# What does progress look like?
*Activity type: page*

As mentioned before, this course is not intended to equip you with all the tools and guidance needed to fully implement a circular solution. But to help you assess the applicability of the discussed approaches, it’s worth touching upon how to make and measure progress.   

The examples shown as part of the five approaches of the Circularity Deck highlight that a lot of solutions make use of multiple approaches at the same time. This is one of the strengths of this framework, as ways to **Narrow, Slow, Close, Regenerate and Inform** often overlap and complement each other. You can mix and match these approaches in ways that make sense for your context or organisation. Don’t hesitate to experiment and consider how these approaches might impact the context you live and work in.

Once you’ve identified an approach (or combination of approaches!) that makes sense for your organisation and context, you can narrow your circular action further by picking a specific strategy on a product-, business model- or ecosystem-level. Multiple strategies might make sense, so the use of design thinking methods can be useful to pick your best option. Consider the three pillars of a successful solution to identify the best direction: 

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##### Consider the three pillars of a successful solution to identify the best direction:

- **Desirability** – Would your new circular solution be desirable? Think about the benefits and trade-offs to your key stakeholders. Would they support this?

- **Viability** – Is your new circular solution viable? What would it cost? Think about this financially, but also in terms of materials and human resources.

- **Feasibility** – Will your circular solution be feasible? What is needed that doesn’t currently exist? And is that hard to achieve?

As with any organisational or business decision, effective communication is key. Communicating and collaborating with your stakeholders, internally or externally, is needed to build the required transparency across the value chain for circular solutions to work. But regardless of the direction you choose, note that the transition to a circular economy is not a black-and-white proposal. There is no need to achieve a perfectly circular value chain to make progress, and there is also no need to achieve progress overnight.

Small steps in the right direction are still progress. Reusing a bit more is progress. Recycling a bit more is progress. Consuming a bit less is progress. Any measure of Narrowing, Slowing, Closing, Regenerating or Informing is progress. So, consider that even going circular-ish is also progress.
