ONLINE COURSE

Circular Economy:

Transition for Future Sustainability

Why enroll in this course?

Be a sustainable innovator in your organization by analyzing circular economies at both corporate and social levels.

Examine circular economies using a systems approach, considering institutional frameworks and policies.

Comprehend the meaning and evolution of circular economies and explore the roles that material science, the economy, institutional structures, and technology play in shaping this concept.

Interact with MIT experts, instructors, and peers in live synchronous sessions for a more comprehensive learning experience.

Networking opportunities establish professional connections with industry experts and your cohort.

Access to rich supplementary resources provides additional materials and content for a more thorough educational journey.

What will you learn?

Grasp the basic principles of a Circular Economy.
Identify the technical and scientific methods for achieving circularity and how to quantify it.
Discover the economic and institutional structures that enable the circular economy.
Explore case studies of real-world sustainability successes and failures.
Analyze the importance of recycling plastics and electronics to address environmental issues and toxic waste.
Understand how transportation of materials plays an influential role in sustainability.
Explore the life cycle of the circular economy.
Determine the best energy alternatives for the circular economy.

All the participants who successfully complete their program will receive an MIT Professional Education Certificate of Completion, as well as Continuing Education Units (CEUs)*.

To obtain CEUs, complete the accreditation confirmation, which is available at the end of the course. CEUs are calculated for each course based on the number of learning hours.

*The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is defined as 10 contact hours of ongoing learning to indicate the amount of time they have devoted to a non-credit/non-degree professional development program.

To understand whether or not these CEUs may be applied toward professional certification, licensing requirements, or other required training or continuing education hours, please consult your training department or licensing authority directly.

Course outline

By shifting your organization to a Circular Economy, you can ensure growth over time while treating waste as a design flaw. By doing this, we take the outdated linear system and make it circular with resiliency. Circular Economies are emerging as a necessity as the overexploitation of natural resources increases.

1

The Circular Economy Concept and Aspiration

2

Material and Energy Strategies for a Circular Economy

3

Climate Change and the Circular Economy

4

Natural Capital Accounting and Circular Economies: Environmental Accounting Schemes

5

Waste-Resource Recovery Systems

6

Technologies for Recycling

7

Modeling the Circular Economy

8

Economics and Circularity

9

Closing the Measurement Gaps for Circular Economies

Who is this online course for?

Sustainability professionals looking to deepen their understanding of the Circular Economy, either to specialize their careers in this field or become more well-rounded leaders.
Managers from a variety of backgrounds and industries seeking to create sustainable economic growth models for their organizations.
Consultants operating at local, national, and international levels seeking to understand key aspects of sustainability and the circular economy to offer innovative, eco-friendly solutions to clients across diverse sectors.
Professionals in Industries and sectors that are very material-sensitive who want to mitigate negative environmental impacts and seek more sustainable and effective methods for the construction of their materials
Climate Consortium members who aim to accelerate the implementation of large-scale, real-world solutions to address climate change challenges while inspiring transformative climate progress across industries and the globe.

Instructors

Prof. John E. Fernández

Professor of Building Technology Program in the Department of Architecture and Director of MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

Dr. Afreen Siddiqi

Research scientist, MIT and Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Prof. Olivier De Weck

Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems, MIT

Course overview

This course really helped to understand all the emerging frameworks that reframe so much of what I have experienced in land conservation and nature-based solution space. I advocate for incentivized solutions in the public and private sectors, so this course helped me repackage case studies to incorporate fundamental principles, values, and visions for circular economy. I see how it will help with project management and project advising. It also introduced me to entirely new view of the world through industrial ecosystem management. I tend to work with companies and clients to turn land from an undervalued resource into a working capital asset, extending the life and ecosystem functions of the natural landscape. I can now talk about this from a circular economy business model that will add value and continue to differentiate my expertise. The content was incredibly robust and comprehensive. I appreciated continued access to the curated porfolio of resources provided. It was definitely more than I expected.

Sharon Richardson

Circular Economy Activist,

Resilient Lands Matter

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