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Waste management is costly, not merely in operational terms but also in environmental terms.
The net GHG emissions derived from municipal waste management are projected to decline by
around 84 million tons of CO2 equivalent by 2020; but in order to achieve this goal, further
eco-innovative solutions need to be implemented and assessed all around the value-chain
(from prevention campaigns to waste treatment).
In this context, one of the main challenges of the municipalities is to promote the long term
behavioural changes of waste generators by fostering transparency, citizen empowerment and
engagement. In order to accomplish new strategic actions in this field, gathering and sharing
data on waste management is essential. By other hand, schools are the best ecosystems to
work the environmental education in order to maximize the impact.
Objective: This thesis program proposes to assess the use of Information Technologies to
involve the students in the real environmental problems of their municipality increasing their
environmental awareness and contributing with a service-learning approach to the sustainable
development of their city.
The thesis will be performed within the European project Waste4Think and validated on real
case studies (4 schools) in two municipalities: Halandri (Greece) and Zamudio (Biscay). The
development of the educational materials will be carried out by industrial partners in the
consortium.
The thesis advanced over the state of the art will be achieved by:
Integration of sensors to gather waste generation data and treatment (like composting
plants) both in the municipalities and inside the schools
Data analytics to know the generation and consume patterns (both in the schools and
in the municipalities) as well as the knowledge in waste sorting to identify points of
improvement
Involvement of students in the waste management of their municipality and in the co-
creation of solutions which will be implemented in the schools (such as composting
plants or food waste prevention campaigns)
Improve the environment education of the students in the following issues:
Monitorization of the waste generation
Waste management: prevention and reutilization
Waste separation and recycling
Food Waste
Composting
Eco-design and environmental impact
Definition of mechanisms and KPIs to measure and monitor the impact, both
community and students
THESIS DIRECTOR(S):
Dra. Ainhoa Alonso (University of Deusto)
Dra. Evgenia Flogaitis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
EXCELLENCE
5 Main academic publications related to the topic (impact factor or other quality assessment
criteria):
Main projects developed by the directors related to the topic (especially european projects).
It is very valuable that the research thesis proposal is aligned with the European projects
approved that the research host unit has to develop.
The work presented in this proposal will enhance the results that have to be made in
Waste4Think project. Also, other European projects that are already in process in the Energy
Unit are related as well as collaboration with public institutions:
On-going projects:
Finished projects:
Thesis
Iraia Oribe García (2015)Methodology for holistic information assessment in
waste management
Thesis in course
INTERDISCIPLINARIETY
Description of the different knowledge areas that the research proposal integrates :
The proposal clearly fits in the core objectives of the Interdisciplinary Research Platform “B-
Creative advanced research on creative industries and cities” in particular, it will mix
knowledge of the following fields:
Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering: waste treatment technologies have been
traditionally understood by civil and chemical engineers able to get to know the details
of the technologies and the biochemical processes involved.
Computer Science and Telecommunications: standardization and interoperability
issues will need to have some skills about computer science and telecommunications.
GIS-based systems and mapping will also be used
Sociology and Psychology: consumption patterns need to be understood and some
sociology and psychology will be needed to be able to foster new habits
Education: The participation of students in the problems of their community by the
use of the service learning methodology produce a continuous reinforcing through all
the value chain (from students to researchers and finally the citizens). It is vital to
create new innovative and attractive educational mechanisms to involve students as
well as to create monitoring tools to measure the impact of these solutions.
INTERNATIONALIZATION
International mention:
The student will have several stays at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens to
work with the co-director as well as the schools in Greece.
INTERSECTORIALITY
The research program defined in this proposal has a strong link with the RIS3 strategy for the
Basque Country. In particular, the project is clearly linked with the territorial priority, more
specifically with the circular economy topic. It also have links the energy priority as during the
proposal energy related problem like waste incineration, fuel consumption, etc. will also be
covered. The project is also perfectly aligned with the Basque Energy Strategy 2030 and the
Basque Strategy for Climate Change (KLIMA2050).
Communication and awareness raising strategies are of utmost importance when dealing with
social awareness for urban waste management, where cultural differences (even within the
same country) can lead to important changes in the way to address a possible solution. In this
sense, the research will allow:
Involve students from schools with double benefit: 1) the students will improve their
competencies thanks to the technology and the possibility to know the reality of their
environment, and 2) they will contribute to their community by the co-creation of
solutions aimed to create zero-waste environments
Work with real data of the municipality and the schools will allow the analysis of the
influence of the socio-economic factors over the generation patterns necessary for the
definition of more cost effective prevention campaigns
Moreover, the proposal will contribute to move towards circular economy concept by:
Integral waste management involving active engagement of local authorities and
citizens
Protocols for monitoring consumption habits and fostering new trends
Citizen participation, environmental education, and learning
Name of the social agent: Municipalities of Zamudio (Spain) and Halandri (Greece)
Four pilots (Biscay-ES, Halandri-GR, Seveso-IT and Cascais-PT) are planned to validate the
developed eco-innovative solutions of the project in real environments. The participation of
eight industrial partners shows a strong commercial commitment to exploit the results, even
beyond European markets.
The PhD thesis proposal will be connected with the following research projects:
Name and reference of related research project: H2020-WASTE4THINK - MOVING TOWARDS
LIFE CYCLE THINKING BY INTEGRATING ADVANCED WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
EMPLOYABILITY OR FUTURE CAREER POSIBILITIES RELATED TO THE RESEARCH POSITION:
The Waste4Think project includes a consortium of 19 partners with 4 public agencies and
administrations, 3 research centers and universities, 8 SMEs, 2 LEs, 1 cluster and 1 NGO, that
will work together during 42 months with an overall contribution from the EC of €9M.The most
relevant expected impacts are: a 20% increase in waste sorting, 10% saving of management
costs, and 10% reduction of GHG emissions. The experience gained, and the synergies among
the partners describe the best possible scenario to launch new governance and business
models including new green jobs.
The knowledge gained by the candidate will allow him/her following career possibilities:
Be hired by a relevant stakeholder: public administrations, schools, educational
companies (like developer of serious games, digital education contents…), etc.
Create their own spin off and directly commercialize the results
Follow an academic or research career (Marie Curie post doc grant, ERC grant, etc.).