Circular EELISA Community

JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1

Newsletter

Welcome to this new stage of the EELISA CIRCULAR

Community and its Newsletter
Dear friends of CIRCULAR Community,

After little more than a year of life, the community has consolidated and grown
significantly, already having active members in four of the universities of the EELISA
Alliance (ITU, UPB, UPM, and SSSA) and a valuable number of industrial partners from all
over Europe who collaborate in our initiatives.
Our mission,"to develop resources to promote the incorporation of a mentality that favors
the transition to the Circular Economy, addressing the socio-civic skills of future
professionals", has a clear objective: to train good professionals and above all, citizens
committed to the social challenges we face.
The enthusiasm and dedication of CIRCULAR members have also led to financial support
in the recent Joint Call for Proposals for three new, far-reaching and ongoing initiatives:
CIRCULAR in play, Be CIRCULAR Webinars, and CIRCULAR@[action]. All of them explained
in detail on the following pages.
Our objective looks now at the 2022-23 academic year, in which we hope to continue
growing and involving new members from the rest of the universities in the EELISA
universe. The transnational meeting in which representatives of academia and industry
meet in person to exchange experiences and launch new projects in the field of Circular
Economy will be crucial for our community.
A last and affectionate memory for our colleague Prof. Bernardo Llamas (ETSIME – UPM),
who left us too soon and whom we will always remember. Thank you, Bernardo, wherever
you are, for having shared the illusion of CIRCULAR since its inception and for having
been part of our lives. Nothing will be the same without you, but we will continue working.

JUSTO GARCIA-NAVARRO
CIRCULAR EELISA Community Coordinator
JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1

WELCOME TO SANT' ANNA SCHOOL OF

ADVANCED STUDIES
By EELISA Community

Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA) is an Italian Public University located in Pisa (Italy), operating in the field
of applied sciences. The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies aims at experimenting innovative paths in research and
education. It comprises six Institutes (Biorobotics; Management; Law, Politics and Development; Life Sciences;
Economics; Communication, Information and Perception Technologies). SSSA is ranked first in Italy and among the top 10
young universities in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

EELISA, European Engineering Learning Innovation and Science Alliance, brings together nine Higher Education
Institutions (graduate engineering schools, technology universities and full-spectrum universities) from seven different
countries in Europe with the aim of defining and implementing a shared model of European engineer rooted in society.
According to its Governing Board declaration, approved on April 19, 2021, the vision of EELISA European University is to
“develop European degrees heralding the next generation of European “Renaissance” engineers capable of pursuing
their career and leading sustainable change in a multidisciplinary, diverse, multilingual, and global environment,
leveraging the European values”.
The new European engineers will be professionals and committed citizens ready to work within interdisciplinary,
multilingual, diverse, and pan-European environments, facilitating the transformation of Europe into a fair and
prosperous society with a modern resource-efficient economy.

Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies has joined Circular EELISA

Community
A warm welcome to the new team members!!

Cecchi, Francesca Gusmerotti, Natalia Marzia

Corsini, Filippo Iraldo, Fabio
Croce, Roberta Tessitore, Sara
Frey, Marco

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JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1

JOINT CALL

Proyect 1:Be Circular Webinars series

The webinars and workshop activities will deal with the transition from a linear economic model to a circular
one, as well as the potential beneficial effects that this transition may have in macroeconomic and
microeconomic terms, as at level of single business and supply chain. To this end, business cases and good
practices of national and international relevance will be presented and analysed. In doing so, the
participant will not only acquire relevant knowledge about approaches and tools to support circular
economy management, but they will also gain practical indications to use such knowledge in the business
context.

WHAT ARE WE
GOING TO DO
The proposed activity, Be Circular Webinars, is
a series of online seminars and practical
activities in the framework of three-day
workshop activities to be held in Pisa.
To reach more than 300 participants in Be
Circular Webinars series.
To increase awareness of people involved in
the course about the key principles of the
circular economy.
To teach the students of the different
universities of the EELISA Alliance as well as
high school students more about the circular
economy.
To offer a structured set of knowledge and
skills for an innovative and effective circular
economy management.
To be proficient in concepts such as circular
economy, circular business, circularity
assessment.

Project Coordinator: Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna

Activity provider : Dr. Filippo Corsini

Contact: f.corsini@santannapisa.it

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JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1
JOINT CALL

Proyect 2: circular@[action]
This project proposal, circular@[action] is a series of integrated activities (design workshop, intensive
summer school, seminars, online charrettes, and internships) that are structured to introduce an innovative
and creative platform to rethink education in the European university and explore alternatives for
responsive, inclusive and interactive learning environments and strong communities. Promoting the
incorporation of a mindset that favours the transition to the circular economy.

WHAT ARE WE GOING

TO DO
The events proposed for circular@[action] are
in a series where the outcomes of the initial
event become one of the inputs of the next
event and continues with the next. Therefore,
the series proposes a cumulative experience
and knowledge of socio-economic
competencies and circular economy as an
education model.

The integrated activities from

the series are three :

WS0.0: “R-mechanisms” and “from-linear-

to-circular 1”, in Pisa, at SSSA in
November 22, 2022 (1 and a half-day).
WS0.5: “circular/in/action”, online with
students and researchers from ITU, UPM
and, SSSA, in March 23, 2022 (2 half-day
workshop).
WS1.0: “scales of negotiation” and from-
linear-to-circular 2, in Madrid in April 23,
2022 (4-day workshop).

Project coordinator:
Istanbul Technical University

Activity providers:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Günay & Dr. Bihter Almaç

Contact: gunayz@itu.edu.tr

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JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1

JOINT CALL

Proyect 3: Circular in play

The game nights are three-hour online events geared towards high school and first- and secondyear
university students.
Each game night will open with a short presentation to introduce the participants to the basics of the
circular economy, followed by the game session and a short semi-structured discussion on the theme at
hand.

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO:

The proposed activity, CIRCULAR IN PLAY, is a series of three online game nights associated with upcoming and
reputable international events of science and innovation.
• 3VIA [a trivia of the three main themes of the circular economy: reduce, reuse, recycle] at the European Researchers’
Night 2022 on September 30, 2022.
• ScapeRoom [a scientific parkour around the circular economy and socio-civic skills] at the Madrid Science and
Innovation Week 2022 between November 1-14, 2022.
• R-Express [a circular economy journey to reuse destiny: why? what? how? when?]around the World Recycling Day on
March 18, 2023.

Project Coordinator: Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi & Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Activity providers: Dr. İmge Akçakaya Waite & Prof. Justo García Navarro
Contact: imgeawaite@itu.edu.tr & justo.gnavarro@upm.es

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JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1

ACTIVITIES
NEW LOGO DESIGN
This logo was designed by Anabel Castillo Rodriguez

This logo transmit the mission of teamwork with

students, teachers and researchers from all
universities associated with prestigious
professionals, grassroots organizations, citizens,
private companies and public institutions to find
innovative solutions to real-world challenges.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG

We are happy to offer this space to share all the

activities to be carried out in the EElisa Circular
Community:

https://blogs.upm.es/circulareelisa/en/

ENGINEERS OF THE
ROUND TABLE
This activity was coordinated by Antonia Pacios Alvarez and
Maria Isabel Prieto.

Is the circular economy a theoretical concept used

by universities to justify innovation in educational
curricula?
The first round table was on April 21, 2022, at the ETSE
facilities. On this occasion, the participating engineers
in the round table were representatives of the cement
(OFICEMEN), ready-mixed concrete (ANEFHOP),
concrete admixtures (Sika), and precast concrete
industry (PRETERSA). Students had the opportunity to
learn environmental indicators figures for these product
families and business strategies to integrate the circular
economy into their business models and professional
practices.

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JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1

UNIVERSITY
PARTNERS

Coordinator: Gunay, Zeynep Coordinator: Robescu, Lăcrămioara Diana

Secretary: Akcakaya Waite, İmge Secretary: Cocarta, Diana Mariana

Coordinator: García Navarro, Justo Coordinator: Corsini, Filippo

Secretary: Pacios Alvarez, Antonia Secretary: Cecchi, Francesca

JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.2 N.1

PARTNERS

Marcel Gomez
Consultoría ambienta