The Toolkit
Ecological Design Thinking
for a Circular Economy
Nature's Playbook toolkit in English and Mandarin
The Nature’s Playbook toolkit is a physical set of cards with research-based prompt for ecological design thinking for a circular economy. Developed through five years of research, the toolkit helps users draw on insights from living systems to question assumptions, strengthen systems thinking, and generate new possibilities for circular economy practice.
The cards are organised around key ecological themes. Each card invites users to explore an ecological principle, connect it to a circular economy challenge, and use it as a prompt for reflection, discussion, and idea generation.
The toolkit is designed to support both individual and collective learning. In a workshop setting, it can help teams slow down, step outside familiar business language, and explore circular economy challenges through a different set of questions. When used individually, it offers a structured way to reflect more deeply on a specific challenge, project, or organisational context.
Rather than offering fixed answers or universal solutions, Nature’s Playbook works as a thinking companion. It invites users to look at circular economy challenges through patterns of interdependence, adaptation, diversity, feedback, repair, and renewal, and to translate these insights into more imaginative, situated, and practical possibilities for action.
This toolkit is supported by the King's Innovation Catalyst through the SPARK innovation fund. You can now get your own copy via the King's College London e-store.
Testimonials
"By using natural systems as prompts for new thinking, you're able to widen your perspective and generate the kind of novel solutions that lead to a new shared understanding or genuine breakthrough."
"I would warmly recommend this tool to anyone looking to make a meaningful difference in their work and support the transition to more socially and environmentally sustainable practices."
"It's a great opportunity to become comfortable with analysing issues and develop solutions through a circularity lens. Those interested in circular economy and unsure how to get started, will probably walk away with tools and methods making system change feel much more feasible"
Cherie Nelson
Consultant at Materiality Studio
Sini Rinne-Kerridge
Strategy and Impact Consultant
Kristian Ott Milbo
Ideation & Solutions Specialist at DS Smith
The Mandarin Edition
The Mandarin edition of Nature’s Playbook is launching in September 2026, bringing ecological design thinking to new audiences across China and beyond. Rather than offering a direct translation of the English edition, the Mandarin version has been carefully adapted to reflect local contexts, examples and ways of thinking.
Each card pairs its ecological principle with a real-world case from China or Asia; from battery swapping and circular manufacturing to digital platforms, industrial clusters and community-based systems, helping participants connect the ideas to familiar business and societal challenges.
The new edition will be introduced through workshops and events in Hong Kong and Shanghai, creating opportunities to explore how ecological thinking can support circular economy innovation across different cultural and economic contexts.
