Circular economy as a bridge concept in learning and planning. Insights from an educational university course in a detention centre

ABSTRACT

This study examines how the circular economy can facilitate inclusive learning and planning processes, integrating cognitive and epistemic justice. It stems from the experience of an experimental undergraduate degree course held in a detention center. The study evaluates both the learning process and the planning outcomes of a small group of inmate students designing circular and sustainable urban regeneration strategies. By viewing ‘waste as a resource’, the experience revealed reduced exclusion and enhanced resource management in territorial transformation. Despite limitations, this paper offers insights for planning educators and urban planners to critically engage with circularity for learning and inclusive planning.

KEYWORDS:

• Learning process
• urban regeneration
• circular economy
• cognitive justice
• inclusive planning

Acknowledgments

The authors would thank all the colleagues and mentors of the SRT program of the Higher Education centre at the Secondigliano Detention facility and Prof. Maria Cerreta for the discussions and insights on the topic. A special thanks to the five students Federico, Gennaro, Ulderico, Salvatore and Vincenzo, with whom the authors collaborated and acknowledged as co-participants of the IITC course process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

The two authors would acknowledge an equal collaboration in developing the Integrated Intervention in Contemporary Territory course and this scientific article. In particular, Author 1 contributed as a researcher on circular economy and decision-support systems; Author 2 contributed as a researcher and activist on collaborative learning processes in planning.

Notes

1. The Centro Penitenziario ’Pasquale Mandato’ Secondigliano is a detention citadel of approximately 384,000 square metres which houses approximately 1,300 inmates mostly classified as High Security. The Mediterranean pavilion is classified as medium security, where the Polo Universitario Penitenziario of the Federico II Higher Education centre is located.

2. The literature review was made in Scopus in September 2022, with the string: ‘circular economy’ and ‘urban regeneration’. This search revealed that the two topics had been addressed together only by 45 papers, published from the 2018 to 2022, mostly in articles and conference papers.

3. Due to the limitation in sources access in the District Penitentiary, not all the indicators could be calculated. Because students couldn’t easily access the internet, data or reports, instructors proposed a simplified analysis of the performance metrics when needed.