Kick-off meeting of the CircleREdu project: Circular Economy and Reverse Engineering Education for the Green Transition

On February 3-4, 2025, the first kick-off meeting of the “Circular Economy and Reverse Engineering Education for the Green Transition” (CircleREdu) project took place in Helsinki. The three-year project is financed by the Erasmus+ Program, within the framework of the KA220-HED – Cooperation partnerships in higher education activity. The Faculty of Engineering Management is the project leader. The project budget is 400,000 Euro.

The meeting was attended by representatives of all partner institutions: Białystok University of Technology (Poland), Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) and Babeș-Bolyai University (Romania). In Helsinki, the Faculty of Engineering Management was represented by Prof. Joanna Ejdys (project coordinator) and Julia Siderska, Phd.

The aim of the project is to support sustainable development in the environmental, social and economic dimension by developing a multidisciplinary course that will focus on practical applications of reverse engineering techniques in the context of the circular economy. The CircleRed project will support students and teachers in adapting to the digital transformation, in line with the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) and the main goals of the European Green Deal.

The project will result in a set of teaching and educational materials, including a detailed curriculum, an IT toolkit on reverse engineering resources, an e-learning platform, training materials using innovative and inclusive methodologies, a handbook and a coaching methodology to solve real business challenges.

During the meeting, key issues related to the management and implementation of the project, management guidelines, the schedule of activities and the division of tasks, roles and responsibilities between partners were discussed. Particular attention was paid to substantive aspects, such as the planned project results. Partners from Finland shared their many years of experience in confirming acquired skills with microcredentials and open badges.

The meetings at the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences were also an opportunity to get acquainted with the University Campus, the 3D Printing Laboratory and talk about future research and teaching projects.