Circular Economy

What it is about

You learn the fundamentals and application of the Circular Economy: from historical and political backgrounds to Design for Sustainability, business model innovation and closed material loops, up to assessment, impediments and potentials. In the end you will be able to judge CE concepts from environmental, product, material and economic perspectives and develop practice-oriented solution and business approaches.

What you will be able to do

• Explain the importance of the Circular Economy in the context of resource scarcity and climate change
• Classify central concepts of the Circular Economy historically and presently
• Evaluate CE from environmental, product, material and economic perspectives
• Develop action approaches for implementing CE concepts
• Identify and discuss innovative business models for value creation in the Circular Economy
• Apply CE concepts to concrete use cases and assess their limits, potentials and enablers/barriers

What the module consists of

• LectureIntroduction to content and imparting theoretical knowledge
• ExerciseDeepening, repetition and application in individual and group work
• Laboratory Exercise (CE-Lab)Dismantling and recycling exercises for practical experience

Teaching method

• Media-supported presentationsfor structured delivery of the content
• Group work / case studies / discussionsfor in-depth engagement and application
• Individual tasks and presentationsfor consolidation and demonstration of individual learning progress
• Reading and presenting scientific publicationsfor scientific classification and reflection
• CE-Lab exercises (Dismantling, Recycling)for practical training of material and recycling knowledge
• Plenary discussionsfor critical reflection of the lecture contents