The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s flagship higher education initiative will develop for a further three years, thanks to renewed support from Wendy Schmidt and The Schmidt Family Foundation.
The renewed partnership will build on five years of successful collaboration via the Schmidt MacArthur Fellowship, and will aim to expand engagement with a circular economy approach within higher education, to achieve significant impact at a global scale.
“The Schmidt MacArthur Fellowship has led the charge in influencing the academic thinking and practice we need to support the transition to a circular economy. Since 2013, students and academics around the world have participated in the program, and they are our next-generation leaders. We look to them to innovate and shape future products, services, and solutions for an exciting new economic landscape - an emerging circular economy that will supply human needs while also regenerating the world's finite natural resources. We are delighted to continue our support of this successful and forward-thinking program.”
Launched in 2013, the Schmidt MacArthur Fellowship has established a network for academic faculty and students from world-leading universities to exchange knowledge, insights and perspectives around a circular economy approach. The Fellowship has contributed significantly to establishing the circular economy as a credible framework within the educational community, influencing the thinking needed to support systems-level change.
“To move towards a more restorative and regenerative economy we need to shift our thinking, to understand systems and embrace complexity. This means inspiring entire generations to think differently, using a circular approach. Education plays a critical role in this. Thanks to the support of The Schmidt Family Foundation, we are delighted to be able to evolve our higher education work, to widen its scale and deepen its global impact.”