We welcome the new paradigm, where circularity not only aligns with environmental goals but also proves to be more economically viable. Join us for this one-week Learning by Doing summer course.
This one-week hands-on summer course, offered jointly by Dutch and Finnish circular design experts, will challenge your assumptions and will equip you with the tools to navigate the intersection of profitability and circularity!
This course is driven by both Dutch and Finnish circular design experts, that challenges assumptions and equips you with the tools to navigate the intersection of profitability and circularity!
With a growing demand on sustainable solutions as a result of international efforts to reduce climate change, we see that product innovation too is in transition. We have to challenge preconceived notions, where circular design was viewed as inherently more expensive than conventional approaches to product innovation. Not anymore. E.g. Finnish researchers, being at the forefront of this shift, have pioneered extensive research showcasing how circular business models can be not just sustainable but surprisingly more profitable. Join us in this hands-on course, as we explore what this new approach can do when applied to practice. Discover how businesses can thrive by adopting innovative models that prioritize sustainability without compromising the bottom line.
What can you expect?
A deep dive in theory about circular economy and apply it directly in a design process. In Finland, the government has made it their responsibility to enable circularity without loss of revenue in order to make it a more common practice. Their universities have collaborated for several years to generate knowledge to boost this. The theory we share in our course is the latest from Finland, brought to you by our Finnish partner Turku University of Applied
Sciences (TUAS). We offer short theoretical lectures, however we will spend most of our time actually redesigning products into a more circular and economical alternative.
What will we be doing?
We believe in Learning by Doing, so learning on the job. We will apply the knowledge we share directly, and by doing so deepen our understanding as much as possible. The coaching will be done by both university lecturers specialised in Design Thinking and Circular Economy, and enriched with work field coaches from the field of product designer.
Join us for this one-week Learning by Doing summer course, driven by both Dutch and Finnish circular design experts, that challenges assumptions and equips you with the tools to navigate the intersection of profitability and circularity!
NB: This course is part of the two-week track Circular Economoy (B56)
Jens Gijbels MSc
This course is intended for everybody who wants to know more about, and experience product innovation that serves both sustainable requirements as well as financial goals of organizations (and society at large).
You could be a student (any business or management studies, industrial design, product design, mechanical engineering, arts) or a young professional (either self-employed or working for a design agency). You are eager to learn about sustainable product innovation. Maybe you even have your own product (idea) and want to (re)design this product in a more sustainable way. Or you have been part of a student project team about product innovation (or expect to be in the course of your study/life) and want to know how it is done to apply in your professional context.
A good command of English is necessary! Given the interactive nature of teaching, students must have the capabilities to actively contribute in class and communicate (understand and speak) in English well, ideally min level B2.
Learning Goals
After successful completion of this course, you:
52 hours of lectures/field excursions + assignments (self-study).
The course is highly interactive: experiencing is key. With every challenge, you enter a new stage, a new level of maturity, discovering new insights and secrets about life and living. AND: it is so much fun doing it, together with fellow students from around the globe.
Please note: You must attend all learning activities (e.g. workshops, fieldwork) to be able to receive the Certificate of Participation and/or the credits for this course, unless absence is officially approved by the teachers and the coordinator of the Utrecht Summer School
The course fee presented applies to all students currently enrolled in a bachelor, master or PhD programme and to 'Fresh Alumni'.
If this applies to you and you therefore believe that you are eligible for this fee, please mention this in your motivation when applying for this course.
If you are NOTcurrently enrolled in a bachelor, master or PhD programme or not a 'Fresh Alumni' , a professional fee of € 874 is applicable, and will be invoiced and visible for you in your account once you are accepted to the course. Please note: if you do not provide proof that you are currently enrolled in a bachelor, master or PhD programme or that you are a Fresh Alumni', we will charge the ‘professional (higher) fee!
Lunch options
During the summer, food courts and food trucks on the campus are closed. The supermarket and restaurant are open, and in our dormitories there is a kitchen and fridge for home-made lunch. Besides we offer a 5 Days’ Sandwich Lunch package that you can collect at the restaurant on Utrecht Science Park everyday in the lunchbreak.
You can add this 5 Days’ Lunch package as a separate product once you are fully enrolled to the course. The price for the package is 60 Euros per week and can be ordered until two weeks prior to the start of your course.
The housing costs do not include a Utrecht Summer School sleeping bag and travel pillow (which you can take home after the course). Please note that the Sleeping bag is to be chosen as a separate product on the invoice (€50).
If you wish not to buy the Summerschool Sleeping bag and travel pillow and rather bring your own bedding (sleeping bag and pillow), do not forget to bring your own sleeping bag and pillow! In all cases, do bring your own towels, please.