The thematic area is dedicated to study, research and design activities on methodologies for approaching the environmental, social and economic sustainability of systems, services, products, and spatial and technical elements that compete with architectural technologies and design.
In particular, the production and cultural models are redesigned so that the outputs of the processes become the input of other processes, contributing to the development of value with the connections between the stakeholders of the territories.
This theme is part of a broad and articulated context at a global and local level. The recent Action Plan of the European Union for the EU's transition towards a circular economy highlights the heterogeneity of the sectors involved: from services to products, from construction to the urban scale, including through the development of new production systems and new ways of conceiving the redevelopment of cities, urban areas and buildings, towards the goal of decarbonisation by 2050.
The thematic macro-area is divided into sub-areas of research and design that the disciplines of the doctorate deal with in an interdisciplinary way:
- production systems (systemic and circular processes) and consumption, in which economic, environmental and social sustainability is achieved through the management of material, energy and information (or information) flows;
- environmental quality (indoor and outdoor), aimed at satisfying the conditions of the well-being of the person and the community without neglecting the ethical-social repercussions;
- tools, standards, regulations and LCA-based approaches for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the application of solutions and strategies to face the challenges of the circular economy;
- bioclimatic design, through approaches to include the microclimatic variables that characterize living places.
- PE8_11 - Sustainable design (for recycling, for environment, eco-design)
- PE8_3 - Civil engineering, architecture, maritime/hydraulic engineering, geotechnics, waste treatment
- SH2_7 - Environmental and climate change, societal impact and policy
- PE8_10 - Industrial design (product design, ergonomics, man-machine interfaces, etc.)