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Lessons and Diverse Resources for a better future! 🌱

Explore Topics

A World of Ideas to Explore

Take a look at the topics we passionately cover, with a particular focus on circular design. Each topic offers unique insights into sustainable and responsible design practices, promoting a more circular and innovative future.

Topic 1: Circular Economy and Circular Design

Module Small: Linear and Circular Economy

Students will be introduced to the linear economy, explaining its “take-make-waste” model, which leads to resource depletion and environmental damage. It highlights the need for a transition to a circular economy due to the unsustainable nature of the linear system. The circular economy is described as a regenerative system based on three principles: eliminating waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and restoring natural systems. These principles aim to create a sustainable model that reduces environmental impact and supports long-term economic efficiency.

Module Medium: Circular Design

It explains the role of design in the circular economy, emphasizing its multidisciplinary nature, intersecting engineering and art. Circular design aims to minimize waste, use renewable energy, and regenerate natural systems by considering a product’s entire lifecycle. Key strategies include the “10 Rs” — Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle, and Recover — which focus on extending product life, promoting resource efficiency, and supporting sustainable production and design practices.

Topic 2: Design Guidelines for Circularity

Module Small: Guidelines

It provides recommendations for businesses and consumers to support the transition to a circular economy. It emphasizes adopting EU policies and regulations to reduce environmental impact across industries like packaging, textiles, and construction. It also discusses “greenwashing,” where companies falsely claim sustainability for marketing purposes, and highlights the importance of proper waste management, especially recycling, to minimize pollution and conserve resources. The section stresses the need for effective recycling practices, as only 40% of EU household waste is currently recycled.

Module Medium: User Journey

Students can learn about the consumer’s role in the circular economy by mapping sustainable actions in daily life, such as fashion, food, and mobility choices. It contrasts unsustainable practices with eco-friendly alternatives, like using public transport, buying second-hand clothes, and adopting plant-based diets. The section provides practical tips to reduce environmental impact, emphasizing informed purchasing decisions and mindful consumption to promote sustainability across various aspects of everyday life.

Module Large: Design Thinking

This module introduces design thinking as a human-centred, flexible approach to innovation, using the “double diamond” framework to guide the design process through exploration and refinement. It draws parallels between design thinking and the circular economy, both of which focus on iterative, non-linear solutions. The section also introduces “10 sustainable commandments” for designing with circularity in mind, emphasizing modularity, durability, and reuse.

It also includes an analogue activity, the ReDesign Challenge, that encourages participants to creatively redesign everyday objects for sustainability, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving to promote circularity in product design.

Topic 3: Raw Materials and End of Life

Module Small: Raw Materials

It provides an overview of raw materials, highlighting their types – agricultural and mining – and the environmental risks associated with their extraction. It discusses the uneven distribution of resources and the growing global demand, which leads to resource depletion and geopolitical tensions. The section also emphasizes the importance of sustainable practices in raw material management and introduces critical raw materials essential for Europe’s renewable technologies, stressing the need for increased intra-EU sourcing, processing, and recycling to reduce dependency.

Module Medium: End of life

It explains to students the concept of a product’s life cycle, including its stages from development to disposal, and emphasizes the importance of designing for durability. In the linear economy, end-of-life is often managed through planned obsolescence, which increases waste and pollution. In contrast, the circular economy seeks to extend product lifespans, maximize resource use, and minimize waste. Recent EU regulations focus on promoting product durability, repairability, and transparency to combat planned obsolescence and support sustainability.

Module Large: Fast fashion

During this module, students can explore the environmental and social impacts of fast fashion, highlighting its reliance on excessive raw material use, exploitation of labour, and creation of waste and pollution. It categorizes raw materials into natural, artificial, and synthetic fibres, each with environmental downsides. The section emphasizes the need for sustainable consumer choices, like buying from eco-friendly brands, using recycled materials, and practicing the reduce, reuse, recycle model.

It also includes a practical activity on reading garment labels to promote informed, sustainable fashion decisions and emphasizes the significance of proper garment maintenance and recycling to extend the life of clothes and reduce environmental impact.

Topic 4: Packaging and Logistic

Module Small: Packaging

It discusses the critical role of packaging in product protection and promotion while highlighting concerns over packaging waste, particularly plastic. It emphasizes the need for sustainable packaging solutions that balance functionality and environmental impact. This module explores different packaging materials, distinguishing between primary (direct product protection) and secondary (for transport and handling) packaging. It stresses the importance of optimizing packaging to reduce material use and waste while maintaining product safety, with examples of companies successfully implementing these strategies.

Module Medium: Logistics

This module focuses on the crucial role logistics plays in connecting production and consumption, emphasizing its importance for sustainability. It discusses the environmental impact of long-distance and last-mile transport, particularly their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and advocates for sustainable solutions such as alternative fuels and electric vehicles. It highlights the use of digital technologies like IoT and AI to optimize logistics, reduce emissions, and improve efficiency. It also encourages consumer support for local products and sustainable logistics practices.

Module Large: Online shopping

Students will examine the environmental impact of e-commerce, particularly the rise in packaging waste and carbon emissions from transportation, especially last-mile delivery. It emphasizes the importance of sustainable shopping practices, such as consolidating orders, choosing eco-friendly packaging, and opting for standard shipping over expedited options.

The module encourages consumers to make informed decisions to reduce their environmental footprint and includes a debate activity where participants discuss the pros and cons of online shopping from various sustainability perspectives.

Tools for Engaging Learning

Four Interactive Tools for Training and Play in Circular Design

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Interactive Books are educational tools that engage students in circular economy topics by combining text with interactive elements like clickable content, QR codes, secret codes, and a guide named Greenix. The aim is to present sustainability concepts in a clear and engaging way, encouraging students to explore the materials at their own pace.

Video pills are short, engaging videos that offer quick, easily digestible information on circular economy topics. They present key concepts in a simple format, making them ideal for quickly understanding sustainability and circular design.

Quizzes are interactive tools that test and reinforce students’ understanding, encouraging engagement and reflection. They complement the educational materials by breaking up content, providing feedback, and making learning more dynamic and fun.

Greenix Games are interactive 2D games that engage students in circular economy topics through playful activities. They challenge students to apply their knowledge in a fun, hands-on manner, enhancing their understanding while keeping them actively involved in learning.

Modular Approach

Customizable Training Path Based on Available Time

The lessons follow a modular approach, allowing the training path to be customized according to the time available. This flexible structure enables learners to adapt the educational journey to their specific needs, following the outlined framework.