Welcome to "Circular Economy: Introduction to a Circular Business Model".

The course tutors give an overview of the content for Week 1.

We begin the course with a very brief introduction to climate change. This sets the scene for why sustainable approaches to economic activity are needed. We introduce the idea of systems thinking - a mindset for the course.

This activity explores what is meant by sustainability and the circular economy and why they matter.

Our case study is the Hair and Beauty industry with a focus on Anne Veck, the UK's most sustainable salon. We'll explore how they made the transition from a linear to an increasingly circular business model.

Elaine gives some final thoughts on this first week.

Tutor introduction to Week 2 of the course.

Using the framework of the "Business Model Canvas" we will explore the components of a business model before moving on to think about opportunities to adopt circular approaches.

Building on our understanding of business models, we will identify the circular approaches that organisations can adopt as their core purpose or as part of their operations...

Using the real life example of hairdressing business "Anne Veck" we meet with founders Anne and Keith to explore how they have made the transition from a linear business to a sustainable salon that enables a circular economy.

Carbon footprints are used to baseline and quantify our impact and the contribution changes can make. Here we'll explain the concept and learn how to calculate them.

In this deep dive, we'll explore some circular futures for salon waste.

We conclude the week with some final thoughts...

An overview of Week 3 from the course tutors.

In this activity we continue to explore our case study of the hair and beauty industry. We look at examples of circular activity in more detail and think about the role of product innovation.

We take a look at show the sharing economy has exploiting idle capacity meet peoples needs through sharing assets and resources.

Consumers ultimately determine whether or not we will succeed in meeting our needs through a circular (or increasingly circular) economy.

In this activity we'll hear from Anne and Keith how they brought the team with them as they transformed the Salon. We will also hear about their plans to transform the industry and look at the role of the Green Salon Collective.

In the final activity for this week you are invited to contribute to our case discussion.

Tutor overview of the final week of the course.

We look at some of the things that hinder/block the adoption of pro environmental behaviours by consumers.

In this activity we take a broader view of some of the barriers and enablers that affect the ability of organisations to adopt circular principles and contribute to a circular economy.

In this activity we will explore some of the perceived criticisms and limitations of circular business models and the circular economy.

This discussion forum is the penultimate activity for this course. Contribute to the debate!

In this activity, we present some final thoughts and invite you to wrap up your learning by sharing how your thinking has shifted and evolved through the programme. Thank you for learning with us.