Summer School Intercultural Capacity Building for a Circular Economy 2026

The European Parliament defines the circular economy (CE) as “a model of production and consumption which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended”.[1] This hybrid (TH Köln Campus Südstadt und Deutz plus online) 4-country, 4-university Summer School is scheduled for Mon-Thu 7^th-10^th September 2026. It combines lectures, cross-country team discussions and presentations on CE concepts and their applications in managing plastic-, food- and electronic i.e. e-waste. While there are different theoretical frameworks to describe CE business models, Accenture (2014)[2] offers a rather intuitive one:

The Summer School offers selected TH Köln students the following experience:  

Intercultural: The Summer School will bring together lecturers and students from 2 continents, 4 countries and 4 universities: Thailand (Chiang Mai University), Viet Nam (Hanoi University of Science and Technology), Switzerland (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Muttenz) and Germany (TH Köln). CE is discussed globally but the interpretation and implementation of its application differs from country to country. In fact people’s understanding and associated government policies and programs in industrial economies differ from those in developing countries. Thus local experiences and national expectations will be brought together with the aim to learn from each other and to become more sensitized to the urgent need to understand the CE concepts.

Educational and Methodological Approach: CE is a highly complex topic, involving waste streams, sources, collection, transportation, treatment, markets, business models, culture etc.. Special emphasis is put on systems thinking, interdisciplinary subjects, intercultural dimension, diversity of students and teachers. Hands-on group study of the circularization of a chosen plastics-electronic device along its entire lifecycle as well as case studies of plastics, food and e-waste companies and processes are applied to optimize the learning benefits.

Learning Objective: Students develop a good understanding of the concepts, tools and methods of CE across the plastic, food and electronics-products sectors. Students shall be able to work in intercultural teams to successfully apply the concepts in concrete case studies, to identify and recommend CE product-, process- and business model-innovations and can. Successful students shall be able to contribute the strategic and practical knowledge of CE in their future careers across the value chains of multiple manufacturing sectors and industrial operations.

Preparation and prerequisites: third year Bachelor and Master students can attend. Students gather information on their country specific situation for the discussed sub-topics (food waste, plastic waste, and e-waste). No specific prior knowledge is required.

Certificate of Completion: students receive individual certificates of completion after attending  this four day course.

For interested students of TH Köln, please write an email and summarize your motivation and interest in CE in one short paragraph to Prof. Rusli below. Due to limited attendance capacity from each of the four participating universities, we may have to prioritize and select suitable students before 30^th April 2026:

 

Prof. Dr. Ridwan D. Rusli

ridwan.rusli@th-koeln.de

International and Sustainable Finance and Strategy, TH Köln, Faculty F04

EM Research Fellow in Economics, University of Luxembourg

 

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[1]https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20151201STO05603/circular-economy-definition-importance-and-benefits#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20circular%20economy,cycle%20of%20products%20is%20extended.

[2] Circular Advantage: Innovative business models and technologies to create value in a world without limits to growth. Accenture, 2014