Second lecture series on the circular economy: perspectives, challenges and potentials

On April 15, 2024, the Technische Ilmenau will kick off the summer semester with another interdisciplinary lecture series on the circular economy. The lecture series, which has been expanded and deepened in practical terms compared to the previous year, will take place on Mondays from 3.00 to 4.30 pm in Humboldtbau Room 211/212. It is open to students of all degree courses. Interested pupils and guests are also welcome to attend the lecture on site. As part of the KLIMA network for more sustainability in Thuringia, students can also attend the lecture online via the Virtual Campus Thuringia. This continues the cross-university cooperation in the design of lecture series that began last semester.

Following the great interest last year, the new lecture series will also shed light on the challenges of the future topic of the circular economy from various interdisciplinary perspectives - engineering sciences, natural sciences, economics and media. New this year is the opportunity to gain insights into laboratories and practical research work in the context of the circular economy following individual lectures. An excursion to LRP-Autorecycling Leipzig GmbH in Krostritz will also be offered for the first time. In addition, new aspects from the perspective of value creation in the context of sharing, i.e. the sharing and common use of goods and commodities, will be addressed.

"The circular economy can only succeed if different disciplines such as engineering, natural sciences, economics and social sciences work together in a targeted manner and we develop a holistic understanding of sustainability and integrate it into our daily activities," says Prof. Stephan Husung, who will introduce the topic together with Prof. Florian Puch on April 15.

Following the introduction, the series will continue on April 22 with a lecture on the chemical foundations of matter and energy. The topic of the circular economy will then be examined in the context of the materials glass, plastic and steel and product development, but also with a view to the mobility sector and the electrical and electronics industry.

The series will conclude with lectures looking at the cycles for disposable and reusable packaging and the concept of sharing from a socio-economic perspective, as well as communication about and for the circular economy.

"Sustainability topics are already firmly anchored in numerous degree programs and courses at TU Ilmenau, but they are rarely prominent alongside the many other lecture contents," says Prof. Florian Puch about the aims of the series of events: "With the lecture series, we would like to offer our students the opportunity to deal intensively with the topic of circular economy across disciplines and at the same time invite exchange between faculties and between professors, students and staff. With this year's lecture series, we would also like to specifically invite interested pupils from the region to take a closer look at this highly topical and central topic of the future, which will occupy the economy, politics and society intensively in the coming years."