Reed Cycle Community project investigates how the harvesting and local utilization of common reed can support ecological restoration while creating new opportunities for circular design in the Baltic Sea region. Common reed absorbs excess nutrients, including phosphorus and nitrogen, that contribute to eutrophication in one of the world's most polluted seas, the Baltic Sea. When harvested responsibly, the accumulated nutrients are removed from the ecosystem while the rapidly renewable biomass becomes a valuable local material resource.

This thesis develops a modular joinery system for reed alongside a circular business model, using Utö Island in the Stockholm Archipelago as a pilot case with potential for replication across the Baltic region. Through a research-through-design approach, the project addresses environmental, social, and economic challenges by proposing a localized value chain that connects ecological management, material production, and community participation.

It proposes a circular journey of the reed from harvest through production to the end of its life cycle, where it can be used to substitute peat in soils, reducing harmful peat excavation. 

The resulting design proposal of a market booth is based on a modular joinery design, using reed to create shared gathering spaces that strengthen local engagement and resilience. The design demonstrates multiple applications of reed: as structural pillars, as traditional thatching for weather protection, and as newly developed reed particle boards manufactured with a fully biobased and biodegradable adhesive derived from local waste streams. The development of the adhesive was carried out in collaboration with the Ecohesives team at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

By promoting hyper-local resource utilization, distributed production, and collaboration among local stakeholders, the Reed Cycle project presents an alternative to resource-intensive global supply chains. The project demonstrates how design can integrate ecological restoration, material innovation, and community development into a regenerative and scalable circular system for the Baltic region.