April 2026. We have finished, colleagues and I, delivering an undergraduate management course titled "Digitalisation and Circular Economy". It was a very interesting course (I think), where we created a synergy between two paradigms: Digital Transformation (DT), and Circular Economy (CE).
The DT paradigm has been for longer. It proposes a radical rethinking of organisational or business practices which, according to many, can be simplified or accelerated, if not obliterated, with digital technologies.
The CE paradigm, most prominent in Europe than other regions in the world, points to a similar direction of simplification by creating or closing loops in practices so that their resource use can be recycled, reduced or prevented.
A champion of this paradigm in the is the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
I was fortunate to work with colleagues that introduced me to this foundation many years ago (thank you Rokiah from LEAP Micro AD) and other colleagues at Royal Holloway which know more about digitalisation and DT. I provided my knowledge and expertise in CE which I have developed in projects like "Somebody's food" (mentioned already in this blog). And I also used my work experience and ideas on systemic innovation provided by my former PhD supervisor Gerald Midgley.
We were also fortunate to involve our campus senior gardener Daniel Steel who kindly walked us through different sites. He talked about how him and his team are working to restore native species. This to him is an essential form of CE.
Visiting the green composting facility.
If we consider our campus as a system, we can then think of how this system can keep a better balance between its different elements. Native species seem to have been overtaken by foreign ones. Us humans seem not to take notice of what goes on. In our daily lives, we consciously or unconsciously marginalise certain elements of this system.
Having another look at species that live next to our Moore Annex Building.
What can we do about this? In our course, we asked students to use their creativity to identify issues of concern on campus and beyond, issues that have been also flagged up by proposers of the CE paradigm when they talk about reduce, reuse and regenerate.
With those issues, students were to develop digital prototypes of a solution, which they then refined by reflecting on why it could fail or non fail, if we refine the solution with emerging digital technologies like data analysis, internet of things (IoT), blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and so on.
With the above, we hoped students could then better understand the possibilities and challenges involved when we think of rethinking (radically) how we are to operate as CE-driven individuals and organisations. In particular, if as individuals or future managers we consider the potential inclusion (or marginalisation) of valuable species or resources (i.e. food and its waste; clothing garments; vehicles, etc) in what we do.
I was impressed with the quality of students work, in particular with their reflective accounts of why/how could their solutions (not) work. I also perceived that they value the idea of digital product passports to help organisations trace products and alert consumers to events, for example when a product needs or can be reused or recycled. Perhaps they value this idea too much, which in terms of creativity narrows the spectrum of possibilities.
The futures of this course and creativity look bright. The rise of AI offers possibilities that could be realised by adopting a responsible attitude to its adoption. CE needs to continue if we are to make positive impacts in our planet. I hope students become better at seeing situations from different perspectives, considering tradeoffs of implementation.
Presenting a poster about our course at the Royal Holloway Education Conference in April 2026.
I also hope to continue helping myself and them to manage the changes that emerge when we decide (or are decided) to innovate.
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