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Students from all UT programs are welcome to the minor based on approval of their program management.
At the end of the minor module, the students are expected
- to recognize stakeholders involved in circular economy, their potential actions and interactions
- to develop (through the course) and apply (in the game play) multiple managerial and technical skills to implement circular economy networks
- to design solution concepts to implement a circular economic network over time (in the game play) recovering value-added from different types of resources, process wastes, and end-of-life products (given through courses)
- to technically and geographically identify the possibility of loop-closing or loop-slowing between minimum two entities (company-company, household-company, company-public entity, household-public entity, etc.)
- to match between the individual or collective sustainability needs of companies and the needs of consumers
- to develop and implement communication strategies to different stakeholders
- to distinguish the purchasing behavior of different types of consumers
- to develop and report solutions for shifting from unsustainable product development to circular product development
- to implement circular flows and promote evolutionary use of wastes both in form of upcycling and downcycling
- to measure sustainability indicators to assess own and network performance
- to link and convert their theory-based learnings (lectures) in circular economy practices (game)
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The transition towards the Circular Economy requires that companies, citizens, and governments cooperatively take action for Circular Economy transition, which requires a multiple- and integrated-stakeholder understanding. Hence, the future Circular Economy awaits its implementors who speak different languages to achieve a common goal for all. To succeed it, the minor module of “Circular Economy Transition” offers a 15 EC package that takes companies, society, and governments in its core to achieve a groundbreaking impact for our common future in a cross-disciplinary education environment.
The content of this module is divided into three areas, which address the transition towards the Circular Economy from three different but interrelated perspectives, each related to one of the stakeholders mentioned above: companies, society, and governments.
Within the company perspective, students will address the main circular strategies that companies can adopt to support the transition towards the Circular Economy, such as waste prevention, waste management, urban-industrial symbiosis, sustainable services, and end-of-life product management.
Within the society perspective, students will address the role that citizens, as (potential) consumers of goods and services produced by companies, can play to foster the Circular Economy transition (e.g., pro-environmental behavior, sustainable consumption). The society perspective is approached from two perspectives: (i) consumer psychology and (ii) responsible citizenship. The society perspective is fostered via stakeholder communication perspective, where students will address the interplay between the three different stakeholders, i.e. companies, governments, and society, and learn how different communication strategies can foster the Circular Economy Transition (e.g., framing, public engagement, and stakeholder collaboration).
Within the government perspective, students will address the main policy actions that policymakers, at national and global level, can design to foster the Circular Economy transition (e.g., actions supporting environmental innovations by companies and sustainable behavior by citizens).
Finally, students will enjoy an online serious “circular economy transition game”, newly designed and tailored to this module, where they will experience the content of the lectures in a virtual environment and play the role of a citizen, a company, and a policy-maker to achieve circular economic transition in a cooperative way. Serious game is a group work and challenge-based and it is set up as a trans-disciplinary edutainment environment where technological innovations and energy transition challenges are in the practical core and embedded in the game set up.
Circular Economy minor module contributes to UT’s engagement to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations – with particular attention to Goals #17 (partnerships to achieve the goal), #4 (quality education), #7 (affordable and clean energy), #9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), #11 (sustainable cities and communities), #12 (responsible consumption and production) and #13 (climate action). Consequently, our minor contributes to the development of globally responsible citizens.
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| | Required materials-Recommended materials-Instructional modesAssessment| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Assignment| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Lecture
| Practical| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Presentation(s)| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Project supervised| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Project unsupervised
| Self study without assistance
| Workgroup| Presence duty | | Yes |
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TestsCircularity Management and Technology
| Elements of Environmental Economics
| Psychology and Communication for Sustainable Change
| Game of Circular Economy Transition
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