Features of the Higher Education for the Circular Economy: The Case of Italy

Abstract

The higher education system plays a critical role in supporting the transition towards a circular economy (CE). It helps create business leaders and policymakers having appropriate skills, competences, and consciousness referring to the CE challenges. Nevertheless, few studies have specifically investigated how the higher education system is addressing the CE, how the current academic offering is integrating the CE principles, and which skills and competences are currently provided. This paper overcomes these limitations by investigating the current offering of the higher education for the CE in Italy. We analyze the academic programs, courses, and modules at different levels of 49 Italian universities and, by means of a detailed classification of the learning outcomes, provide a clear picture of the knowledge, skills, and competences offered by the CE education. We finally discuss implications of our findings concerning the development of CE education and CE jobs.