Research

The work carried out over the last 5 years has contributed to turn he UNESCO Chair on Sustainibility at UPC into a pole of innovation and excellence in innovative technologies to meet social, environmental and economic needs. Most transformative and participative projects are designed and articulated oriented to SDG, and including the circular economy approach.

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In recent years, the Circular Economy has been receiving growing attention among policy makers and business leaders, becoming a priority in the policies of some European countries and the European Union. The Circular Economy is presented as an alternative to the current model of production and consumption, with the potential to solve environmental challenges, while opening up business opportunities and economic growth.

 

Innovation is the key element to achieve the transition to a Circular Economy. New technologies, processes, services and business models will be necessary, as well as the integral change in consumer behavior patterns. Managing all these changes requires administrations and companies to have data and information for decision-making and resource allocation. But in many cases this information is still not available or is fragmented.

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Most efforts will be directed during next years to improve the knowledge generation and transfer related to circular economy.

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