To better understand this emerging concept, this course will critically address the following questions: What are the different and contested visions of a circular economy and society? What are the core principles of a circular economy and society, and how can they be applied in different contexts and sectors? How is the circular economy implemented by different companies, countries, cities, and regions?

What are the socio-ecological implications of a circularity transition in the Global North and South alike?  What are the enablers and barriers to a socially just and sustainable circularity transition? How can unsustainable systems of production and consumption be transformed into circular, fair, and regenerative ones?

Coordinator

Martin Calisto Friant

Timetable

You can find the timetable on Datanose.

Entry requirements

Open to second-year and third-year UvA Bachelor's students and other interested parties, such as contract students or students from other Dutch higher education institutions. Master's students can only participate if there are still spots available.

Registration

UvA Bachelor's students can register from 8 to 15 June 2026 in the GLASS registration rounds. Master’s students can send a short motivation to keuzeonderwijs-iis@uva.nl.

‘Bijvak’ students and contract students can register from 8 June 2026 until two weeks prior to the start of the course, by completing the online registration form.

If you have any trouble while registering, please contact us at keuzeonderwijs-iis@uva.nl.

Please note: as a contract student you can choose to participate either including or excluding assessment. If you choose the latter, you only have access to the seven lectures of the course. If you also wish to attend the seminars, please choose 'including assessment'.

Costs

Prices can be found on the IIS website.

SDGs in education

The IIS strives to reflect current societal issues and challenges in our elective courses, honours modules and degree programmes and attempts to integrate the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in this course. For more information about these goals, please visit the SDGs website.