Transforming Digital Electronics Education: Integrating Sustainability Through Eco–Design, Modularity, and Circular Practices

Integrating eco-design principles and open hardware into digital electronics education is crucial to equip future engineers for addressing the environmental issues of the digital era. This research is part of the DEEPCEL (Digital Electronics with Eco-Designed Paradigm in Collaborative Enhanced Learning) ERASMUS+ project. Initially, it explores the knowledge and perceptions of participants through a targeted survey, emphasizing methodologies, the environmental impact of open hardware, and their role in fostering sustainability in digital electronics. The research also explores effective teaching strategies, tools, and platforms that can improve the adoption of eco-transition principles, with the aim of creating guidelines for curriculum modernization focused on sustainability. Participants affirm that open hardware offers transformative potential in improving innovation, accessibility, and eco-conscious practices and community-driven development. This study underscores the need for a collaborative effort between academia, professors, and industry leaders, along with their demands and needs to prioritize and integrate sustainability principles into digital electronics education. However, significant barriers remain, including insufficient training for professors, limited resources, and resistance to changes in traditional pedagogical practices. The findings should be interpreted with caution due to potential limitations in sample representation. Further research will validate the effectiveness of proposed strategies and assess long-term impacts on educational practices.