About the Programme
Upskilling Europe for Circularity
One of the goals of the RIVCircular project is upskilling the European workforce to harness the potential that digital solutions hold to implement circular economy practices across different industries.
To this end, RIVCircular has put together a comprehensive programme on Digital Technologies for the Circular Economy, targeting advanced professionals working on sustainability and digital transformation in their organisations.
You will understand how digital technologies become invaluable tools to advance circular economy principles in sectors such as construction, waste-to-resource and energy recapture, EV battery recycling and reuse, and the textile industry — and develop strategic approaches to leverage AI, blockchain, digital twins and other emerging tools in a circular context.
How the Programme Works
Sessions are coordinated mainly by representatives of the CIRCULAR Community at the EELISA Alliance of European Universities and collaborating organisations, and follow a consistent interactive format.
01
Interactive Methodology
Each session opens with a topic introduction and short debate, followed by a lecture from an invited expert, an interactive activity, and a closing discussion between participants and speakers.
02
Built Around Your Schedule
Two sessions per week for three weeks, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 14:00 to 17:20 CET – timed to accommodate different regional time zones and work commitments. Every session is recorded and stays available on demand for six months, so a clash in your calendar never means a gap in your learning.
03
Recognised Completion
Participants who complete all six sessions are awarded a Certificate of Completion validated by 28DIGITAL – evidence of applied capability, not just attendance.
RIV CIRCULAR Consortium
RIV CIRCULAR Courses
Six Sessions, Six Perspectives
Expand any session to see its learning topics, objectives, and the expert leading it.
Course & RIVCircular Presentation
28 Oct 2026 14:00–14:20 CET
Brief introduction of the course, its objectives and expected outcomes, followed by a presentation of the RIVCircular project.
General Introduction to Digitalisation and Circular Economy
28 Oct 2026 14:20–17:00 CET
- Background: model change and a new paradigm
- Core principles of the circular economy
- Circular business models and strategies
- Policy and regulatory landscape for circular economy
- The role of digitalisation in circular economy
- Overview of key digital technologies:
- Internet of Things — sensors, connectivity, data collection
- AI & machine learning — predictive maintenance, optimisation, automation
- Blockchain — transparency, traceability, secure data sharing
- Digital twins — virtual asset representation, real-time monitoring
- Big data analytics — insights from large datasets
- Additive manufacturing — on-demand production, reduced waste
- Explain the core principles of the circular economy and contrast them with the traditional linear model.
- Identify and describe key digital technologies — IoT, AI, blockchain, digital twins — and their role in enabling circularity.
- Discuss the policy and regulatory landscape supporting the transition to a circular economy.
Full Professor of Agroforestry Engineering at UPM, leading the CIRCULAR Community at the EELISA European Alliance of Universities and heading UPM's "Sustainability in construction and industry" research group. He coordinates UPM's Master's in Circular Economy of Minerals and Construction Products and the AMIR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master.
A technical expert and evaluator for Spanish accreditation bodies, he has worked on more than 50 R&D projects at national and EU level and published over 120 scientific papers and books. He was awarded the Alfonso Martín Escudero Research Award in 2001.
Blockchain for Circular Economy Transparency and Traceability
4 Nov 2026 14:00–17:00 CET
- Use cases in circular economy:
- Construction & demolition waste — transparent tracking of materials through recycling and reuse chains
- EV batteries — lifecycle data management and secure documentation for reuse, resale and recycling
- Textile industry — traceability, circular design and consumer trust
- Blockchain capabilities for circularity:
- Waste-resource and energy recapture — verifying provenance, ensuring compliance via immutable records
- Digital product passports
- Smart contracts — automating compliance, logistics and incentives for closed-loop systems
- Cross-cutting issues: OT cybersecurity and resilience of blockchain-integrated industrial systems
- Debate and conclusions
- Explain how blockchain ensures data integrity and traceability throughout a product's lifecycle.
- Analyse real-world use cases in construction, EV batteries and textiles to enhance circularity.
- Discuss how blockchain integrates with smart contracts and Digital Product Passports.
Associate Professor specialising in Artificial Intelligence, Business Intelligence, Blockchain and Machine Learning. She has led and contributed to over 20 national and international research projects and serves as an EIC Accelerator evaluator for the European Commission. She is co-founder and CEO of Recycllux, a startup leveraging Earth Observation, AI and blockchain for marine plastic recycling.
She holds a PhD in Systems Engineering and is a member of Romania's Council for Digital Transformation (CNTD), mentoring startups through programmes such as Ingenius Hub and Startarium.
Digital Product Passports to Improve Circularity of Industrial Products
11 Nov 2026 14:00–17:00 CET
- Introduction, motivation and general framework
- Application of the Digital Product Passport across sectors: construction and demolition waste; waste-resource and energy recapture; EV batteries; textiles
- European standards applied to the Digital Product Passport
- European policies for the Digital Product Passport
- Interactive activity
- Debate and conclusions
- Summarise the purpose and framework of the Digital Product Passport within the EU's regulatory context.
- Illustrate how the DPP applies in construction, EV batteries and textiles.
- Evaluate the role of the DPP in enhancing transparency, traceability and circular business models.
PhD Civil Engineer and faculty member at UPM, specialising in construction technology, smart construction, BIM and special concretes. He leads research in digitalisation of construction, digital twins and machine learning applications, with over 100 scientific articles including 73 in JCR journals and an h-index of 26.
He directs the University-Industry Chair Calle 30 at UPM, co-founded the startup BIM-Data, and was recognised among Stanford's World's Top 2% Scientists in 2021.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Circular Economy
18 Nov 2026 14:00–17:00 CET
- Overview of AI capabilities — machine learning, computer vision, NLP, optimisation
- Alignment of AI with circular economy strategies: efficiency, traceability, predictive insights
- AI applications across key circular economy loops
- Case studies:
- Design & production — AI in eco-design, generative design for resource efficiency
- Consumption & use — smart product-as-a-service models, personalised sustainable consumption
- Collection & sorting — computer vision for automated waste recognition
- Reuse & repair — predictive maintenance using IoT + AI, spare parts optimisation
- Recycling & material recovery — ML for material quality prediction, robotics in disassembly
- Identify how AI and machine learning optimise resource use, reduce waste and improve efficiency across industries.
- Describe specific applications such as predictive maintenance, intelligent sorting and demand forecasting.
- Analyse the challenges and opportunities of implementing AI in a circular economy context.
Rebeca is Lead Data Scientist and AI Architect at Hiberus in Seville, where she designs and delivers applied AI solutions for clients across a range of sectors. A graduate of the Universidad de Sevilla, she previously worked at Ayesa before joining Hiberus, and is a Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist.
Her hands-on work spans natural language processing — including entity recognition and detection of personally identifiable information in documents — and computer vision models for OCR, image tagging and description. As an architect she compares and costs candidate Azure and machine learning architectures, and supports the technical drafting of client proposals.
From Digital Circularity to Cognitive Circular Systems
25 Nov 2026 14:00–17:00 CET
- From digital circularity to cognitive circularity: what changes when systems can reason, predict and self-optimise, not just record and trace
- Cognitive sustainability as a decision-making framework for closed-loop systems:
- Integrating AI, digital twins and data analytics into a single feedback loop
- Moving from monitoring to autonomous, self-correcting circular processes
- Cognitive mobility: connecting vehicle, energy and material flows across the transport value chain
- Waste-based and alternative fuels as a bridge between the energy transition and circular material flows
- Assessing the environmental impact of electrification and alternative powertrains
- Outlook: where cognitive circular systems are heading next
- Debate and conclusions
- Distinguish digital circularity — tracking and traceability — from cognitive circularity, where systems reason and self-optimise.
- Explain how cognitive sustainability principles apply to closed-loop, self-correcting circular systems.
- Assess the role of alternative fuels and electrification in advancing both the energy transition and circular material flows.
Máté Zöldy is a full professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), in the Department of Environmental Economics and Sustainability within the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences. He holds a PhD, habilitation and the Doctor of Science degree.
His research centres on cognitive sustainability, advanced and waste-based alternative fuels, and cognitive mobility — including e-fuels such as oxymethylene ether, hydrogen–natural gas–diesel blends, and the environmental impact of passenger car electrification. He also heads the Innovative Vehicle Technologies Competency Centre at BME and serves as Scientific Chair of the International Conference on Cognitive Mobility.
Data Analytics and Digital Twins in Circular Economy
2 Dec 2026 14:00–17:00 CET
- Introduction to digital twins within the circular economy context
- Core capabilities and components of digital twins
- Typologies of digital twins and the composable digital twin
- The Digital Twin Maturity Model
- Data analytics applications across circular economy sectors
- Key challenges in implementing digital twins
- Strategic use cases across industries
- Guidelines for developing a digital twin strategy
- Debate and conclusions
- Define a digital twin and its core components, explaining its relevance to the circular economy.
- Categorise different typologies of digital twins and the concept of a composable digital twin.
- Formulate a strategy for implementing digital twins to optimise resource management and circular operations.
Professor of Architecture at ITU specialising in computational design, circular design and digital design technologies. She holds a PhD in Design and Computation from MIT and completed postdoctoral research there. She founded and directs the Circularity in Built Environment Research Group at ITU and coordinates the Digital Twins for Infrastructures and Cities Executive International Master Program.
Formerly Head of ITU's Department of Architecture and leader of the Computational Design Graduate Program at Yıldız Technical University, she served as president of eCAADe from 2018 to 2020.