FAB.Region Bergisch City Triangle

What happens to materials, machinery, or products when they are no longer needed? How can companies, workshops, educational institutions, and citizens share resources instead of constantly purchasing new ones?

This is exactly where the FAB.Region Bergisches Städtedreieck comes in. This ERDF-funded project applies the international Fab City approach to an entire region for the first time and is transforming Wuppertal, Solingen, and Remscheid into a model region for the circular economy and local production. The Fab City approach follows the idea of “design globally, produce locally”: knowledge, blueprints, and experience are shared worldwide, while products and solutions are developed, manufactured, repaired, or reused locally whenever possible. Instead of throwing things away and buying new ones, the goal is to use materials for longer and strengthen local production capabilities. The goal is to keep raw materials, knowledge, and value creation within the region to a greater extent, thereby conserving resources and creating new economic opportunities.

Three places to try things out and get involved

At the heart of the project are the Gründerschmiede Remscheid, the Gläserne Werkstatt Solingen, and Gut Einern in Wuppertal. Here, businesses, artisans, researchers, local governments, and engaged citizens come together to develop new ideas and test them in practice. The focus is not just on theoretical concepts, but on very concrete questions:

• How can materials from one business be reused in another?
• Which products can be repaired instead of replaced?
• How can digital manufacturing technologies create new local production opportunities?
• How can knowledge about sustainable production be shared among companies, initiatives, and educational institutions?

Through workshops, pilot projects, and experimental formats, relevant solutions are jointly developed and tested under real-world conditions. The insights gained are documented and shared within the region as well as with the international Fab City network.

From a model region to a role model for others

The FAB.Region views the circular economy as a collective endeavor. This not only generates new ideas but also fosters networks between people and organizations that have often worked in isolation from one another in the past. Companies learn from research institutions, municipal stakeholders from local initiatives, and craft businesses from the possibilities offered by digital manufacturing technologies.

In this way, the region is gradually developing new approaches to sustainable economic activity that can serve as a model for others in the long term. As part of the international Fab City network, the insights gained are shared beyond the region and made available to other cities and regions.