TITLE OF THE RESEARCH THESIS PROPOSAL: Participation of students in real environment

problems for sustainable development

DIRS DOCTORATE PROGRAMME : Engineering for the Information Society and Sustainable
Development
HOST RESEARCH UNIT (website link): http://energia.deusto.es
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INTEREST OF THE RESEARCH THESIS PROPOSAL:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2014 the urban population accounted
for 54% of the overall population in the world. Cities are becoming the places where important
amount of resources are consumed and waste is generated. Hence, when talking about urban
waste, it supposes an opportunity as a new resource, let alone challenges for policy makers,
companies and citizens.

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.

These novel approach will be able to:

 Motivate students to learn through the use of learning and service and the
Communication and Information Technologies
 Improve in basic skills in STEM with real problems
 Improve in transversal skills: improvement of coexistence, respect for the
environment, reinforce relations between students, teachers and their locality,
reinforce self-esteem…
 Improve the environment thanks to the use of science and the co-creation of solutions

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.

MAIN RESEARCH AIMS:

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):

 I Oribe-Garcia, O Kamara-Esteban, C Martin, AM Macarulla-Arenaza, A Alonso-

Vicario. Identification of influencing municipal characteristics regarding
household waste generation and their forecasting ability in Biscay, Waste
Manage. 39 (2015) 26-34.
 A Pijoan, CE Borges, I Oribe-Garcia, C Martin, A Alonso-Vicario. Agent Based
Simulations for the Estimation of Sustainability Indicators, Procedia Computer
Science. 51 (2015) 2943-2947.
 Pijoan, A., Oribe-Garcia, I., Kamara-Esteban, O., Genikomsakis, K.N., Borges,
C.E., Alonso-Vicario, A. Regression based emission models for vehicle
contribution to climate change (2017) Advances in Intelligent Systems and
Computing, 505, pp. 47-63. Journal indexed in SCOPUS.
 13.Gavrilakis, K., Flogaiti, E., Liarakou, G. (2014). “Neighborhood and Parish
Mars”. In A. Maso (ed), Toolbox for School-Community Collaboration for
Sustainable Development. Pp. 36-40. , ENSI i.n.p.a. – CoDeS.
 “Ciudades Amigables”: combining service learning with citizen science to
improve urban accessibility information on OpenStreetMap. Ángela García-
Pérez, Ander Pijoan, Saray de Casas, Cruz E. Borges, Aránzazu Echaniz, Ainhoa
Alonso-Vicario and Aitziber Mugarra. RGS-IBG Annual International
Conference 2016

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:

 H2020 Waste4Think: Moving towards Life Cycle Thinking by integrating

Advanced Waste Management Systems. H2020-WASTE-2015-6a (GA 688995)
 H2020 GREENSOUL: Eco-aware Persuasive Networked Data Devices for User
Engagement in Energy Efficiency. H2020-EE-2015-2-RIA (GA 696129).
 SAVING FOOD: Actividad piloto sobre despilfarro alimenticio en Donostia-San
Sebastián. Contrato Privado. DIPUTACIÓN FORAL DE GIPUZKOA

Finished projects:

 Bizkailab-SEPARA Project (2014-205), funded by the Provincial Council of

Biscay: Deusto Foundation has developed a web platform for collection and
processing of waste urban data for the Permanent Observatory of Urban
Waste of the Provincial Council of Biscay.
 Bizkailab-Bizkaisense- Sensory Intelligent Infrastructure Project for Improving
Sustainability in the Basque Country (2011-2012), funded by the Provincial
Council of Biscay: Deusto Foundation has developed a tool to calculate
georeferenced sustainability indicators (http://energia.deusto.es:3004/)
 W2.0E-Tools to design management strategies for waste-to-energy in the
Basque Country (Saiotek 2011 program, Basque Government): Deusto
Foundation developed different tools to design waste management strategies
in the Basque Country.

Thesis
 Iraia Oribe García (2015)Methodology for holistic information assessment in
waste management

Thesis in course

 Héctor Barco (Ainhoa Alonso and Iraia Oribe): Metodología de Evaluación de

Alternativas sobre la Gestión de la Cadena Agroalimentaria para Reducir el
Actual Despilfarro Alimentario a Nivel Local. Registered at UD.
 Ander Pijoan Lamas (Cruz E. Borges Hernández and Ainhoa Alonso Vicario):
"Geosimulaciones del desarrollo urbano". Registered at UD.

Main Awards Received:

 FEKOOR Sariak 2015 in the accessibility category to the project CIUDADES

AMIGABLES
 Best Demo award of the 13th International Conference on Autonomous
Agents and Multiagent Systems (CORE A* conference)

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.

Co-direction from different disciplines :

 DeustoTech Energy, University of Deusto: with knowledge in the use of ICT tools for
sustainable development in collaboration with Deusto-Learning with experience in
Learning analytics
 Laboratory of Environmental Education/Education for Sustainable Development,
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Other mechanisms different from co-direction to implement the interdisciplinariety:

The thesis student will be also working in Waste4Think project which drives all the specified
problems. Project partners will be available for specific questions related with sociology
(ENVIO EPE, Greece; LEGAMBIENTE, Italy; Agencia Ecológica Urbana de Barcelona, etc.) and
educational industrial partners (SGI, VirtualWare, etc.)

INTERNATIONALIZATION

Relationship with H2020 topics or ERC bottom-up initiatives:

H2020 topics: depending on the case study this proposal could be fitted in the following
societal challenges

 Secure, clean and efficient energy;

 Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials;
 Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective societies;
 Cross Cutting Activities – Focus Areas. CIRCULAR ECONOMY.
Moreover the work of this thesis is aligned with the objectives of the EU Resource Efficiency
Roadmap which establishes as a milestone: “By 2020, waste is managed as a resource”.
The Waste Framework Directive is also contemplated in the actions undertaken by the thesis,
especially Articles 9, 10 and 11 related to prevention, recovery, re-use and recycle of waste,
activities which are present in the pilots.

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.

Partner university: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

International co-direction or international “co-tutelle”:

A co-direction of the thesis has been agreed with Evgenia Flogaitis from the National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens, expert in environmental education.
Other mechanisms different from the previous to implement the interdisciplinariety:
The thesis will complement the actions to be carried on in WASTE4THINK project which
combines knowledge in TICs, education, waste management and social innovation, with a total
of 19 partners including 1 NGO.

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).

Description of the social impact of the research:

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)

Developing and demonstrating such solutions in real-life environments will enhance

their market uptake and contribute to sustainable urbanisation worldwide”

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.

Possibility of industrial doctorate title:

Yes, the student will be in contact with companies from the education sector interested in the
results of the research: SGI (Denmark) and VirtualWare (Spain).
RELATED ON-GOING PROJECT

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.).