What if we looked at collaboration itself as something to be cultivated, like soil?

In the shift towards a circular economy, collaboration is essential. Yet it often falls short because the social foundation is missing.

This project explored what can be called the social soil that supports collective intelligence: the intangible but crucial conditions that help people connect meaningfully, share learning, and co-create direction in complex and evolving environments.

In collaboration with practitioners embedded in informal networks across the circular economy ecosystem, eight key conditions were identified. These range from making knowledge visible to creating space for uncertainty. The result is the Conditions Navigator, a shared language framework for reflecting on how we collaborate and a starting point for shaping it more intentionally.

Because if we want to move beyond linear thinking, we need to care for the social ground that makes meaningful collaboration possible.