Toolkit

Green Retail Handbook and Toolkit

Your guide to sustainable and thriving retail practices

The Challenge

Retail stores are more than just places to shop — they are vibrant hubs of local life, shaping how we consume, interact, and connect with our communities. As key players in the urban landscape, retailers have the power to influence sustainable choices, reduce waste, and foster a thriving local economy.

But where should you begin your sustainability journey as a retailer? How do you balance green ambitions with a healthy bottom line? And how do you engage customers and staff in the journey?

The Green Retail Handbook & Toolkit is designed to help retailers and changemakers navigate these challenges. It provides practical insights, hands-on tools, and inspiring examples to show how small steps can lead to a big impact.

Sometimes, the magic of change happens in the simplest moments — in productive dialogue, a shared insight, or the implementation of a small yet impactful change. These moments of connection and quick wins lay the foundation for deeper transformations.

To truly accelerate sustainable retail, we need to strengthen the connection between customers, stores, and the entire supply chain—making sustainability accessible, transparent, and beneficial for all.

This means:

Empowering retailers with the right tools to make sustainability a natural part of their business
Engaging customers by creating seamless, appealing, and cost-effective sustainable choices
Aligning supply chains with circular principles to ensure long-term impact.

"Think of a shop as a dynamic thing! Customers like it when they can discover something new every time, but it is also a great way to make small changes and test out new things"

Margot Billiet

Sashuis, Brugge

Key themes

Both the handbook and the toolkit are structured around six key themes essential for creating thriving, green retail businesses:

Customer Experience – Engaging and delighting customers while promoting sustainability
Store Design and Management – Creating inspiring, sustainable spaces
Products and Services – Offering circular and responsible product choices
Staff Involvement – Empowering employees to drive change
Supply Chain – Building transparent, ethical, and circular processes
Local Initiatives and Collaborations – Strengthening community ties through partnerships.

Each theme is rooted in three core values: Courage, Trust, and Curiosity — which are essential for fostering lasting change in retail.

Who is it for?

Whether you are a store owner, part of a sustainability team in a retail chain, a city official, or a local changemaker, this handbook and toolkit are designed for you.

Use them to:

Engage retailers in sustainability discussions
Develop new strategies for greener retail operations
Facilitate workshops and collaborative sessions
Co-create solutions that benefit both business and community.

Download Green Retail Handbook

A guide for retailers and changemakers looking to integrate sustainability into their business strategy, customer experience, and daily operations.

It includes:

Case studies from front leading retail stores within sustainability and circular strategy
Actionable tips for sustainable store management
Inspiration on creating win-win solutions for businesses, customers, and the environment.

Download the handbook here

Download Green Retail Toolkit

A collection of facilitation tools for those working with retailers — whether in city organizations, retail associations, or local sustainability initiatives.

The toolkit provides:

Methods to engage retailers in sustainability discussions
Frameworks for collaboration and innovation
Step-by-step exercises to co-create impactful solutions
This toolkit acts as a bridge between strategy and action, helping changemakers turn sustainability aspirations into real-world initiatives.

Download the toolkit here

Green Retail "Pimp Your Bag" event. Credits: Femke den Holland

About Green Retail

The Green Retail Handbook & Toolkit is the result of the Interreg North Sea project Green Retail, which was developed in three pilot cities: Bruges (Belgium), Gothenburg (Sweden), and Vejle (Denmark).

In collaboration with De Republiek, Drivhuset, Spinderihallerne (Vejle Municipality), and DDC – Danish Design Center, the project engaged 36 local retail stores in 2024 to support their transition toward sustainable, circular, and resilient business models.

Are you interested?

At DDC – Danish Design Center, we can help facilitate design-driven approaches to sustainability. As part of Green Retail, we can help you:

Apply the Green Retail tools in your own work with retail businesses
Facilitate workshops to drive circular business transformation with a focus on circular product design, customer behavior, and business development
Design new initiatives and processes that link sustainability with customer experience and business success.

Let’s transform retail into a driving force for sustainability together!

Funding