Promoting circular economy in the coffee sector: education and value creation

The linear economy can no longer bring benefits and prosperity in a world where resources are scarce and climate change casts increasing doubt on the effectiveness of traditional techniques and processes. To meet these needs, society needs a paradigm shift, a shift it can achieve through the application of the circular economy, a thinking and strategy whereby waste becomes a resource and the concept of designing from cradle to coffin leaves room for a cradle-to-cradle system. In light of these concepts, the coffee sector offers great scope for work and improvement. The following thesis, under the brief placed by C4CEC (Center for Circular Economy in Coffee), therefore starts with an analysis of coffee and its supply chain, recounting characteristics, production process, key stakeholders, dynamics, and value creation; then going on to analyze how the circular economy can bring best practices aimed at reducing waste and making it more resilient in the face of climate change, while also creating benefits for the actors involved. But how to bring this thinking where it is not yet present, what are the obstacles and needs to be addressed? The key is to educate the actors that make up the supply chain, primarily those at the bottom of the supply chain, the farmers. The research goes on to investigate the state of the art of education in these fields and draws guidelines for developing an educational process that takes into account the various targets and their particularities. The final output of the thesis is a series of modular educational modules aimed at creating ad hoc training courses suitable for both coffee farmers and their trainers. The goal is to instill the specific knowledge and soft skills to operate in the sector according to circular best practices, developing their lifelong learning and learning to learn. This is done through a multidisciplinary and multi-methodological approach that emphasizes practicality, systemic vision, and collaboration of the parties. Finally, in order to make the course more tangible, specific lessons have been considered and information and illustrative cards have been designed, material to facilitate learning and remembrance of best practices in the user.