About Circular Economy Huon

Circular Economy Huon (CEH) is a volunteer-led community network working to strengthen sustainability, resource efficiency and resilience across the Huon Valley.

We bring people together to explore practical responses to climate change, rising living costs and resource constraints — focusing on ideas that can be tested locally and shared widely.

Our work combines community learning, collaboration and evidence-informed advocacy to support a more connected and resilient region.

Our Purpose

Our aim is to promote sustainability, resource efficiency, and community resilience in the face of climate change and resource depletion.

Today CEH works across a range of interconnected themes including transport, sustainable consumption, resource efficiency and community resilience.

We believe locally driven solutions can help the Huon Valley adapt to change while strengthening community connections and economic wellbeing.

Why this matters in the Huon Valley

Living in a rural region brings both opportunities and challenges.

Long travel distances, reliance on private vehicles and extended supply chains can increase costs and environmental impacts. At the same time, the Huon Valley has strong community networks, local producers and a culture of innovation.

Circular Economy Huon exists to help connect these strengths — encouraging solutions that make better use of resources, reduce waste and support community wellbeing.

Our Values

Community-led
Local knowledge and participation are central to lasting change.

Collaboration
We work across community, government and business to build shared solutions.

Practical action
We focus on initiatives that can be trialled and refined locally.

Evidence-informed
Research, lived experience and community insight guide our work.

Resilience and wellbeing
Environmental sustainability and social connection are closely linked.

What We Do

Circular Economy Huon supports the community through:

Community forums and workshops that encourage learning and dialogue
Research and submissions that inform policy discussions
Collaborative projects exploring practical local solutions
Partnerships with community organisations, council and researchers
Public information resources that connect residents with sustainable options

Our approach is exploratory and collaborative — creating space for ideas to emerge, be tested and adapted over time.

Get Involved

Circular Economy Huon is collaborative and open.

We welcome:

New Members

Volunteers

Researchers and students
Local businesses and producers
Policy contributors

If you care about the future of the Huon Valley, we invite you to participate, share ideas and help shape practical solutions for our community.

Contact

Our Story

Circular Economy Huon began in 2016 as Circular Economy Cygnet, a small community initiative exploring sustainable housing and local resilience. Led by residents including Liz Smith, early discussions focused on low-impact housing, shared infrastructure and practical sustainability.

As interest grew, the group expanded across the Huon Valley and became Circular Economy Huon. Workshops, forums and collaborative projects explored climate change, regenerative farming, waste reduction and energy efficiency.

By 2019, transport had emerged as a major focus — both as a key source of emissions and a growing cost pressure for households. CEH hosted forums, developed a draft Integrated Transport Strategy and began advocating for more accessible and equitable transport options.

In recent years CEH’s work has increasingly focused on systems thinking — examining how transport, resource use, food systems and infrastructure interact across the whole community. This work has informed initiatives such as the Huon Valley Transport Forum and the Sustainable Consumer Guide.

Events

How do we do it?

Making submissions to government
Meeting with stakeholders
Networking with like-minded groups
Producing media releases
Hosting workshops and conferences and film nights
Publishing opinion articles and letters to the editor
Communicating via our website and social media

Meetings & Communications

During COVID times the Committee developed a way of working that keeps things ticking along in spite of restrictions that might occur. Here are the details,

Discussion Forum - we use groups.io platform and a private discussion group called circulareconomyhuon which allows us to keep in touch between meetings by using the group email address circulareconmyhuon@groups.io. You can join the group by clicking on the 'apply for membership' button.
Weekly Video Meeting - Usually a weekday evening for 40 minutes and can start at 5, 6 or 7pm depending on availabilities. The Secretary sends out an agenda and meeting links to the discussion forum. We use this meeting mainly to follow up on issues of the day ... not so much for discussing issues in detail.

Monthly Face to Face Meeting at the Hub. Usually on the second Tuesday of the Month. We use this meeting to discuss items at length with an open invitation for anyone to attend. We can also use the conference facilities to include interstate or international parties.
Newsletters - We have tried to do at least one a month to keep members up to date.
Website - We have used this to keep a record of what we have done and what we plan on doing. It has more potential but requires more expertise .
Files - We keep our files in Google Drive and they are available to Committee members.

Committee members use some or all of the above to contribute according to their available time.

The key to active involvement is to join the discussion forum. You can choose, via the settings, to either receive individual emails or a daily\weekly digest.