Abstract:

Recycling demolition and construction waste is a key issue to develop Circular Economy. This is why, in the last years, new technical regulations have been approved related to it in Europe. Engineering education requires to adapt to these new conditions and to teach higher education students how to apply them. Collaboration with companies can be a key asset to develop practical methodologies, aimed to motivate students.

This was done as an EELISA (European Engineering Learning Innovation and Science Alliance) research and innovation activity: “Optimization of construction and demolition materials management by applying Circular Economy methodologies. RCD-EC”. It was implemented in subjects of different curricular projects, led by the School of Agricultural, Food and Biosystems Engineering (ETSIAAB) with the support of INCOPE Consultants S.L. The experience objective was students’ acquisition of knowledge in circular economy and the optimisation of management of construction materials. Students worked in teams to develop a solution for the proposed challenge and to produce an infographic design to present their results in a common session in which opinions were exchanged and the results obtained discussed. It was organized between September 2023 and June 2024 by some members of the Circular EELISA Community.

We will present some of the strategies used in this activity, aimed to involve teachers and students of engineering from different Schools of “Universidad Politécnica de Madrid” (Spain) and other partners from the EELISA Alliance. We will analyse the design of this activity and the results obtained, to try to explain the success or errors of some of the approaches to it, to share them with the academic community, looking forward to find new ideas to be developed for next courses.

Keywords:

New challenges for the Higher Education Area, University/Industry Experiences, STEM Education Experiences.