Adnkronos Milan, October 9 (Adnkronos) – The circular economy is "a very dynamic sector, but the landscape is still quite fragmented, especially in Italy." Paolo Cassani, Associate Partner at Aegis, told Adnkronos today on the sidelines of the event "Creating sustainable economic value through the circular management of industrial waste" at SDA Bocconi School of Management.
“We have a university offering with some specific modules, but spread across various university programs, technical-scientific but also obviously economic and legal,” he emphasized.
The offerings at the postgraduate master's level and executive courses are much more codified: "At Bocconi there are roles with a very rounded technical and managerial connotation, for more senior figures."
But "right now, there's still a mismatch between supply and demand." Being a growing sector, "new professionals will be needed to fill vacancies, but the overall trend is positive; a good balance will be reached in the coming years. It will clearly be a dynamic balance because, in the meantime, training opportunities will evolve, as will business opportunities and technological trends," Cassani concluded.
"We can distinguish two levels of skills that must then be integrated: managerial skills, soft skills, and specialized technical skills" for roles related to circularity. Paolo Cassani, Associate Partner at Aegis, told Adnkronos today on the sidelines of the event "Creating sustainable economic value through the circular management of industrial waste" at SDA Bocconi School of Management.
The first group "stands out for the ability to lead diverse, multidisciplinary work groups and interact with complex stakeholders." Skills such as "effective communication, speaking different languages, such as finance, technology, law, and operations. Strategic thinking, understood as timely analysis of data and trends and their placement within a more organic framework, a comprehensive vision. And given that it is a highly dynamic, constantly evolving sector, a propensity for continuous learning and intellectual curiosity are also essential," Cassani emphasized.
Beyond these, "decidedly more specific skills are required, which are tied to roles in the circular economy." "Skills in designing and implementing innovative business models geared toward circularity—industrial symbiosis, rather than product-as-a-service, sharing platforms, or lifetime extension strategies," he added. But also "skills in LCA (life cycle assessment), to measure and optimize the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of products and services." Regulatory expertise is also essential, as is "knowledge of the enabling technologies for circular processes and models. In this case, I would like to highlight the emerging trends in artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) for the training offerings that develop these types of skills, which are undoubtedly growing," Cassani concluded.