Deploying the circular economy within organisations

Overview

Class Central Tips

How can companies act in the fight against global warming? This is an increasingly pressing question for all actors of our society. Big companies, SMEs, start-ups but also charities and public actors, the circular economy is part of solutions to be deployed at a large scale by all these actors, to promote an economy that respects planet boundaries, consumes less natural resources, emits less greenhouse gases and produces less waste. With this MOOC, you will understand the limits of the linear economy, based on the "Take-Make-Waste" principle, as well as the need for a shift towards circular economy. Circular Economy has long been confined to the recycling and waste management sector. Now, we must realize its systemic nature, in all sectors and the role of each organization in its deployment. To clarify your thoughts, we have met 3 companies, from various sectors, who are very committed to the subject. They will share with you their journey to transform their business model into a circular one. We will also meet some start-ups, SMEs and actors of the social and solidarity economy, to better understand the role and necessary cooperation between those actors to move from a linear to a circular economy. We have made this MOOC with the consultancy agency in strategy Circulab, which helps organisations to create circular and regenerative solutions. Circulab will give you pedagogical content, in order to understand what is the circular economy, how it is embodied today within organisations and what are challenges to take up to deploy it at a larger scale.

Syllabus

The circular economy: concept & stakes

In this first module, we will explore our linear economy and try to understand why this system is not sustainable. This will lead us to consider an alternative and thus define the circular economy. We will take a theoretical approach by thinking of society and the economy as a system, the "living", governed by numerous interactions between diverse actors.

The circular economy today, in companies's value chains

This second module will focus on the circular economy in the production and distribution processes of companies. We will go back to systems thinking to redefine the notion of value created by the company, in order to understand how a company can create or evolve a business model towards more circularity.

The circular economy tomorrow: breakthrough innovations & new business models

In this third module, we will explain the transition to a circular economy within the company. We will propose a methodological framework of thought to know how to innovate, proposing some examples of solutions, and finally what questions to ask to evaluate one's business model and verify that it is truly sustainable.

How to promote collectively the circular economy model?

This fourth and final module will take us back to look at society as a whole. We will show how we can all, by acting collectively, transform the way our society works, based on the linear economy, into a circular economy.