The REBUILDD-Rethinking Environment Built Using Integrated Learning for circular Design and Diffusion Summer School adopts a fully transdisciplinary approach developed around four pillars: understanding the circular potential of materials, designing and applying circularity strategies, experimenting with advanced digital tools for the circular economy, and innovatively measuring and communicating circular processes and outcomes.

The programme will conclude with the production of design and narrative guidelines: a concrete and applicable output capable of transforming the entire learning experience into a clear, communicable, and useful vision for future projects or for enriching participants’ portfolios.

REBUILDD is open to undergraduate and graduate students, PhD candidates, professionals, institutional officers involved in design, production, and organisational processes, researchers, and academics.

The objective is to develop critical, design, technical-operational, collaborative, and communication skills through an interdisciplinary experience dedicated to the analysis and transformation of the built environment and, more broadly, anthropogenic artefacts according to principles of circularity. Different scales and applications will be explored: buildings, spaces, interiors, furniture, objects, and systems. Furthermore, the principles, methods, and tools addressed during the Summer School are conceived as transferable and applicable to different design and production fields.

Through theoretical lectures, visits to case studies, design testimonies, and applied experiences presented by lecturers, researchers, and professionals, REBUILDD participants will engage with contemporary approaches related to the efficient and sustainable use of materials and resources, circular design, digitalisation, and technical innovation for systems transitioning towards circular models, as well as the communication and assessment of the impacts associated with such strategies.

Discover the programme

Applications open until Tuesday, 30 June 2026

For information and inquiries: info@4rnd.ch

Acknowledgements to the project partners: the Hub 4RnD – Circular Construction Hub of Italian-speaking Switzerland, the FabLab (SUPSI’s digital fabrication laboratory), Banca Stato, Caritas Ticino, and Fratelli Puricelli SA.

New skills

At the end of the Summer School, participants will be able to:

• collaborate effectively in interdisciplinary contexts by integrating design, technical, and communication skills; 
• understand how a product, system, or service oriented towards circularity is conceived and developed, recognising its main phases: ideation, design, material selection, production, use, end-of-life management, impact assessment, and communication; 
• apply circular economy principles at different scales of the built environment (from object to building) and, more generally, from component to system; 
• develop operational skills in the conscious selection of materials, technologies, and design strategies oriented towards sustainability and circularity; 
• critically interpret the relationships between materials, resources, production processes, and sustainability through a holistic perspective encompassing environmental, social, and economic dimensions; 
• become familiar with tools and methodologies for the analysis, representation, and modelling of products, spaces, and systems integrating concepts of circularity; 
• understand the role of digitalisation and technical innovation in transition processes towards circular models and experiment with digital tools and technical-operational methodologies supporting design, simulation, and evaluation processes; 
• communicate and document design, technical, socio-economic, and environmental content through graphic outputs, models, and multidisciplinary presentations; 
• discover the activities, expertise, education opportunities, and research potential related to the circular economy within the Department of Environment Constructions and Design SUPSI, which hosts the Summer School at its Mendrisio Campus. 

In particular, the Summer School aims to strengthen transversal skills related to:

• sustainability and circular innovation in design projects
• digital tools for circular design, fabrication, and management
• echnical and performance analysis for a circular built environment
• integration between theoretical approaches, experimentation, and practical application
• interdisciplinary collaboration and design communication
• dissemination and promotion of circular economy solutions, with particular attention to transparent communication of impacts, the construction of effective narratives, and the enhancement of the social acceptability of circularity.

Participation

The Summer School will take place in person at the Campus of the Department of Environment Constructions and Design SUPSI in Mendrisio (via Flora Ruchat-Roncati 15) from Monday, 31 August to Friday, 4 September 2026, in Italian and English.

Attendance at the Summer School corresponds to 3 ECTS credits, calculated on a total workload of approximately 75 hours, including on-site activities (45 hours) and individual work (approximately 30 hours). Direct interaction among participants with heterogeneous profiles fosters continuous knowledge exchange and shared responsibility in the creative process.

Undergraduate and graduate students and PhD candidates from the Department of Environment Constructions and Design SUPSI (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland): free participation. The initiative is part of a Department project aimed at promoting synergies between research, teaching, and transdisciplinary education on circular economy topics.
Selection criteria: motivation letter.

Staff members of the Department of Environment Constructions and Design SUPSI: free participation. The initiative is part of a Department project aimed at promoting synergies between research, teaching, and transdisciplinary education on circular economy topics.
Selection criteria: motivation.

Undergraduate and graduate students and PhD candidates from other universities and schools: participation fee of CHF 475.
Selection criteria: enrolment in Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD programmes related to organisational, design, production, or decision-making fields that may benefit from the application of circular economy approaches; curriculum vitae and motivation letter.

Professionals: participation fee of CHF 950.
Selection criteria: institutional and academic collaborators active in design, organisational, production, and decision-making fields that may benefit from the introduction of circular economy approaches; curriculum vitae and motivation letter.