Upcycling for Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education: Literature Review
Kyungeun Sung
Abstract Upcycling is creation or modification of any product from used
materials, components and products which is of equal or higher quality or value
than the compositional elements. Upcycling, in principle, increases material efficiency, reduces waste, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and creates employment opportunities. When scaled up to a meaningful level, it could,
in theory, contribute significantly to achieving multiple Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). For such potential benefits, upcycling has been practiced in households and businesses, and existing studies have reported on these cases. Relatively
little attention has been paid to how universities have utilised upcycling for teaching and learning activities. This paper therefore aims to provide a literature review
on the use of upcycling for and in higher education. Systematic literature review
was conducted. The results present how upcycling concept and practice have been
used as contents, media or tools for teaching sustainability and sustainable practices
at universities across countries. This paper extends our understanding of upcycling
in the context of higher education for sustainability. The practical implication is
that any future university initiatives relating to SDGs could be informed about the
applicability and usefulness of upcycling in their initiatives.
Keywords Higher education · Sustainable development · Teaching and learning ·
Upcycling
1 Introduction
Upcycling is creation or modification of any product from used materials, components and products which is of equal or higher quality or value than the compositional
elements (Sung et al. 2014; Sung 2017). It is an umbrella concept which incorporates
‘creative’ reuse, repair, refurbishment, upgrade and more (Sung et al. 2017a, b).
K. Sung (B)
Design and Humanities, Faculty of Arts, School of Design, De Montfort University,
The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
e-mail: kyungeun.sung@dmu.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_23
371
in Higher Education: Literature Review
Kyungeun Sung
Abstract Upcycling is creation or modification of any product from used
materials, components and products which is of equal or higher quality or value
than the compositional elements. Upcycling, in principle, increases material efficiency, reduces waste, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and creates employment opportunities. When scaled up to a meaningful level, it could,
in theory, contribute significantly to achieving multiple Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). For such potential benefits, upcycling has been practiced in households and businesses, and existing studies have reported on these cases. Relatively
little attention has been paid to how universities have utilised upcycling for teaching and learning activities. This paper therefore aims to provide a literature review
on the use of upcycling for and in higher education. Systematic literature review
was conducted. The results present how upcycling concept and practice have been
used as contents, media or tools for teaching sustainability and sustainable practices
at universities across countries. This paper extends our understanding of upcycling
in the context of higher education for sustainability. The practical implication is
that any future university initiatives relating to SDGs could be informed about the
applicability and usefulness of upcycling in their initiatives.
Keywords Higher education · Sustainable development · Teaching and learning ·
Upcycling
1 Introduction
Upcycling is creation or modification of any product from used materials, components and products which is of equal or higher quality or value than the compositional
elements (Sung et al. 2014; Sung 2017). It is an umbrella concept which incorporates
‘creative’ reuse, repair, refurbishment, upgrade and more (Sung et al. 2017a, b).
K. Sung (B)
Design and Humanities, Faculty of Arts, School of Design, De Montfort University,
The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
e-mail: kyungeun.sung@dmu.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_23
371