5c. Circular Economy

Track Chairs

Goals and Objectives of the Track

Circular economy (CE) research has taken off exponentially in the last years, with concerted policy efforts from the EU and other organizations.  Aiming at an economic system wherein products are designed to maximise the value extracted from resources, the development of a CE could indeed represent a social transformation.  However, a tension is emerging between policy views of the CE as a form of Sustainable (economic) Development, and approaches to for circularity, such as repair, refurbishment, or even ‘refusing’ to buy (Reike et al., 2018), that are degrowth strategies.

This session aims to contribute to the understanding of the sustainability impact of CE practices and the different routes to innovation that may be required, also exploring theoretical and pragmatic implications related to the Sustainable Development Goals 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).  Indeed, relatively little attention, has been paid to examining the environmental, social, and economic impact of CE practices, and how those impacts may be context and/or scale dependent.

Contributions shedding light on the following area are welcome:

  • policy efforts to engender CE-practices, especially in emerging and developing economies;
  • CE practices and comparative case studies that elucidate various dimensions, business types, 9R strategy implemented and challenges to be faced;
  • quantification of the specific environmental, economic and social impacts of CE;
  • CE metrics and performance indicators;
  • start-ups and ‘green’ businesses adjusted to CE principles;
  • Circular Business Models and their implementation
  • role of the Sharing Economy;
  • role of the Circular Bioeconomy;
  • consumer perspectives and stakeholder’s perceptions and roles in CE;
  • role of industrial symbiosis, networks in resource management, and zero waste programs and projects;
  • role of Industrial Ecology methods and tools (e.g. material flow analysis, input-output analysis, life cycle assessment) to achieving a CE;
  • drivers of innovation in resource management, resource security, and resource efficiency;
  • initiation and resilience of CE practices in a rapidly changing context;
  • CE in cities;
  • relationships between native culture’s thought and CE principles.

Other CE-related contributions can also be explored.

Length and content of the proposed abstract to the track

Each proposed abstract (in connection to one of the areas pointed out above), within 300 and 500 words (including everything):

  1. shall be best organized (without headlines) along usual structures (e.g. intro/method/findings or results/ discussion/conclusions)
  2. does not need to, but can include references
  3. shall provide in a final section
    a. to which SDG(s) and SDG-target(s) their proposed abstract especially relate to (e.g. “SDG+Target: 14.1.”).
    b. a brief indication how the proposed contribution relates to the topic of the Conference (“ACCELERATING PROGRESS TOWARDS SDG’s IN TIMES OF CRISIS”).

Submission

Please submit your abstract by visiting the abstract submission system (you will be required to setup an account first) at

https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/login?redirect=/stages/2332/submitter

Extended deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2021

PLEASE ALSO CONSIDER A PARTICIPATION IN OUR PHD-WORKSHOP! https://2021.isdrsconferences.org/phd-workshop/