Capacity Building & Education

D. Xevgenos, A. Bilyaminu, S. Ghirlandi, F. D’Hont, E. Meijer, S. N. van Roon, I. van Gestel, N. Spalek, D. Stroutza Systems thinking is useful for understanding and addressing complex interdependent challenges across disciplines. In engineering education, students are taught to conceptualize, design, and optimize solutions in dynamic and interconnected environments, to enhance their capacity for effective decision-making. However, it remains challenging to integrate systems thinking into interdisciplinary engineering curricula, particularly within short, intensive courses, and while doing the diverse academic backgrounds of the students justice. This study presents how systems thinking is taught and assessed in the course ‘System Design for Industrial Ecology’, as part of the Industrial Ecology MSc program offered by TU Delft and Leiden University. This program takes a systems approach to holistically address sustainability challenges locally as well as worldwide, annually attracting over 70 students from varied backgrouds. The course, which enrols over 70 students from varied academic backgrounds with an interest in environmental sustainability annually, covers foundational system design principles and analytical methods such as network analysis, supply chain design, and system dynamics. The course incorporates real-world case studies to challenge students to apply systems thinking by integrating technological, economic and environmental considerations to design sustainable and circular solutions. To evaluate learning outcomes, a mixed-method approach is employed, combining structured reflections using the DAKI (Drop, Add, Keep, Improve) retrospective framework, comparative, design exercises, and qualitative analysis of student work. Preliminary findings suggest that students expand their ability to identify system interdependencies, as well as adopting a wider problem demarcation, though challenges remain in formulating complex environmental problems into consistent conceptual models. Drawing on the findings of the study, a framework is proposed for the acquisition, assessment, and integration of systems thinking and interdisciplinary engagement in engineering education. The study therefore contributes to the broader discourse on designing, delivering, and evaluating systems thinking education to aspiring engineers with varied backgrounds, offering recommendations for curriculum developers and educators.

The transition from a linear to circular water economy requires more than just technological advancements and changes; it demands comprehensive capacity building approaches that integrates the technical, economic, social, environmental, policy and institutional dimensions. This paper examines the current capacity building efforts in the water sector, categorizing them into key domains, including education and research, policy and governance, economy and finance, and societal engagement. Through case studies and best practices, this paper provides perspectives on successful capacity building initiatives that have driven progress in the transition to a circular water economy. However, despite recorded progress, the existing capacity building efforts in the water sector remain fragmented, with gaps in interdisciplinary integration in education and training, insufficient financial and institutional support, and limited coordination among stakeholders. The paper highlights the challenges of scaling training programs and circular water innovations, addressing regional disparities in educational access, and overcoming behavioural and institutional resistance to circular water practices. The findings show that the successful implementation and monitoring of capacity-building initiatives in the water sector requires an integrated approach at the individual, organizational, and institutional levels to facilitate a systemic transition to a circular water economy. This paper presents a structured framework for integrating interdisciplinary education, promoting multi-stakeholder collaboration, and integrating policy mechanisms with market-driven strategies to accelerate the development and scaling of the circular water economy. Keywords: Circular water economy, capacity building, education, policy, governance, water sector transition.