Volume 16: Low Carbon Cities and Urban Energy Systems: Part V

Interdisciplinary Higher Education for a Resilient Circular Economy: the BBChina Project Leonardo Nibbi, Jelena Mazaj

Abstract

The Net-Zero targets to 2050-2060 set by the major economies to face the global environmental challenges need a multi-disciplinary approach. Circular Economy is one of the main pillars to reach these targets, by redefining the growth models, moving towards a sustainable approach, and decoupling economic activities from the consumption of finite resources.
Higher Education Institutions have the responsibility to set-up capacity building paths with the primary role of providing the next generation of university students with the tools to develop and fully implement existing strategies, and to propose new ideas for new disrupting technologies.
The Project BBChina, funded by the European Commission under the ERASMUS+ CBHE program, dealt with this issue by establishing a Master Program on Bio-Based Circular Economy in three Chinese Universities, whose first edition started in September 2019, and presently starting with its third edition. This paper presents the path that led to the Program implementation, its structure and results, including the implementation of soft skills, represented by a specifically developed Entrepreneurship Course.
The topic will be further discussed by invited representatives from both the Academic and the Industrial world during the “Applied Energy Symposium 2021: Low carbon cities and urban energy systems” within the panel titled “Interdisciplinary Higher Education for a Resilient Circular Economy”.

Keywords Bioeconomy, Circular economy, Capacity building, Education and training, Higher education institution, Bioenergy