Apply Circular Economy to Own Businesses
Summary
Students start and run micro businesses in this class. After students worked on personal waste audit and gallery map exercises, we actually worked on a 'brain dumping' session in which students worked on making their own businesses more circular and sustainable.
CollapseLearning Goals
Applying the circular economy concepts and mindset to the operational processes in practice.
Context for Use
This activity is a follow-on to the Wicked Problem of an Equitable Zero-Waste Circular Economy module.
This is a senior level course on entrepreneurship and students start and run small businesses. Students can come from different fields but have taken introductory courses on entrepreneurship. The activity is basically an add-on to the major project of this course.
Description and Teaching Materials
I did not use any materials except for a big poster and some markers for each group. Each group engaged in brainstorming to come up with ideas to make their businesses and the value chain process more circular.
Teaching Notes and Tips
This activity should follow the gallery map exercise. Students should have already conceptualized a business idea and can use brainstorming to make their process more circular.
Assessment
I asked students to at least make one change in their business model based on this brainstorming. Some groups changed their materials, some of them simplified their products, some removed plastic packaging altogether from their product, and others switched to a order-based business model.