BRIDGE Sustainability Seed Fund
CAPPUCCINO BRIDGE Project
A research and outreach project focused on sustainability, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Turning an everyday waste stream into opportunities for circular action
CAPPUCCINO uses spent coffee grounds from campus cafés as an accessible starting point for investigating campus-based circular economies. Instead of treating the grounds only as waste, the project asks how they might become useful inputs for new products, services, learning experiences, enterprises, and community partnerships.
The project connects research, education, innovation, and civic engagement across the University of Birmingham and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign while building a wider multidisciplinary community of practice.
FOCUS AREAS
Connecting knowledge, learning, and community action
Research and Innovation
Explore sustainable processing and potential applications for spent coffee grounds and other natural feedstocks across materials, food, health, manufacturing, and related fields.
Education and Training
Create interdisciplinary learning opportunities through curriculum development, student activities, design thinking, entrepreneurship, and sustainability education.
Civic Engagement
Build partnerships with communities, businesses, students, and other stakeholders through outreach, citizen science, shared problem-solving, and responsible innovation.
TEAM
Meet the project team
CAPPUCCINO is led by Dr Ilija Rašović and Dr Kylee Goode at the University of Birmingham, together with Dr Joe Bradley and Dr Japhia Jayasingh Ramkumar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The wider project network includes researchers, educators, students, community partners, entrepreneurs, and contributors from multiple disciplines.
CAPPUCCINO Symposium Series
March–April 2025
Civic Engagement Symposium
April 28, 2025
Student Symposium
June 9, 2025