From Theoretical Sessions to Field Experience is the first of two onsite event organised in the frame of the Joint Call activity Circular Campus 2030. This activity is organised by POLITEHNICA Bucharest and is designed as an interdisciplinary and experiential learning event,the workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to explore the concepts of circularity, sustainability and environmental resilience within a real campus environment

 Building upon the knowledge and methodologies introduced during the online workshop series, the event will encourage students to translate theoretical concepts into practical observations, field-based analyses and collaborative activities focused on campus-scale transformation.

Throughout the event, the university campus will be approached not only as an educational environment, but also as a living system where water, energy, waste, mobility, public spaces and ecological infrastructures are deeply interconnected. Participants will analyse existing spatial and environmental dynamics through the perspective of a potential “circular campus” and collectively reflect on possible sustainable transformation scenarios.

The first day of the workshop will take place at the Taşkışla Campus. Throughout the day, discussion sessions and talks will be organised with experts from different disciplines. The sessions will particularly focus on:

– water circularity and campus-scale water management

– water-sensitive cities and urban approaches

– the climate crisis and environmental resilience

– circular campus approaches

– relationships between landscape, infrastructure and ecology

– sustainable living practices and user behaviour

– and alternative perspectives on the future of campuses

Following the discussion programme, participants will engage in an applied workshop session. In this phase, students will reinterpret campus spaces through group work, rapid ideation exercises, mapping activities and observation-based studies. Discussions will focus on resource flows, public space usage and environmental potentials within the campus environment.

The second day of the workshop will take place at the Ayazağa Campus. Participants will have the opportunity to observe existing environmental systems, infrastructural relations and spatial organisation directly on site. During the campus exploration, analyses will particularly focus on:

– rainwater management and landscape relationships

– blue-green infrastructure systems

– open and public space usage

– transportation and mobility networks

– ecological continuity and biodiversity

– and sketch-based studies exploring how users spatially perceive ecological and infrastructural systems

Throughout the workshop process, the aim is not only for participants to develop technical solutions, but also to encourage them to read the campus through its social, ecological and spatial layers simultaneously. In this sense, the event will provide an experimental learning environment that promotes interdisciplinary thinking, discussion and collaborative production among students from different fields.

The Istanbul on-site workshop also serves as a preparatory phase for the final Bucharest Hackathon. Participants will be able to transfer the observations, analyses and discussions developed during the workshop into future project proposals, while establishing a common ground for producing sustainable and circular transformation strategies at the campus scale.

WHEN

15 to 16 March 2027

WHERE

Onsite at Istanbul Technical University

APPLICATION

Deadline for application is 1 September 2026

Participation is recommened as a result of the previous workshops held in the context fo Circular Campus 2030