Credits
6 ECTS
Semester
2 Semester
Delivery
Online
Duration
13 weeks
Language
About This Course
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.
What You Will Learn
Your 13-Week Journey
Week 1 – Data-Driven Circular Economy Basics
Introduction to circular economy principles and how data enables social impact and circular strategies.
Week 3 – Sharing Platforms and Community Reuse
Exploring data-driven sharing models such as libraries of things and community reuse initiatives.
Week 5 – Circularity in Social Organisations
Applying circular economy principles in cooperatives, social enterprises, and community organisations.
Week 7 – Social Impact Assessment and Reporting
Measuring and reporting social impact using data-driven assessment methods and indicators.
Week 9 – Policy and Data Infrastructures
Exploring policy frameworks and data infrastructures that enable social circular economies.
Week 11 – Indicators for Social Circularity
Developing indicators to measure the social dimension of circular economy initiatives.
Week 13 – Future of Data-Driven Social Circular Economy
Exploring emerging trends in data, inclusion, and community-centred circular innovation.
Skills You Will Gain
Data Analytics for Circular Social Innovation
Social Impact Measurement & Reporting
Leadership for Inclusive Circular Systems
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.
