Systemic Design education in interdisciplinary environments: enhancing a co-disciplinary approach towards Circular Economy

Abstract

The transition of our linear economic models towards a Circular Economy is perceived as a pressin...g need at European level. A growing body of literature highlights the demand for new skills to facilitate this transition: more than new professions, it is about specific professional skills for circular businesses. The European Erasmus+ project MULTITRACES falls within this scenario and is based on the co-creation of a multidisciplinary online training programme that involved Systemic Design in collaboration with other scientific and economic disciplines. The learning process focused on the acquisition of both hard and soft skills relevant to the Circular Economy in the rural area, through a structure combining a vertical approach to disciplinary topics, with a horizontal approach based on teamwork on industrial issues. The experience gained within the Systemic Design module opens a structured reflection on how to teach design to students from different backgrounds, how design skills can foster a co-disciplinary approach to complex issues, such as the Circular Economy, and how digital tools can support design education.

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18 February 2022
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Systemic Design education in interdisciplinary environments: enhancing a co-disciplinary approach towards Circular
Economy / Aulisio, Asja; Barbero, Silvia; Pereno, Amina; Rovera, Fabiana. - ELETTRONICO. - 2(2021), pp. 529-539.
((Intervento presentato al convegno DRS LEARN X DESIGN 2021: Engaging with Challenges in Design Education
tenutosi a Jinan (China) nel 24-26 September 2021 [10.21606/drs_lxd2021.05.250].
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Systemic Design education in interdisciplinary environments: enhancing a co-disciplinary approach
towards Circular Economy
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Design Research Society

Engaging with Challenges in Design Education
PROCEEDINGS
DRS LEARNxDESIGN 2021
6th International Conference
for Design Education Researchers
24–26 September 2021
Jinan|China
Editors
Erik Bohemia
Liv Merete Nielsen
Lusheng Pan
Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi
Yang Zhang
VOLUME 2

Proceedings of the DRS LEARN X DESIGN 2021
6th International Conference for Design Education Researchers
Engaging with Challenges in Design Education
10th Anniversary of the International Conference for Design Education Researchers
国际设计教育学者大会10周年
Editors
Erik Bohemia
Liv Merete Nielsen
Lusheng Pan
Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi
Yang Zhang

First published 27 December 2021
Conference Design Identity and Cover Credit: Katja Thorning
Conference Secretary: Jianglong Yu
Zodiac Designs organised by Peiyuan Zhang and Rui Zhang
Zodiac Designers
梁雨荷 Yuhe Liang
郭梦楠 Mengnan Guo
陈 元 Yuan Chen
刘昕昊 Xinhao Liu
姚梦雅 Mengya Yao
吴国强 Guoqiang Wu
纪 青 Qing Ji
赵 亮 Liang Zhao
谭 玲 Ling Tan
郭 萌 Meng Guo
杨迪凯 Dikai Yang
张东京 Dongjing Zhang
张博超 Bochao Zhang
赵子悦 Ziyue Zhao
张大立 Dali Zhang
徐晨蕾 Chenlei Xu
纪 青 Qing Ji
刘 鑫 Xin Liu
勇君文 Junwen Yong
柴维倩 Weiqian Chai
陈宇星 Yuxing Chen
朱日能 Rineng Zhu
王 淼 Miao Wang
吴文越 Wenyue Wu
赵子悦 Ziyue Zhao
郑新遥 Xinyao Zheng
陈长社 Changshe Chen
潘 越 Yue Pan
NAUFAN NOORDYANTO
Editors
Erik Bohemia
Liv Merete Nielsen
Lusheng Pan
Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi
Yang Zhang
Section Editors
Úrsula Bravo
Catalina Cortés
Jeannette LaFors
Fabio Andres Telle
Natalia Allende
Eva Lutnæs
Karen Brænne
Siri Homlong
Hanna Hofverberg
Ingvill Gjerdrum Maus
Laila Belinda Fauske
Janne Beate Reitan
Lesley-Ann Noel
Renata Marques Leitão
Hannah Korsmeyer
Sucharita Beniwal
Woodrow W. Winchester III
Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi
Fatma Korkut
Gülay Hasdoğan
Arild Berg
Camilla Groth
Fausto Medola
Kate Sellen
Juha Hartvik
Mia Porko-Hudd
Ingvild Digrane
Bryan F. Howell
Jan Willem Hoftijzer
Mauricio Novoa Muñoz
Mark Sypesteyn
Rik de Reuver
Katja Thoring
Nicole Lotz
Linda Keane
Yashar Kardar
Lilyana Yazirlıoğlu
Ayşegül Özçelik
Sarper Seydioglu
Yang Zhang
Ziyuan Wang
Xiang Xia
©2021 Editors and Authors
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Master digital copy https://learnxdesign.net/lxd2021/drs2021-learnxdesign
ISBN 978-1-912294-43-5 (electronic) Volume 1
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i
General Conference International Planning Committee
« Lusheng Pan, Conference General chair, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Liv Merete Nielsen, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Yang Zhang, Shandong University of Art & Design / Nanjing University of the Arts, China
« Erik Bohemia, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Jianglong Yu, Conference General Secretary, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
International Academic Organising Committee
« Liv Merete Nielsen, Chair, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Yang Zhang, Shandong University of Art & Design / Nanjing University of the Arts, China
« Naz A G Z Börekçi, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Erik Bohemia, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
International Scientific Programme Committee
« Liv Merete Nielsen, Chair, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Erik Bohemia, Co-Chair, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Katja Thoring, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
« Eva Lutnæs, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Úrsula Bravo, Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile
« Roland M. Mueller, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany
« Naz A G Z Börekçi, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Lesley-Ann Noel, North Carolina State University, USA
« Yang Zhang, Shandong University of Art & Design / Nanjing University of the Arts, China
« Juha Hartvik, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
« Bryan F. Howell, Brigham Young University, USA
« Arild Berg, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Yashar Kardar, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Derek Jones, The Open University, UK
« Ingvild Digranes, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
Patrons of the Conference
« Liv Merete Nielsen, Oslo Metropolitan University Norway
« Janne Beate Reitan, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Derek Jones, The Open University, UK
« Nicole Lotz, The Open University, UK
International Scientific Panel
« Natalia Allende, Design for Change, Chile
« Sucharita Beniwal, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
« Arild Berg, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Erik Bohemia, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Karen Brænne, Volda University College, Norway
« Úrsula Bravo, Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile
« Jun Cai, Tsinghua University, China
« Catalina Cortés, Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile
« Ingvild Digranes, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
« Laila Belinda Fauske, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Camilla Groth, University of South East Norway, Norway
« Juha Hartvik, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
« Gülay Hasdoğan, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Jan Willem Hoftijzer, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
« Hanna Hofverberg, Malmö University, Sweden
« Siri Homlong, Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Sweden
« Bryan F. Howell, Brigham Young University, USA
« Derek Jones, The Open University, UK
« Yashar Kardar, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Linda Keane, AIA & The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA
« Fatma Korkut, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Hannah Korsmeyer, Monash University, Australia
« Jeannette LaFors, Kelefors Consulting, USA
« Nicole Lotz, The Open University, UK
« Eva Lutnæs, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Renata Marques Leitão, Cornell University, USA
« Ingvill Gjerdrum Maus, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Fausto Medola, Sao Paulo State University, Brazil
« Roland Mueller, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany & University of Twente, The Netherlands
« Liv Merete Nielsen, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Lesley-Ann Noel, North Carolina State University, USA
« Mauricio Novoa Muñoz, Western Sydney University, Australia
« Ayşegül Özçelik, Aalborg University, Denmark

ii
« Mia Porko-Hudd, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
« Janne Beate Reitan, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Amos Sculley, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
« Kate Sellen, OCAD University, Canada
« Sarper Seydioğlu, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Andrés Téllez, University of Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Colombia
« Katja Thoring, Anhalt University, Dessau, Germany
« Arno Verhoeven, University of Edinburgh, UK
« Woodrow W. Winchester, III, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
« Ziyuan Wang, Central Academy of Fine Arts, China
« Lilyana Yazirlıoğlu, Ted University, Turkey
« Yang Zhang, Shandong University of Art & Design / Nanjing University of the Arts, China
« Zhanjun Dong, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
International Scientific Review Panel
« Dilek Akbulut, Gazi University, Turkey
« Bilge Merve Aktaş, Aalto University, Finland
« Natalia Allende, Design for Change Chile, Chile
« L.N. Ece Arıburun Kırca, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
« F. Zeynep Ata, Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey
« Asja Aulisio, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
« Kardelen Aysel, Yasar University, Turkey
« Dean Conrad Bacalzo, Wenzhou-Kean University, USA
« Robert Barnes, London Metropolitan University, UK
« Birgit Bauer, HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Germany
« Sucharita Beniwal, National Institute of Design, India
« Audrey Bennett, University of Michigan, USA
« Arild Berg, Oslo Metropolitan University – Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Gizem Bodur, Atilim University, Turkey
« Erik Bohemia, Shandong University of Art & Design, China / Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Naz A G Z Börekçi, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Noora Bosch, University of Helsinki, Finland
« Suzie Boss, PBLWorks (National Faculty emeritus), USA
« Karen Braenne, Volda University College, Norway
« Úrsula Bravo, Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile
« Charlie Breindahl, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
« Lore Brosens, University of Ghent, Belgium
« Jun Cai, Tsinghua University, China
« Ece Canli, University of Minho, Portugal
« Jui-Feng Chang, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China
« Christos Chantzaras, Technical University of Munich, Germany
« Fan Chen, Tongji University, China
« JiaYing Chew, University of the Arts London and National University of Singapore, Singapore
« Catalina Cortes, Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile
« Füsun Curaoğlu, Eskişehir Technical University, Turkey
« Bengü Dağlı, Dogus University, Turkey
« Santiago De Francisco Vela, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
« Juan Alfonso de la Rosa, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
« Rik de Reuver, MODYN BV, The Netherlands
« Dekuan Deng, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Ingvild Digranes, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
« Meng Yue Ding, Tianjin University, China
« Sandra Dittenberger, New Design University, Austria
« Hua Dong, Brunel University London, UK
« Zhanjun Dong, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Richard Elaver, Appalachian State University, USA
« Nesrin Ahmed Elmarakbi, Northumbria University, UK
« Özlem Er, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
« Laila Belinda Fauske, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Laura Ferrarello, Royal College of Art, UK
« Eliana Ferrulli, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
« Stefano Follesa, University of Florence, Italy
« Ge Fu, freelancer, China
« Francesco Galli, IULM university, Italy
« Peng Gao, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Koray Gelmez, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
« Michael Robert Gibson, The University of North Texas, USA
« Emma Gieben-Gamal, University of Edinburgh, UK
« Adela Glyn-Davies, University of Derby, UK
« Gloria Gomez, OceanBrowser Ltd., New Zealand and University of Sydney, Australia
« Gabriele Goretti, Jiangnan University, China

iii
« Colin M. Gray, Purdue University, USA
« Wyn Griffiths, Middlesex University, UK
« Camilla Groth, University of South-Eastern Norway, Finland
« Cansu Günaydın Donduran, Ozyegin University, Turkey
« Selin Gürdere Akdur, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
« David Hands, Lancaster University, UK
« Juha Hartvik, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
« Gülay Hasdoğan, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Clive David Hilton, Coventry University, UK
« JanWillem Hoftijzer, Delft Univ. of Technology, The Netherlands
« Hanna Hofverberg, Malmö University, Sweden
« Siri Homlong, Konstfack University of Arts, Sweden
« Bryan F. Howell, Brigham Young University, USA
« Hsu-Chan Hsiao, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China
« Oscar Huerta, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
« Benjamin Hughes, Beijing Institute of Technology, China
« Marwa Abdulhameed Isa, Bahrain Polytechnic, Bahrain
« Rachel Jane Jahja, RMIT University, Vietnam
« Thessa Jensen, Aalborg University, Denmark
« Min Jiang, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China
« Li Jie, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Derek Jones, The Open University, UK
« Yashar Kardar, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Linda Keane, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA
« Janey Klingelfuss, University of Chester, UK
« Fatma Korkut, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Hannah Korsmeyer, Monash University, Australia
« Jeannette Renee LaFors, Kelefors Consulting, USA
« Andreas Lanig, DIPLOMA Hochschule, Germany
« Renata Leitão, Cornell University, USA
« Jia-bao Liang, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China
« Zhengping Liow, Singapore Polytechnic and National University of Singapore, Singapore
« Yuan Liu, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
« Leon Loh, Kyushu University, Japan
« Nicole Lotz, The Open University, UK
« Jennifer Loy, Deakin University, Australia
« Eva Lutnæs, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Kristina Maria Madsen, Aalborg University Business School, Denmark
« Renae Mantooth, North Carolina State University, USA
« Anastasios Maragiannis, University of Greenwich, UK
« Ingvill Gjerdrum Maus, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Bree McMahon, University of Arkansas, USA
« Fausto Orsi Medola, Sao Paulo State University, Brazil
« Juan Giusepe Montalvan Lume, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Peru
« Roland Maximilian Mueller, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany
« Kelly Murdoch-Kitt, The University of Michigan, USA
« Liv Merete Nielsen, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
« Lesley-Ann Noel, North Carolina State University, USA
« Mauricio Novoa Muñoz, Western Sydney University, Australia
« Jody Nyboer, Syracuse University, USA
« Anniliina Omwami, University of Helsinki, Finland
« Melis Örnekoğlu Selçuk, Ghent University, Belgium
« Ayşegül Özçelik, Aalborg University, Denmark
« Dalsu Özgen Koçyıldırım, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Verena Natalie Paepcke-Hjeltness, Iowa State University, USA
« Meng Pang, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Şule Taşlı Pektaş, Baskent University, Turkey
« Stefano Perna, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
« Alejandra Virginia Poblete Pérez, Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana, Chile
« Mia Johanna Porko-Hudd, Åbo Akademi university, Finland
« Camilo Potocnjak-Oxman, Australian National University, Australia
« Katelijn Quartier, Hasselt University, Belgium
« Gonzalo Raineri, Universidad Finis Terrae, Chile
« Prithvi Raj, Aakaar: Humanistic Co-Design, India
« Noemi Sadowska, University of the Arts London, UK
« Selen Sarıel, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
« Angelika Seeschaaf Veres, OCAD University, Canada
« KM Sellen, OCAD University, Canada
« Bahar Sener-Pedgley, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Sarper Seydioğlu, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Zhabiz Shafieyoun, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, USA

iv
« Linmeng Shan, Bohai University, China
« Saadeddine Shehab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
« Han Shi, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, China
« Mengya Shi, Hebei University of Economics and Business, China
« Valentina Sierra Nino, University of Florida, USA
« Liliana Soares, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Portugal
« Anne Solberg, University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway
« Kirsten Bonde Sorensen, Danish School of Media and Journalism, Denmark
« Ricardo Sosa, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
« Michal Stefanowski, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland
« Awoniyi Stephen, Texas State University, USA
« Ruth Stevens, UHasselt, Belgium
« Shiping Tang, Nanjing University of The Arts, China
« Andrea Taverna, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
« Anne P. Taylor, School Zone Institute, USA
« Fabio Andres Tellez Bohorquez, Appalachian State University, USA
« Marije ten Brink, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
« Nazli Terzioglu Ozkan, Linköping University, Sweden
« Katja Thoring, Anhalt University, Germany
« Jinliang Tian, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Şebnem Timur, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
« Gülşen Töre Yargın, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Canan Emine Ünlü, TED University, Turkey
« Robin Vande Zande, Kent State University, USA
« G. Arno Verhoeven, University of Edinburgh, UK
« Marianne von Lachmann, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
« Stefanie Voß, University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin, Germany
« Xiaohua Wang, Shan Dong Yingcai University, China
« Zhenzi Wang, Yunnan Arts University, China
« Vanissa Wanick, Winchester School of Art, UK
« Andrea Wilkinson, LUCA School of Arts, Belgium
« Fan Wu, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China
« Lu-Ting Xia, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China
« Artemis Yagou, Deutsches Museum, Germany
« Zeynep Yalman-Yıldırım, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
« Peian Yao, Università Degli Studi Firenze, Italy
« Gizem Yazıcı, Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey
« Lilyana Yazirlıoğlu, TED University, Turkey
« Derya Yorgancıoğlu, Ozyegin University, Turkey
« Teng-Chin Yu, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China
« Xiaojuan Zhang, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Yang Zhang, Shandong University of Art & Design / Nanjing University of the Arts, China
« Jianpeng Zheng, Shandong university of Arts & Design, China
« Xiaojie Zhu, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
Assistants
« Zhen Xu, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Xiaojie ZHU, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Jueyun Li, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Zi Ye, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Yinglei Wen, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Xiaohui Yang, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
« Xiaojie Lin, Shandong University of Art & Design, China
Interpreters
« Hong Liang, China
« Ning Wang, Qingdao Dingwen Communications, China
« Linlin Qiu, China
« Shan Gao, China
« Yu Ting, Ningbo University of Finance & Economics, China
« Xueqin Wang, Zhong kai University of Agriculture and Engineering, China

Volume 2 | 卷2

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Syemic Design Educaon in Interdisciplinary Environments
Enhancing a Co-Disciplinary Approach Towards Circular Economy
Asja Aulisio, Amina Pereno, Fabiana Rovera and Silvia Barbero
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs_lxd2021.05.250
The transition of our linear economic models towards a Circular Economy is perceived as a pressing
need at European level. A growing body of literature highlights the demand for new skills to facilitate
this transition: more than new professions, it is about specific professional skills for circular
businesses. The European Erasmus+ project MULTITRACES falls within this scenario and is based on
the co-creation of a multidisciplinary online training programme that involved Systemic Design in
collaboration with other scientific and economic disciplines. The learning process focused on the
acquisition of both hard and soft skills relevant to the Circular Economy in the rural area, through a
structure combining a vertical approach to disciplinary topics, with a horizontal approach based on
teamwork on industrial issues. The experience gained within the Systemic Design module opens a
structured reflection on how to teach design to students from different backgrounds, how design
skills can foster a co-disciplinary approach to complex issues, such as the Circular Economy, and how
digital tools can support design education.
Keywords: systemic design, circular economy, co-disciplinary learning, interdisciplinary education,
digital learning tools
Introduction
Acquiring New Skills for the Circular Economy
The transition towards the vast and complex world of the Circular Economy first requires an understanding of
how to develop and implement innovative circular models (European Commission, 2020) and, at the same
time, how to define new skills necessary to interface with it. In particular, it is crucial to identify a series of
expertise – specific professional skills – so as to obtain a healthy and smooth transition towards sustainable
development and training of new professional profiles in this field. Naturally, the definition of these skills
cannot be unambiguous and definitive, because the Circular Economy is a constantly evolving field, but it is
possible to bring out those skills by matching supply and demand in the circular labour market.
To this end, it is necessary to focus on the needed competence, which can be defined as "a bricolage of
knowledge and the ability to act knowledge in specific contexts” and “a provisional outcome of a mainly
spontaneous individual and collective learning process" (Cepollaro, 2008, p. 44). Indeed, learning processes
play a key role for the acquisition of specific skills and professional knowledge, in fact it is significant to operate
strategically at an educational level researching the most suitable learning models to educate different kinds of
professional profiles able to deal with the systemic complexity of the Circular Economy. As mentioned before,
students need to acquire specific professional skills to work in the Circular Economy today, but it is imperative
to go beyond the existing scenario, defining the skills that will be needed in the future.
Moreover, it is important to highlight that the new skills for Circular Economy can be divided into two main
types: hard and soft skills. The hard or vertical skills have a technical-content nature, each individual is able to
use them independently and responsibly and derive from previous knowledge, they can be defined as
knowing-how (Jones & Lichtenstein, 2000). The soft or horizontal skills concern the distinctive characteristics
of an individual, they are essential for transforming one's knowledge into behaviour. So, what are the soft and

530
hard skills most useful for creating and strengthening the curriculum of potential professional profiles in the
field of Circular Economy?
The literature (Burger et al., 2019; De los Rios & Charnley, 2016; Rovera, 2020) shows how the hard skills
should focus on:
• the possible interactions or relationships that develop between Circular Economy models and the
labour market
• the methodologies for communicating circular project through action of promotion and dissemination
• the knowledge of physical, chemical, sensory and organoleptic properties of a product and its by-
products in order to enhance them
• the technical know-how, for understanding how to manage circular innovation, for example the
procedures or technologies for accomplishing an efficient management of environmental resources
and energy
Instead, the soft skills should be directed towards three different kinds of competences: the general
competences that “lend themselves well for comparison across a wide range of contexts, but are often rather
abstract, ambiguous, and difficult to measure” (Allen, Remaekers & Van Der Velden, 2005, p.52), the key-
competences for sustainability (UNESCO, 2017) and the key-competencies of Circular Economy (Rovera, 2020).
The first, the general competences, can consist in:
• leadership, in particular the concept of motivational leadership, the importance to know how to
coordinate a work group from a cognitive, emotional and behavioural point of view
• team work’s, to know how to interact and communicate with people belonging different fields and
nationality, being close-knit and proactive towards others and their ideas
• professionalism, autonomy, knowing how to make informed decision and how to organize one's work
• flexibility, to develop critical and reflective thinking
• time management, to manage time optimally
The second, the key competences for sustainability, consist in the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals. The third, the key-competencies of Circular Economy, are the most closely linked to the it
and consist in knowing how:
• to work in a multi-interdisciplinary team with different professional profiles
• to observe and be curious towards the innovative solutions
• to manage challenges and changes in business activities
• of qualitative communication skills to talk about company projects and activities
• be flexible in managing new tasks and new challenges related to the implementation of Circular
Economy models
The above-mentioned hard and soft skills represent the key expertises to optimally approach the complex
domain of Circular Economy. Design disciplines, with their infraordinary nature (Celaschi, 2008; Perec, 1984)
are capable of teaching and transmitting competences in a simple and immediate way. The term infraordinary
indicates the intrinsic capacity of Design to be a discipline among others. The Design tries to join disciplines
constructively and making them dialogue profitably and interconnected. In particular the action is possible
thanks to the valuable support of trans-disciplinary mediation skills developed by the designer to face-up
different project, from socio-technical prospective, that is emerges as a link for connecting between different
disciplines. On the other side, Design and, in particular, Systemic Design owns a very crucial and valuable role
in the context of sustainable development. Thanks to its key principles and methodology (Bistagnino, 2011;
Battistoni, Giraldo Nohra, & Barbero, 2019), Systemic Design becomes the effective and preeminent tool to be
able to face the complex field of Circular Economy, due to the use of systemic thinking, in fact, as Senge (1990)
states “this discipline helps us to see how to modify systems more efficiently and to act more in harmony with
the natural processes of the natural and economic world”.
Systemic Design in Circular Economy Education: The MULTITRACES Erasmus+ Project
The literature shows how the Circular Economy is not demanding a dedicated profession, but new skills that
complement and renovate existing educational programmes.
The Erasmus+ MULTITRACES project takes place in this scenario, involving four European universities
(University 'Vasile Alecsandri' of Bacau, Politecnico di Torino, International Hellenic University, Universidad De
Alicante) that collaborate around the topic of Circular Economy for rural areas. The framework of rural areas,
indeed, is undergoing phenomena of abandonment due to increasing urbanization and lack of interest in
agricultural activities by new generations. Circular businesses can bring new economic, social and
environmental opportunities to these areas, since sectors such as agro-industry and agro-forestry have a high

531
circular potential for valorizing natural resources and by-products.
For this reason, the three-year MULTITRACES project aims to develop a common vision of the topic, bringing
together different national (Romania, Italy, Greece, Spain) and disciplinary experiences (environmental and
production engineering, Systemic Design, agronomy and forestry sciences, business and management), with
the active support of four partner companies. Starting from this common vision, the universities have built an
international and interdisciplinary training programme which involves 56 students, aiming at providing them
with the skills they need to train in the field of Circular Economy, both as future professionals and as future
entrepreneurs.
The authors actively participated in the co-design of the training programme, which is divided into four
thematic modules, and in particular they personally implemented the Systemic Design for the Circular
Economy module, taking up the challenge of teaching Design methods and tools to students from different
countries and disciplines. Besides the trans-disciplinary mediation skills that characterize all design disciplines,
Systemic Design “provides practical tools to approach complex scenarios with a holistic perspective, while
supporting active cooperation among involved stakeholders” (Giraldo Nohra, Pereno & Barbero 2020). The
scope of Systemic Design is that of complex systems, hence in recent years it has built strong synergies with
the Circular Economy, which aims to rethink linear economic models from a broader and more systemic
perspective.
This paper illustrates the design process of the entire training programme and focuses specifically on the
methodology and results of the Systemic Design training module in order to answer two main research
questions:
1. What is the role of Design in a multi/inter/co-disciplinary approach to the Circular Economy?
2. How can the trans-disciplinary mediation skills of designers contribute to the training programme?
The experience of the MULTITRACES project provides an interesting use case to address these questions and
open up new reflections on the contribution of Design disciplines to complex, cross-sectoral and inter-
disciplinary issues such as the Circular Economy.
Methodology
Designing the Role of Design in a Multidisciplinary Training Programme
The MULTITRACES course is based on a multidisciplinary approach to the issue of the Circular Economy in rural
areas, which has led to identifying the key disciplines to be involved in the project: Systemic Design,
environmental and production engineering, agronomy and forestry sciences, business and management. Each
discipline has defined its own expertise and topics to be addressed over four disciplinary modules. However,
while the participation of different disciplines ensures the multidisciplinary nature of the course, the common
aim was to offer an interdisciplinary vision to the topic of Circular Economy, by adopting a shared approach to
the educational programme.
Hence, the development of the MULTITRACES course consisted of three main phases, illustrated in Figure 1
1. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary programme development. The first phase involved the four
partner universities that shared a common research path on the Circular Economy in rural areas to
build a common vision. At the same time, the partners jointly investigated the hard and soft skills
needed by students for a career in the Circular Economy. This led to the definition of a horizontal and
vertical structure of the course modules, combining vertical knowledge on each subject with the
development of horizontal skills related to management, teamwork and communication aspects.
2. Design education. The second phase especially involved the Politecnico di Torino team in the
development of the Systemic Design module. Once the approach and main contents had been shared
with the other disciplines, it was essential to define what skills design can bring both to the Circular
Economy and to students and future professionals from different disciplines. While the team has
extensive experience in teaching Systemic Design in Circular Economy, within MULTITRACES it had to
define what cross-disciplinary skills to offer to a multidisciplinary class and how to teach them. In that
view, the direct collaboration with a company that deals with circular business in the rural area
(Agrindustria Tecco), was crucial to working on practical issues, building a use case of design
experimentation for the students.
3. Co-disciplinary experiential learning. Having students from four different countries and backgrounds
is an important experience in itself. Again, limiting the course to multidisciplinary runs the risk of
limiting students' engagement and teaching effectiveness. For this reason, developing an experiential
activity (named "mini-challenge") in collaboration with the company made it possible to implement a

532
learning-by-doing approach based on teamwork, fostering cultural and skills contamination among
the students, and enhancing design skills acquisition.
Figure 1. Summary scheme of the impact of Design Education for enhancing new skills in the Circular Economy field, 2021
Overall, the methodology adopted enabled to build an interdisciplinary training programme based on a
common approach to the complex issue of the Circular Economy in rural areas, defining the contribution of
Design both towards the topic addressed and towards the different disciplines interacting within circular
businesses.
Experiential Learning in a Digital Setting
The whole MULTITRACES course was run online to allow all students to attend the lessons remotely. This
choice was taken before the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to facilitate access from all parts of Europe for all
students, compatible with their academic courses. The online course allowed a large number of students to
easily participate in high-level international training: the current health emergency has further increased the
value of online courses for equitable access to education.
In detail, the course is divided into thematic modules, which has made it possible to define a replicable starting
framework adaptable to any discipline. The first module of Systemic Design included 2 hours per week of
theoretical frontal lessons on key themes, methodologies and working tools of the discipline. The various
methodological insights were covered by lecturers and researchers with expertise in each specific area to
ensure timely teaching on the topics addressed. The digital platform in this case has allowed them to carry out
the lessons live, recording them, thus giving the students the possibility to enjoy them at any time, catching up
or deepening the topics asynchronously.
In the preliminary phase of the course setting up, it was fundamental to reflect on the educational impact of e-
learning platforms, due to their multimedia, interactivity and virtuality features. At the same time, it was
important to reflect on their potential, in terms of engagement, going beyond the focus on the technical use of
digital tools as communication media. From that perspective, the main goal was to propose a different way of
thinking and experiencing the transversal integration of digital tools into education.
The choice of digital tools, in fact, is not irrelevant. Some knowledge does not exist as a given content in itself,
regardless the form in which it is taken (De Rossi & Ferranti, 2017). Its didactic form, transposed and mediated
on a digital platform, starting from the source, takes on different characteristics depending on the type of
media and tools that convey it. Moreover, technological advances have revolutionised teaching and learning
processes (Aristovnik, 2012). In this scenario, the digital technologies determine a re-mediation of knowledge
and produce a technological adaptation by the teacher and the student that introduces and produces a further
level of knowledge, that of new digital tools.

533
To fulfil this, the e-learning platform selected and used for MULTITRACES is Moodle (acronym of Modular
Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment), an open-source tool designed to offer teachers and students
a secure and integrated system for creating personalised learning environments beyond the University. The
platform is a computer-based course management environment, born from the constructionist ideology that
all learning is facilitated by the use and integration of tangible tools. With the use of Moodle, it was possible to
organise and manage the entire course, which was made up of four interconnected modules. The tools already
available on the platform for managing the work were integrated when necessary (such as quizzes, forums,
chat). Starting from this kind of collaborative tool, capable of creating similar interactions to those experienced
in a university classroom, the further integration with other digital tools became necessary. During distance
learning, it was even more important to engage and interact with the students, to motivate them to complete
the course, maintaining a high level of interest even in topics different from their standard academic paths.
The interaction strategies adopted, such as individual and collective gamification, – using quizzes, Q&A
sessions, debates and surveys – indirectly allow the application of co-design practices in the training
programme.
The implemented digital training system has employed standard tools (such as video lessons) for acquiring
hard skills, while it has made use of innovative interactive and teamwork tools for acquiring soft skills. The
educational approach based on the experiential learning theorised by John Dewey (Dewey, 1938) can and
should be a constant reference also in digital learning contexts.
In this way, in addition to relational and cultural exchange skills, the level of digital adaptation also brings
learning. One of the most effective digital tools used during the course was MIRO, a platform with a well-
designed User Experience, that enhances workflows and shared dashboards, both in real time and
asynchronously. The complexity of Systemic Design projects, especially in multidisciplinary teams, requires a
tool able to support different students in assessing and visualising the socio-technical system they take into
analysis. To do this at remote locations, the authors have assessed different tools to support students in
performing this task remotely Figure 2.
Figure 2. One of the concept examples made by a group of students, 2021
Preliminary results
Interdisciplinary and Cross-Sectoral Collaborations for Design Education. The Relevance of Synergy
Among Academic World and Company Partner
One of the aims of the MULTITRACES course is to train students, from different academic backgrounds, to
meet the present and future market needs of the Circular Economy. Therefore, it is first necessary to
investigate what those needs are, so as to be able to clearly and comprehensively define them and, at the
same time, identify the key competences that a practitioner should learn in order to meet them.
It is precisely on this last point that the entire European MULTITRACES Erasmus+ project devotes greater
attention: what are today and what will be in the immediate future the skills needed for the Circular Economy
market? What design skills different professionals should acquire, particularly in rural areas? As mentioned in

534
the introduction, it is possible to define two different types of skills: acquired competences (hard skills) and
transversal competences (soft skills). In order to properly define these skills and make students more
empowered for their professional future, the synergy among the Academic world and Company partner plays
a crucial role. The advantages of collaborating with companies located in the various territories where the
project partner universities are based enabled the identification of practical cases to work on with the
students. Within the piedmontese territory, the Politecnico di Torino collaborated with the Agrindustria Tecco
company in a constant comparison that further highlighted the unexpressed needs of the agri-food sector.
Agrindustria Tecco is a small company, located in the area of Cuneo, it has been operating since 1985 and was
born to transform secondary vegetable materials into industrial products useful for man. The company started
reusing local waste to produce new sustainable vegetable products, moving from the agro-industrial sector to
other fields of application, anticipating what we now call Circular Economy issues. The company, aims to treat
niche products with the care and seriousness of an artisan business, boasting customers in Italy and abroad, as
well as a series of assiduous collaborations with universities, innovation centres and other national companies,
always with a view to enhancing the value of local products and fully respecting what nature teaches and
makes available. The Company's attitude to establishing virtuous connections within local territorial systems,
was important in the MULTITRACES course, providing a practical view on how to interconnect and consciously
exchange resources. Agrindustria Tecco and Politecnico di Torino, collaborated in defining the topics for the
students to work on within the mini-challenges. The three topics selected and proposed to the students were:
• analysis of the use and re-use of processing waste of dyeing plants
• mapping and study of natural porous materials, with a focus on their possible use as soundproofing
materials
• valorisation of waste from the brewing process
Thanks to several discussion sessions with the student groups, it was possible to directly involve the CEO of the
company, who provided effective and practical feedback to the groups for possible implementations of the
circular solutions presented per each topic.
With this preamble, the role of the designer assumes a position of importance. The designer by definition has a
role as a mediator between knowledge, (Celaschi, 2008). This has facilitated dialogue and interaction between
disciplines both in the university environment and in the realisation of professional projects. It is with this
assumption that the project emphasises the potential of Design Education to establish a cross-sectoral
connection that generates contamination between the actors involved. Systemic Design, specifically,
promotes the ability to communicate the complexity of a project, made up of relationships between actors
and interconnection of material flows, in a clear and effective way through the use of different communication
techniques and skills. Beyond the specific form of Design, Fry (2009) said, "The intrinsic capacity of design is to
transform and shape the contemporary world". There is nothing more contemporary than fostering
multi/inter/co-disciplinary educational projects in connection with the real sustainable needs of companies.
The industry-academia collaboration of the MULTITRACES course has underlined how the first step in
promoting an industrial transition to the Circular Economy is to create an awareness among companies that
they need professionals with new skills in the field of circular businesses. For this the dialogue between
Universities and Companies can do no more than facilitate an innovative and cross-sectoral transition towards
Circular Economy.
From a Multidisciplinary to a Co-Disciplinary Approach: Fostering Cultural and Skills Contamination in
Education
The main idea behind the MULTITRACES project was to create a “MULTIdisciplinary TRAining in Circular
Economy and Smart valorization of the rural area for new business models''. Indeed, initially, the brief of the
project was to pursue a multidisciplinary approach to the construction of an innovative training course. This
choice has been hypothesized and recommended from a top-down perspective in which it is possible to allow
the division of the work among different professors. As Peruccio, Menzardi and Vrenna (2019) state,
“multidisciplinary is intended as the use of solutions borrowed from another discipline”. However, the main
limit of a multidisciplinary approach is that it aims at putting together multiple knowledge relating to different
disciplines, in a purely additive way. To avoid this risk, the four universities involved in the MULTITRACES
project have decided, through a co-design action and a bottom-up approach, characterized by a detailed and
structured knowledge management strategy, to design a learning course that is based, also, on co-disciplinary
experiential learning.
Concerning this, the most challenging aspect came with the practical component of the course, as illustrated in
Figure 3. How can we get a group of students from different backgrounds to work together, overcoming the

535
lack of a physical place for students and teachers to meet, get to know each other and work together? To meet
this task, the engagement of the project companies was decisive. Starting from their specific requests or
project suggestions in the field of Circular Economy, topics were defined on which to apply the notions seen in
the lessons through the creation of mini-challenges assessment to achieve in a multidisciplinary team.
Figure 3. Summary scheme about the focal points of the training course MULTITRACES, 2021
The management strategy of the course is characterized through the two approaches just mentioned above: in
the first part a multidisciplinary vertical approach to disciplinary topics based on lessons with a technical-
content nature for learning hard skills and, in the second ones, a horizontal approach on practical activities –
mini-challenge – to work on industrial issues and challenges. The horizontal structure gives soft skills but also
allows students to confront each other independently, experiencing work dynamics in multi-interdisciplinary
groups and building a common vision to the topics proposed to them which is no longer multidisciplinary but
co-disciplinary. In fact, thanks to the co-disciplinarity approach, each professional profile can achieve at
maximum a certain familiarity or empathic understanding with the knowledge of another one’s. Empathy
becomes an essential element to allow for co-thinking, thanks to a critical, reflective and systemic thinking.
Naturally, it is also crucial to specify that each professional profile cannot master the language or the
disciplinary knowledge of another one's (Blanchard-Laville, 2000). The co-disciplinarity experiential learning is
the ideal answer for promoting the development and the acquisition of new design skills, both vertical and
horizontal and, at the same time, for a cultural skills contamination among students of different nationality.
Finally, it is important to develop a consideration starting from the thought of Rossi (2017): “it highlights the
need to put in place a teaching able to mobilize all the resources favoring the knowing how to act as a mental
habitus” (p.194). In the next paragraph will be reported an in-depth examination of how education, Systemic
Design discipline and a systemic culture (Barbero et al., 2019) can break down the current barriers for
sustainable development and circular transition thanks to innovative learning approaches as the knowing how
to act.

536
The Role of Digital Tools to Connect People Around Europe to Experience “Learning by Doing”
Approach
As we mention in the previous section (see par. 2.2), the selection of a digital platform for distance learning is
crucial. It is necessary to have high-performance tools to be able to carry out activities that are usually done in
presence. In the MULTITRACES project the digital tools used became, as affirmed by Angels & Valanides
(2009), “cognitive partners”, able to amplify the methodological repertoire, in order to facilitate and
personalize student learning. One interesting aspect is that in this epochal phase, education in general has to
adapt, defining new contexts in which to transfer knowledge. From that perspective, ICT (Information and
Communication Technologies) in university teaching offer the possibility of enriching strategies and formats by
means of multimodality, flexibility and personalization in line with the complementary development of hard
and soft skills (De Rossi & Ferranti, 2017).
It is also essential to be able to involve students and stimulate their attention and involvement, especially in a
remote, digital, and international context. For this reason, teachers should be able to make appropriate
choices by transforming teaching methods. All this thanks to the development, updating and awareness of
other knowledge such as pedagogic-didactic and technological know-how (Angeli & Valanides, 2009).
The structure of the MULTITRACES course has at its core, a learning approach characterized by learning by
reading, understanding, doing (Rovera, 2020). These approaches are the most suitable for developing high-
quality education, based on the "creation of knowledge" (Kember, 2009; Samuelowicz & Bain, 2001) with
active learning at the centre. Furthermore, it is strategic, especially in the context of distance learning on
digital platforms, to complement the three learning aspects described above with other three pedagogical
approaches (UNESCO, 2017):
• a learner-centered approach, in this case the student is able to comprehend and assimilate knowledge
autonomously, in an active way and, in particular, the role of the teacher changes, as it is not simply
the one who transfers knowledge in a traditional, structured way (Barth, 2005), but it is the one who
must facilitate, encourage the student to reflect, manage and monitor his knowledge.
• an action-oriented learning, in this case the approach focused on action and experimentation, only
through experience, cognitive, emotional or sensorial nature, the student can learn and develop
personally. At the same time, it is possible to speak about experiential learning, a theory to which
various personalities have contributed over time including John Dewey (1938), Jean Piaget (1950) and
David Kolb (1984).
• a transformative learning, in this case the learner is able to be critically aware of tacit assumptions or
expectations and evaluate their relevance (Merizov, 2000). The teacher, instead, is the one who
stimulates the students to form their own and unique vision of the world.
These pedagogical approaches influenced the co-design process of the structure of the MULTITRACES course
and, in particular, the role of students and professors, fostering a context of mutual exchange aimed at
stimulating interaction and co-learning processes. Teamwork fosters cultural as well as skills transfer by
facilitating a dynamic and collaborative workplace that empowers students to achieve a shared goal. However,
doing this at a distance involves experimenting with digital tools that facilitate brainstorming and support
simultaneous work.
Discussion and Conclusion
The co-disciplinary approach pursued within MULTITRACES permeates the whole learning process, from the
general training structure to the module dedicated to Systemic Design. In order to effectively assess the
impact of this approach, a questionnaire was administered to the students, focusing both on their personal
and educational experience. A condensed analysis of the feedback shows that the practical dimension closely
linked to experiential learning has proved to be an excellent method for engaging and motivating students.
Moreover, the dynamics of practical work in groups, through "mini-challenges", have promoted team
dimensions, fostering interdisciplinarity and reducing the elements of individuality. Unfortunately, building a
strong team spirit in a virtual environment was sometimes difficult: this results in communication problems
which hindered the work fluidity of some groups. Some respondents also pointed out that real-life coaching is
more effective and engaging than online tutoring, precisely because dialogue is often not interrupted by
circumstances beyond one's control. Although positive, the limitation of these results lies in the focus on a
specific module and not on the whole training programme. However, this preliminary feedback is a valuable
input to improve features and elements for the next modules of the course, by increasing performance.
In the end, it is interesting to highlight that despite the difficulties encountered in this first phase of work, the
ability of design to adapt to the different contexts in which it operates was crucial. Designers should work

537
as design agents to adapt different roles (Lee, 2008), from design facilitators to developers, especially when
collaborating with different stakeholders in a cross-sectorial and inter-disciplinary context. The results from co-
design practices carried out remotely through online, digital platforms show that it is increasingly necessary
explore new interactive tools. Continuous research in this field is essential, especially for the education and
training sector.
Concerning the research questions, today more than ever, the pandemic has made us adapt to new
educational practices and raised new issues that requires experimentation and co-design of innovative tools
and services to effectively interconnect students, professors, and working teams. The paper presents the
methods and outcomes of the online training through a holistic perspective, which looks at the educational
experience within a broader disciplinary, cultural and social context. The aim is to contribute to the debate on
multi/inter/co-disciplinary education through a practical and interdisciplinary case study, which implemented
new interactive tools for design education. Moreover, the MULTITRACES experience has highlighted the
urgency of stimulating the production of critical consciences, promoting the development of a circular and
systemic culture to which Design Education can act as a pioneer.
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Asja Aulisio
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
asja.aulisio@polito.it
She is a research fellow in Systemic Design at Politecnico di Torino and teaching
assistant in Product Environmental Requirements. She graduated in Systemic
Design with a study period in Japan and participated in international workshops
with the Kyoto Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on the promotion of
the systemic approach as a driver for territorial development in terms of
sustainable and biodiverse tourism.
Amina Pereno
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
amina.pereno@polito.it
She is a post-doc research fellow in Systemic Design at Politecnico di Torino, and
lecturer of Product Environmental Requirements. She has been a Lagrange Project
fellow at ISI Foundation and a visiting researcher at the Nordic Center for
Sustainable Healthcare. She took part in many national and international research
projects on systemic and sustainable design. She has authored several peer-
reviewed publications about systemic design, sustainable healthcare and circular
economy.

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Fabiana Rovera
Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo, Italy
f.rovera@unisg.it
She is a collaborator at Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo
and one of the University referents for RUS - Rete delle Università per lo Sviluppo
sostenibile. During her studies she has been involved in projects about Systemic
Design, Circular Economy and design education. Her current research revolves
around the sustainability of universities and the strengthening of regional
governance for sustainable development by defining new models of university-
regional collaboration.
Silvia Barbero
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
silvia.barbero@polito.it
She is Associate Professor in Design at Politecnico di Torino, Department of
Architecture and Design. She is lecturer of Product Environmental Requirements
and Systemic Design. In 2005, she co-founded the Observatory of Eco-Pack. Since
2018, she is the chair of the international Systemic Design Association. She is the
scientific coordinator of many EU projects about sustainable development and
Circular Economy. She has authored numerous books and peer-reviewed articles,
international proceedings.

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