the global agenda and national development goals through integrated and collective actions.

3.1. Supporting policies for integrated approaches

Integrated approaches have been introduced in a number of important policies in the selected three countries (Table 2).

In the Philippines, the localisation of climate goals has been integrated by formulating the Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP).¹ LCCAP is the action plan formulated by local governments to address climate change concerns by implementing nature-based solutions, decarbonisation, and other issues. The Philippine Action Plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production (PAP4SCP) calls for sustainable behaviour and practices across sectors and levels of government, including resource circulation and rural-urban linkage (National Economic and Development Authority, 2020).

Thailand is promoting a people-centric approach, and the Regional-CES concept could complement the existing national-level strategy on the Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) model. The Thai Government introduced BCG as a strategy for national development and post-pandemic recovery. Citizens are the main actors in actual sustainable transformation, which will eventually have an impact. The BCG model integrated three well-known economic policy concepts: Bio-Economy, Circular Economy, and Green Economy. These concepts aim to stimulate global sustainable development goals and targets through the efficient use of resources, sustainable management of ecosystems, and implementation of a circular economy to address all environmental challenges (APEC, 2022). Like the Regional-CES, the BCG model also calls attention to the effective use of available resources locally and considers effective collaboration among key stakeholders, including public entities, private companies, community, academia, research institutes and global networks to localise SDGs through collective actions.

In Indonesia, Presidential Regulation 60/2020 stipulates spatial planning to bridge urban and rural dichotomies (Cabinet Secretary of The Republic of Indonesia, 2020). In order to accelerate progress on the village level, West Java Province has implemented various programmes, including Smart Literacy Box (Kolecer) Program, Mobil Aspirasi Kampung Juara (Maskara) Program for the distribution of multi-use vehicles, Prosperous Economic Community Credit (Kredit Masyarakat Ekonomi Sejahtera/Mesra), One Village One Company (OVOC), One Pesantren One Product (OPOP), and Bright Villages (Kampung Caang) for village electricity (Gustiana Sabarina and Siti Maryam, 2022; Pemerintah Daerah Provinsi Jawa Barat, 2023).

3.2. Entry points for application of the Regional-CES

The entry points for applying the Regional-CES and similar integrated approaches vary depending on the context of each country (Table 3).

In the Philippines workshop, the entry points in applying the Regional-CES approaches were identified through voting by participants based on the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis results (Figure 4). Resource circulation, ecosystem-based adaptation, and rural-urban linkages were found to be potential entry points for Regional-CES.

Furthermore, the following potential entry points were suggested at the summary session of the workshop:

• Research and development on circular economy (CE)
• Green technology/product development
• Continuous capacity building and information, education and communication-related activities, for planners, especially at the subnational levels, to mainstream CE/waste reduction into their plans, programmes and practices.
• Establishment of innovative solutions, technologies, and business models

The group discussion at Thailand’s workshop identified three major entry points: (1) sustainable and climate-resilient development, (2) the water-food nexus in rural-urban linkage, and (3) revitalisation by utilising local resources and enhancing rural-urban linkages. These were entry points for applying the Regional-CES approach, the BCG model and other similar concepts in Thailand. As one of the most vulnerable countries, Thailand has prioritised its efforts to ensure climate-resilient development in energy, water, transportation, agriculture, human settlements and public health (Government of Thailand, 2018; The World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank, 2021). In order to achieve climate-resilient development in water, energy and agriculture, it is vital to consider how these sectors are interdependent beyond administrative boundaries. Likewise, it is critical to strengthen urban-rural linkages for optimal management of the water-energy-food nexus. Urban-rural partnerships can contribute to economic revitalisation by creating new economic opportunities to use local resources.

The Regional-CES workshop in Indonesia identified three entry points for applying the Regional-CES concept, which differed from those identified in Thailand’s workshop. These were: (1) balanced urban expansion with preserving green areas and protecting rural spaces, (2) sustainable resource management considering spatial integration, and (3) spatial planning for disaster and environmental risk management enhancing rural-urban linkages.

3.3. Challenges to applying Regional-CES

The challenges to applying Regional-CES in a country context are summarised in Table 4.

In the context of the Philippines, the Regional-CES application challenges include lack of infrastructure to link the circular economy, limited budget/financial support, duplication of plans from various agencies, low acceptance/support from LGUs when applying Regional-CES, and insufficient means for implementation, which make it very difficult for key players to implement the concept. As for scaling up climate change resiliency through a Regional-CES approach, this is challenged by mismatched priorities in the localisation of development, lack of sufficient shared knowledge and information about climate change, and insufficient financial resources for climate mitigation.

The interactive discussions at the workshop in Thailand made participants realise that there were no straightforward ways to apply Regional-CES, BCG, or similar integrated approaches in the context of Thailand because many challenges hindered their application (Figure 5). The workshop identified a number of barriers to applying the Regional-CES and similar integrated sustainable development approaches, including lack of knowledge on the concept, absence of guidelines for Regional-CES or even BCG Economy, lack of location-based supportive laws and regulations, incompatibility between top-down implementation and local demands, lack of science-based assessment on locally available resource, obstacles to financial support, limited funds, a lack of effective partnership or networking, and an uncoordinated approach in terms of urban and rural development.

The Regional-CES workshop in Indonesia identified several challenges for advancing the Regional-CES and urban-rural linkages. These challenges include a lack of human resources with necessary skills, weak inter-municipality coordination, limited community involvement/consultation in formulating and implementing spatial planning, inequity between urban centres and rural communities, as well as various social and cultural differences between urban and rural areas.

3.4. Enabling measures for promoting Regional-CES application

The enabling measures to promote Regional-CES approaches in line with the country context are summarised in Table 5.

In the Philippines workshop, breakout discussions came up with enabling solutions such as better technical expertise, more cross-sectoral coordination and linkages, sustainable funding sources, and shared knowledge, as well as raising awareness and empowering stakeholders. In addition, harnessing key resources, providing favourable conditions for securing human capital and well-being, and forward-looking actions/policies were identified as some of the enabling conditions for the efficient implementation of the Regional-CES approach. As the next step, it was proposed to establish a platform to co-learn and co-develop collective action based on the lessons learned from the national workshop, with the aim to sustain momentum through doable activities.

The Thailand workshop explored various solutions to the abovementioned challenges in applying the Regional-CES, BCG and similar integrated approaches. The group discussions came up with a list of enabling solutions, including that laws and regulations should be reviewed based on locations, rural and urban linkages for sustainable society should be enhanced, local stakeholder platforms (e.g. Regional-CES platform) should be established, and the concept of integrated approaches (e.g. Regional-CES, BCG, ecosystem-based approaches) for sustainable development in the education curriculum should be promoted. Subsequently, it was proposed that the regional-CES concept be made practicable and feasible by considering the needs and realities of local implementors and encouraging co-development to ensure integration of the existing policies for broader acceptability.

The Indonesia workshop selected spatial planning with accurate mapping as one of the policy tools to advance the Regional-CES approach. In addition, the workshop also highlighted several other enabling solutions, including rural community participation/consultation to formulate and implement spatial planning, law enforcement, and vocational training on the integrated approach. The next step was for participants to suggest various potential actions, including creating a network of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing, organising future workshops to discuss urban-rural linkages, and developing a database of best practices on urban-rural linkages.