Whether you’re already hooked on the circular economy, are looking for a new business advantage, or are simply curious about how to respond to the current economy’s challenges and opportunities, then TU Delft’s introductory course is a good place to start. 

Circular Economy: an Introduction is billed as a seven-week course, but it’s unlike many other online courses in that it’s self-paced. This means that you can access the content when you like, progressing through the videos and exercises in your own time rather than waiting around for next week’s information.

It’s all run on the edX platform, which hosts MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – from leading institutions all around the world. To date, over 10,000 people have participated in Circular Economy: an Introduction, exploring this new model from experts in the field.

It’s a compelling vision, but it’s not always plain sailing to shift from our current linear economy to a circular one that is restorative and regenerative by design. Because the circular economy framework is distinct from some of the ‘use less and recycle’ approaches of recent decades, there’s new terminology and concepts to get to grips with. So this introductory course starts by asking “what is the circular economy?”, before looking at new business models, remanufacturing, and systems thinking. The MOOC has been created largely by a team of instructors from TU Delft’s design department, so design aspects of a circular economy feature heavily, informed by the excellent Products That Last book released by the university in 2014. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability have also helped co-create the course.

Course instructor Conny Bakker, of the TU Delft faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, emphasised how this type of learning is a convenient and accessible way to boost your understanding of the circular economy:

This edition of the MOOC is self-paced, which means all the course materials are available 24/7 and you can take the course on your own schedule. No deadlines, no stress. Great content.

Find out more about Circular Economy: an Introduction and how to enrol for free at the course homepage.

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