Convening and Connecting with Circular Economy Champions – November
November 2026
October was Circularity Month, and it was full of events, forums, and opportunities to connect with changemakers, innovators, and educators across Alberta.
On October 1, Kyle Plante, Operations and Partnerships Lead, rang in the first day of Circularity Month by joining Green Calgary at Festival Hall for its Building Strong Annual Social. The evening brought together Calgarians working toward a zero-waste future. Attendees learned about Alberta’s circularity gap, explored ways to support a stronger circular economy, and met other local changemakers.
A highlight of the night was a performance by The Aquativity Project by TAP, which showed how creativity, fashion, and the circular economy can come together. Using upcycled materials, The Aquativity Project turned discarded items into meaningful and stylish creations, bringing a creative circular perspective to Calgary’s fashion community.
The RCA was also happy to take part in Edmonton Startup Week, October 5-9. 2026. It was a great chance to connect with Alberta’s entrepreneurial community, learn about the ideas and businesses taking shape across the province, and see where circular economy thinking meets Alberta’s wider innovation ecosystem.
The week began with From Idea to Impact: Edmonton’s Startup Ecosystem at Grand Villa Casino, which brought together entrepreneurs, innovators, and organizations from across Edmonton’s startup community. The next day, the RCA joined MIT REAP Edmonton: From Learning to Action at Edmonton Unlimited. That was followed by Built World Tech: Pilots in Action, where conversations covered innovation, technology, commercialization, and the built environment.
The RCA was especially interested in the growing links between innovation and circularity. These included new approaches to materials, resource use, and the built environment, and new ways of creating value while reducing waste. It was great to see so much momentum in Alberta’s innovation community, along with real opportunities to strengthen the connection between entrepreneurship and the circular economy. It was also a fitting lead-up to Big Shot, the RCA’s circular economy pitch night, which returns to Edmonton Unlimited on November 25.
On October 7 and 8, Kyle returned to Mount Royal University for its annual Sustainability Forum and Fair. It was an engaging couple of days, full of inspiring people, ideas, and conversations.
The Forum brought together researchers, educators, industry professionals, and community organizations to explore sustainability challenges and opportunities. The discussions ranged from emerging research and education initiatives to practical industry applications, and they showed how important collaboration is to advancing sustainability.
The Fair was another great opportunity to meet students, faculty, and community members, share the work happening at the RCA, and talk about circularity, waste reduction, and the role everyone can play in keeping resources in use longer and designing waste out of our systems. It was encouraging to see so many people coming at sustainability from different perspectives while working toward a shared goal: more circular systems and a waste-free future.
The RCA extends a big thank you to MRU for bringing together such a diverse group of people and creating space for these important conversations!