EC6 - Data-driven Circular Economy for Social Economy

Using data and digital tools to design ethical, inclusive, and impactful circular solutions for the social economy.

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Start Date

... September 2026

  Credits

6 ECTS

  Semester

2 semester

  Delivery

Distance Learning

  Duration

13 Weeks

  Language

English

About This Course

This is a second-semester course in the MBA in Digital Deep Tech Driven Circular Economy
This course examines how data analytics and digital technologies can support circular economy practices in the social economy, with a focus on cooperatives, social enterprises and community-based organisations. It shows how data can be used to optimise resources, improve transparency and measure social impact, while addressing ethical, governance and inclusion challenges. Through real-world cases and applied analysis, students develop the skills needed to design responsible, data-driven circular solutions that deliver tangible social and community value.
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What You Will Learn


Data-Driven Circular Strategies

  • How data analytics supports circular economy initiatives
  • Digital infrastructures enabling transparency and traceability
  • Data flows across circular value chains in the social economy


Circular Innovation for Social Impact

  • Circular models for cooperatives and social enterprises
  • Community-based reuse, sharing, and resource optimisation systems
  • Measuring social value creation in circular initiatives


Ethical & Inclusive Data Governance

  • Responsible data practices and digital inclusion

  • Privacy, fairness, and trust in data-driven circular systems

  • Governance frameworks supporting social circular innovation

Skills You Will Gain

Data Analytics for Circular Social Innovation

  • Mapping material, social, and environmental data flows
  • Integrating datasets to evaluate circular performance and social outcomes
  • Applying analytics tools to optimise community-based circular initiatives

Social Impact Measurement & Reporting

  • Using Social Life Cycle Assessment and social-impact indicators
  • Designing monitoring frameworks for circular social enterprises
  • Communicating measurable social and environmental outcomes

Leadership for Inclusive Circular Systems

  • Designing data-driven circular strategies for social-economy organisations
  • Managing cross-sector projects involving digital tools and social innovation
  • Leading ethical, inclusive, and community-centred circular initiatives
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Your 13-Week Journey

Here’s how your learning unfolds

Week 1 – Data-Driven Circular Economy Basics

Introduction to circular economy principles and how data enables social impact and circular strategies.

Week 2 – Circular Data Flows

Mapping and integrating material, environmental, and social data to support transparency and decision-making.

Week 3 – Sharing Platforms and Community Reuse

Exploring data-driven sharing models such as libraries of things and community reuse initiatives.

Week 4 – Data-Driven Social Economy Initiatives

Examining how digital tools optimise circular practices and social impact in the social economy.

Week 5 – Circularity in Social Organisations

Applying circular economy principles in cooperatives, social enterprises, and community organisations.

Week 6 – Data Ethics and Governance

Understanding ethical, legal, and governance challenges in socially oriented circular data systems.

Week 7 – Social Impact Assessment and Reporting

Measuring and reporting social impact using data-driven assessment methods and indicators.

Week 8 – Barriers to Data-Driven Circularity

Analysing regulatory, privacy, and organisational barriers to data-intensive circular solutions.

Week 9 – Policy and Data Infrastructures

Exploring policy frameworks and data infrastructures that enable social circular economies.

Week 10 – Inclusion and Community Empowerment

Designing circular initiatives that prioritise inclusion, participation, and community value.

Week 11 – Indicators for Social Circularity

Developing indicators to measure the social dimension of circular economy initiatives.

Week 12 – Organisational Culture and Circular Change

Understanding how organisational culture enables or limits circular economy transitions.

Week 13 – Future of Data-Driven Social Circular Economy

Exploring emerging trends in data, inclusion, and community-centred circular innovation.


Week 1 — Systems in Transition

See the world in systems.
Learn to rethink linear vs circular economies and explore planetary boundaries.

Week 2 — The Digital–Circular Nexus

Discover how tech enables sustainability.
Explore how AI, IoT, and data power circular innovation.

Week 3 — Policy as Infrastructure

Understand Europe’s circular blueprint.
Dive into the EU Green Deal, CEAP, and Digital Europe frameworks.

Week 4 — Designing for Re-entry

Design for durability, reuse, and remanufacturing.
Learn how digital twins and simulation tools extend product lifecycles.

Week 5 — Tracking Resources Through Data

Follow materials in motion.
Understand how IoT and data infrastructures create transparency in supply chains.

Week 6 — Blockchain for Accountability

Trust through transparency.
Explore blockchain’s potential for tracking, verification, and ethical assurance.

Week 7 — Learning Loops with AI

Let data drive regeneration.
See how AI and machine learning enable adaptive circular decision-making.

Week 8 — Cognitive Factories

Meet the new industrial symbiosis.
Examine how robotics and smart manufacturing create circular production systems.

Week 9 — Reverse Intelligence

Close the loop through recovery.
Explore reverse logistics, digital disassembly, and resource recovery networks.

Week 10 — Measuring Circularity

Turn data into progress.
Use metrics, KPIs, and dashboards to track circular performance.

Week 11 — Financing the Regenerative Future

Empower innovation.
Discover how deep-tech, investment, and valuation models support circular ventures.

Week 12 — Ethics and Mindsets

Lead with responsibility.
Reflect on ethics, human–machine collaboration, and the competences for circular leadership.

Week 13 — 2040 and Beyond

Imagine the future you want to build.
Learn to rethink linear vs circular economies and explore planetary boundaries.

Learn With Us

This course is co-created with academic and industry partners supporting circular innovation.
Giorgos Demetriou
Associate Dean of Research and Innovation
Giorgos Demetriou
Associate Dean of Research and Innovation
Giorgos Demetriou
Associate Dean of Research and Innovation
Giorgos Demetriou
Associate Dean of Research and Innovation
Giorgos Demetriou
Associate Dean of Research and Innovation

Co-Created for Change

Continue Your Journey