The ARKI 135 Value Co-Creation Lab was part of the Arabia Circular Hub project, funded by the European Union's Regional Development Fund. The programme was facilitated by MiXi, specialising in circular economy and innovation, and Learnsy, which develops sustainability competence in businesses.
Over three working sessions and a final showcase event, the lab brought together active participants. Four case companies with real circular challenges alongside co-creators from design, education, digital innovation, craft, and research.
Four opportunities
Each of the four case companies arrived with a distinct opportunity. Niimaar asked how design made from wood waste can create emotional and functional value, and how to shift mindsets so that customers genuinely appreciate circular products. Zipli was working to transform fragmented food side streams into a streamlined, valuable resource. Uusi0 explored how high-quality building materials could become accessible to every builder, not just those with established supply chains. HUPcycle focused on extending the lifecycle of textiles and finding new opportunities in used materials.
All four companies were working with the same core opportunity: how do you create something people want from materials that already exist?
What was built and developed
The ARKI 135 Value Co-Creation Lab was a structured, facilitated process designed to transform untapped opportunities into concrete circular solutions. By bringing together case companies and co-creators, the lab enabled multi-partner collaboration to generate new value across the entire value chain.
Groups did not just discuss. They were actively building: digital prototypes, service processes, marketing and branding materials. Crucially, they were able to test and iterate on what they had built during the lab itself, from early on.
Part of what made this work was who was in the room. In some groups, material side stream suppliers, potential upcyclers, and those connecting them across the ecosystem were working alongside each other. That mix made the difference between abstract ideas and concrete ones. Prototypes could be pressure-tested against real conditions, not assumed ones.
The hands-on process also surfaced needs that had not been visible before. Specific service features that only became clear once something existed and could be reacted to. This is one of the underrated benefits of making things early: you learn what you actually need, not just what you assumed you needed.
Working with uncertainty and serendipity
Innovation rarely follows a straight line. Groups learned to hold their plans loosely, responding to what emerged during the sessions rather than executing a fixed agenda. Facilitators did the same. They adapted to who showed up, where the energy was, and what the group needed next.
A recurring experience was that the problem turned out to be more complex than it first appeared. Three sessions may not be enough to solve a problem, but it can be enough to understand it more clearly and to arrive with more useful questions.
A key lesson from the sessions was that recognising what you are not yet ready to do is a valuable insight in itself. Knowing your limits honestly is a precondition for meaningful next steps.
What is missing in the system
Some of the most important insights came not only from what the groups built, but also from what they could not build yet.
Upcyclers create value from material side streams. They are essential players in circular systems. During the lab the groups identified a real gap: there’s no reliable way to connect material sources with the people who can use them. The unpredictability of when and what materials become available creates uncertainty that makes planning difficult. This emerged as a common bottleneck across all groups, whether working with textiles, construction waste, or food side streams: without shared data and digital tools to make material flows visible and predictable, bridging material producers and upcyclers remains out of reach. What is needed is active collaboration and the infrastructure to support it: machinery, logistics, and the digital tools to connect them.
This kind of systemic finding, understanding what conditions must exist before collaboration can truly happen, turned out to be as valuable.
What participants took away
The final showcase brought everyone together to share what they had learned. People noted that the lab had helped them build relationships that ordinary business encounters rarely allow.
The structured process pushed thinking in directions that would not have happened otherwise; without it, things would simply have been done the same way as always.
One of the participants said: “The lab created a valuable space not only for ideation, but also for connecting different perspectives – from design and business to sustainability and user experience.
”Defining the problem well, and having the people who are actually building the solution in the room, made the difference.
Looking ahead
The work continues beyond the lab. A few questions the facilitators wanted every case company to sit with:
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What can you build or test in the next 30 days?
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Which partners or ecosystem connections will you activate?
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Which customers will you bring your work to, and how?
This is also a moment to prioritise. Once you have an idea, it is important to commit. Sometimes that means saying no to other opportunities. Continue nurturing the connections you have built during this lab. These relationships are part of the value you have created and can support your next steps.
And don't be afraid to hear a “NO”. It's part of the process. Keep going.
About the authors:
ARKI 135 is part of the Arabia Circular Hub Helsinki project which is co-funded by the European Union. The project is implemented by Forum Virium Helsinki and Business Helsinki. Arabia Circular Hub Helsinki accelerates the cooperation, innovation and growth of small and medium-sized circular companies.
MiXi Center's core mission is to bridge the gap between the existing linear system and the future, circular economy. They offer vital support, resources, and a collaborative ecosystem to help companies understand the landscape and trends, develop and test impactful solutions, and explore pathways for collaboration. Read more here.
Learnsy is a sustainability learning aggregator connecting corporations with training and education providers — translating organization's priorities into role-specific learning journeys.