Work Package 5

Circular Economy Opportunity Creation

Developing an AI-based assistant that can support diverse stakeholders in the creative task of opportunity identification and validate it through a variety of workshop scenarios.

M1-M25 (March 2025 - April 2027) Lead: USC Partners: All Consortium Partners
WP5

About This Work Package

This work package aims to provide stakeholders with an intelligent, adaptive tool that enhances their ability to recognize and develop opportunities within the circular economy framework. By fostering creativity and collaboration, this work package seeks to contribute to the development of sustainable and innovative solutions that support the transition to a circular economy.

Tasks Breakdown

T5.1

OI Workshop Scenarios

M1-M6 (March 2025 - September 2025)

This task is to create different OI workshop scenarios that involve diverse sets of stakeholders. These scenarios will reflect variations in stakeholder composition, including combinations of industry partners, policymakers, researchers, local businesses, community members, and other relevant actors. The aim is to determine which stakeholder configurations are most effective for opportunity identification, based on the specific context of the circular economy. By exploring multiple scenarios, the project will gain insights into how the presence of different stakeholders influences the creative process.

T5.2

OI Creativity Workflows

M4-M9 (July 2025 - December 2025)

This task involves developing and comparing different OI creativity workflows based on a thorough investigation of the creativity literature. This will involve analyzing various methodologies and frameworks used in creative problem-solving, with a focus on identifying workflows that are best suited for fostering innovation in circular economy contexts. The workflows will be designed to enhance the creative capacity of stakeholders, encouraging them to think beyond traditional solutions and identify novel opportunities for sustainability and resource efficiency.

T5.3

AI-Workshop Assistant

M10-M15 (January 2026 - June 2026)

This task is to develop an AI-based assistant that will be used in OI workshops. This assistant will be customizable according to the specific workshop scenarios and creativity workflows developed in the previous tasks. The AI-assistant will use machine learning and natural language processing to provide real-time suggestions, facilitate brainstorming sessions, and help stakeholders explore potential opportunities by analyzing existing data and trends. The goal is to create a flexible tool that can adapt to different stakeholder needs, enhancing their ability to generate, refine, and evaluate ideas during the workshop.

T5.4

OI Workshop Execution

M17-M25 (August 2026 - April 2027)

This task focuses on executing the OI workshops and validating the AI assistant. The workshops will be conducted in a variety of contexts, allowing the project team to assess the effectiveness of the AI assistant across different use cases. Each workshop will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to interact with the AI assistant and use it to identify and develop opportunities for circular economy initiatives. The success of these workshops will be evaluated based on stakeholder feedback, the quality of the identified opportunities, and examples of successful applications.

Milestones & Deliverables

Deliverable 5.1

OI Workshop Scenarios Report

A detailed report about different OI workshop scenarios with an evaluation of their typicality in the HEI context.

M6 (September 2025) - Lead: USC
Milestone 5

Opportunity Identification Workflows

Complete description of workshop scenarios and creativity workflows adapted to the needs of each HEI.

M9 (December 2025)
Deliverable 5.2

OI Creativity Workflow Report

A detailed report about different OI creativity workflows with evaluation of applicability in terms of pros and cons.

M9 (December 2025) - Lead: USC
Deliverable 5.3

AI-Workshop Assistant

Technical infrastructure and documentation of how to deploy the AI assistant in OI workshops.

M15 (June 2026) - Lead: TUHH
Milestone 9

Opportunity Identification Workshops

Three opportunity identification workshops held at each HEI.

M20 (November 2026)
Deliverable 5.4

OI Workshop Execution

At M20, three OI workshops have been conducted at each HEI and summarized by a report. At M25, three more OI workshops have been conducted at each HEI and summarized by a report.

M20/M25 (November 2026, April 2027) - Lead: USC

Contributing Partners

USC

Lead Partner

TUHH

Partner

FTS-UNS

Partner

Phase II Partners

P4, P5, P6, P7