A practical foundation for designing products, services and operations that keep value in use
2 modules · 6 lessons · 2h 35m
Build the mental model used throughout the course. Establish what makes an economy circular, how resources move through technical and biological cycles, and why familiar claims such as “recyclable” do not by themselves demonstrate circularity.
A circular economy is not simply a recycling programme. It changes how organisations design products, source materials, deliver value and handle goods after their first use. This course gives you a practical foundation for assessing those choices: what to map, which strategies to compare, and how to tell a credible circular opportunity from a claim that shifts impacts elsewhere.
Across 19 in-depth lectures, you will build a shared vocabulary, map product and material flows, establish a baseline, and identify where value is being lost. You will then examine design approaches such as repair, reuse and remanufacture; compare business models that support them; and work through the procurement, reverse logistics and operating decisions that make circular practices possible. Each topic connects principles to decisions a product, operations or sustainability team can actually make.
The final module brings the pieces together in a practical implementation sequence. You will learn to scope a pilot, set decision criteria, account for incentives and operational constraints, and diagnose common failure modes. The course is suited to early-career professionals who need a rigorous starting point rather than a specialist engineering qualification. By the end, you will be able to explain core principles and make a defensible first assessment of where a product or service could reduce waste and keep materials in use.