Project Summary
KODECET aims to create 4 Digi-SUSTEACH centers that build capacity
at universities to teach Sustainable and Circular Economy (SACE) to new
career faculty, students, and early-stage professionals. The goal is to
develop a workforce with the knowledge and skills on SACE for better
business and environment.
Asian industrial economies that face a
shortage of expertise in the SACE sector will benefit from this. Part of
Asia is already industrialized and needs capacity building. The ’China
plus one’ strategy by foreign businesses consider India and Thailand as
viable industrializing options, thus these countries need attention on
skilled labor to transition into circular economies to meet global and
national sustainability agenda. In 2015, many European countries, such
as Finland, the Netherlands, and Austria, have dedicated significant
resources to SACE knowledge development. KODECET uses this knowledge
from European universities for capacity building in Asia.
Creating
high scale and impact, 2 universities each in India and Thailand will
have total of 4 ’digital centres, Digi-SUSTEACH’ under KODECET with
open-source courses in SACE helping to improve job opportunities and
skill development. Digi-SUSTEACH will develop 3 courses with full
delivery materials in booklet and videos format, train 20 faculty
members on a didactics manual and training material kit, enroll 120
students in courses and organize HACKTHON with 80 registrations, which
will connect universities and businesses. Multiplying its reach, the
centre will disseminate this knowledge to other universities, colleges,
and businesses.
By building capacity in universities and training
future manpower, the project addresses knowledge gaps and develops
academia-business network in the SACE domain in 2 countries. EU
universities develop an ecosystem understanding and build capabilities
to better deal with global sustainability issues by collaborating with
Asian counterparts.
Activities (36 months):
- Phase I: Conduct a comparative analysis of the current level of circular
economy awareness and education in India and Thailand. Develop a
manual on best practices. - Phase II: Capacity building through training on HE didactics for teaching
circular economy models, training for graduate students, and training for
business employees. - Phase III: Development and implementation of circular economy hubs in
India and Thailand. These hubs will provide teaching and didactical advice
and serve as an introduction to the circular business model. - Phase IV: Organize conferences and hackathons to build brand awareness
for the digital centers, ensuring continuation of activities post KODECET.