Abstract:

The global transition toward a carbon-neutral, circular economy is not merely a technical challenge but a profound structural shift requiring total support of Higher Education (HE) programs. To meet the demands of the Green Transition, sustainability skills should be fostered by academia and developed by students. Curricular and extra-curricular activities are the educational landscape offering pedagogical intervention. This paper presents the ReOil project, an extra-curricular Event-Based Learning (EBL) initiative that integrates active methodologies to acquire essential green soft skills and professional readiness, fostering collaboration, problem-solving, and creativity. The core of the project is a strategic University-Industry synergy, utilizing Used Cooked Oils (UCO) as a case study. In partnership with the National Consortium for the Collection and Treatment of Used Oils and Fats (CONOE), ReOil provides Industrial Biotechnology Master students with authentic operational constraints and industrial foresight, translating high-level theoretical competencies into waste management and industry-driven environmental solutions, by aligning academic curricula with real-world bioeconomy and circular economy challenges. The event is designed for the Italian Bioeconomy Day, held on the 28th of May 2026.

The methodology followed a typical structured collaborative process:
i) Conception & Research: Identifying goals, target audience, and the initial, creative idea;
ii) Planning & Design: Developing detailed timelines, budgets, and communication strategies;
iii) Coordination & Execution: Managing resources, speakers, and on-site logistics;
iv) Evaluation & Reflection: Analyzing the event's success, learning from mistakes, and reviewing the process, learning diary filling and analysis.

From the education point of view, the project allowed to cultivate student autonomy and professional identity, high-level networking opportunities, sustainability skills development, public engagement and democratized transfer of scientific knowledge to non-expert audiences.

The project afforded to faculty staff and industrial managers a co-designed competence development, where higher education is not static but is built through continuous dialogue and informed by industrial real-world needs.

Ultimately, academia acted as a dynamic, interactive space for social and industrial transition: the university may be a powerful engine for the systemic change required to secure a sustainable, circular future, while students co-designed their professional identity, soft skills development and sustainability skills.

Keywords:

Higher Education Programs, Event-Based Learning, Green Transition, Exhausted Vegetable Oils, Soft Skills.