- Design and entrepreneurship
Global Circular Competencies with Urban Mining as a Case
Better utilisation of resource- and waste streams through developing circular competencies, interdisciplinary collaboration, and methods in practice.
This research project aims to help designers and design students develop circular competencies and their abilities to act sustainably and responsibly as professionals. The research period strectched from 2. januar 2023 to 31. december 2025.
The project relates to three SDGs:
- 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
As it is essential that the sustainable transition is global to make a difference, an interdisciplinary and intercultural partnership is established capable of supporting the development of the business sector’s potential.
Partners in the project
KEA Design (now EK) is the lead partner on the project. In addition, the following four international partners and four Danish partners have contributed knowledge from research and practice, professional sparring, and presentations, as well as design challenges to be explored.
International partners:
- Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (Italy) (Andrea Bortolotti and Matteo Clementi)
- Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands) (Kasper Lange and Deborah Sumter)
- OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Germany) (Susanne Schwickert, Lisa Pusch, Christin Schäfers, Anika Steinkuhl and Johanna Rybak)
- LAB University of Applied Sciences (Finland) (Anne-Marie Tuomala)
Danish partners:
- D-MIC (Danish Mineral Intelligence Centre – formerly known as MiMa) (Jakob Kløve Keiding and Rune Clausen)
- Nordic Urban Mining (Jasmin Skøtt and Nikolai Bach-Andersen)
- DAKOFA (Waste and Resources in Denmark) (Morten Carlsbæk)
- Copenhagen Municipality (Lauge Clausen)
Final event: Circular Design Competencies that Create Sustainable Change
Video from the final event held on October 8, 2025, at EK in Copenhagen.
More than 160 companies and students signed up to hear about the research results, the 9 circular design competencies that international research indicates are central to the green transition (Sumter et al. 2021), and two presentations from Danish companies who shared their experiences of working strategically and creatively with circularity in their companies.
Presentations from the day and the Catalog of Ideas for Developing Courses and Circular Competencies can be found here: Global Circular Competencies with Urban Mining as a Case - EA Viden
More information
Explore how circular competencies and urban mining can shape sustainable design in the full scientific paper:
Fostering Circular Competencies in Design: From Uncertainty to Agency
Read the article about the project (in Danish):
Undervisning giver handlekraft: Sådan uddannes morgendagens cirkulære forandringsagenter
Contact Project Manager