DOI - Mendel University Press

DOI identifiers

DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-082-5-0200

Circular Economy Integration, Resources and Learning for Economic Sustainability: A Framework for Youth Empowerment

Jaroslav Mihálik ORCID...1
1 University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science and Public Administration, Bučianska 4/A, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia

In a time when we face ongoing global sustainability issues, traditional educational approaches are often found to be insufficient for engaging young people in the challenging complexities of the circular economy. The CIRCLES (Circular Economy Integration, Resources and Learning for Economic Sustainability) project offers several tools and solutions to this academic problem. With a holistic approach involving gamification, structured curriculum design, and community-based learning, this project works to build a deep understanding among young people of circular economy principles. The main methodological processes include an interactive video game, CycleQuest: Path to Sustainability, a fully developed curriculum for youth workers, and a university syllabus. The project objectives are to deliver impact in Europe by measuring environmental awareness, digital literacy, and active citizenship in youth while enabling them to counter the rise of unsustainability and encourage civic engagement to shed light on sustainable actions. This article explores the theoretical contexts and methods of the CIRCLES project and discusses its integrated model as a scalable and sustainable framework for contemporary circular economy education.

Keywords: Circular Economy, CIRCLES, Gamification, Sustainability, Youth

pages: 200-208, online: 2026



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