Solid Waste Management Approach at the University through Living Labs and Communication Strategies: Case Studies in Italy and Portugal

Silvia Di Salvatore, Giacomo Magatti, Maurizio Acciarri, Massimiliano Rossetti, Leonor Pereira da Costa and Inês Ribeiro
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Silvia Di Salvatore: MARETEC/LARSyS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Giacomo Magatti: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
Maurizio Acciarri: Department of Materials Science, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
Massimiliano Rossetti: Sustainability Office BASE, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
Leonor Pereira da Costa: HEI-Lab, Lusófona University, 1749-024 Lisbon, Portugal
Inês Ribeiro: IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, No. 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Universities are today seen as living labs for the creation of knowledge with the aim of transferring it to society. The integration of sustainability is a critical point in this context, as solutions for problems experienced in society can be experimented with regarding physical aspects, such as Solid Waste Management (SWM), and efficiency in energy and water use, but also social aspects such as accessibility, equality, and inclusion. This paper explores the implementation of similar SWM projects in two European universities, Milan-Bicocca University and Instituto Superior Técnico from Lisbon University. Milan-Bicocca was the pioneer project that followed an ambitious model that demanded the removal of all isolated waste bins from inside the offices and rooms, replacing them with waste collection islands in the public spaces. This meant a very coordinated procedure and communication plan, and inspired the pilot project in Instituto Superior Técnico, currently in the expansion phase. This paper describes the implementation of each model and their specificities, and a roadmap is proposed that resulted from the interactions, meetings, and discussions between the two teams, Italian and Portuguese.

Keywords: sustainability in HEI; solid waste management; HEI living lab; HEI sustainability project (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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