New European Bauhaus for a Circular Economy and Waste Management: The Lived Experience of a Community Container Garden at the University of Turin

Daniel Torchia (), Jacopo Fresta, Laura Corazza and Chiara Certomà
Additional contact information
Daniel Torchia: Department of Management, University of Turin, 10134 Turin, Italy
Jacopo Fresta: Department of Management, University of Turin, 10134 Turin, Italy
Laura Corazza: Department of Management, University of Turin, 10134 Turin, Italy
Chiara Certomà: Department of Economics, Social Studies, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, University of Turin, 10134 Turin, Italy

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: This study discusses the case of a 200 m 2 container garden set up in a polluted and neglected area of the School of Management and Economics of the University of Turin. ‘L’Orto della SME’ is self-managed, and it has become a hub for a variety of stakeholders, within and outside the university. The project is part of the framework Proposal for Citizen Engagement, promoted by EIT Food Cross-KIC, which contributes to the New European Bauhaus (NEB). The paper looks at how such projects contribute to create social cohesion around sustainability issues of circularity and waste management. The case presents several autoethnographic elements, like tales and stakeholders’ voices, stemming from the direct involvement of the authors in developing the project. The article presents how a stakeholder network was created and how internal and external stakeholders were involved in co-creation activities, such as (multi-stakeholder) workshops and focus groups. Our findings show that NEB principles can be effectively applied to initiatives like the container garden to tackle issues of social inclusion, equality and sustainable production and consumption. This is further emphasized by the empowerment and agency gained by diverse stakeholders to approach sustainability matters.

Keywords: New European Bauhaus; circular economy; waste management; container garden; university; stakeholder engagement; sustainable production; sustainable consumption; EIT Food; community (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/914/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/914/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:914-:d:1024692

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().