Aug 2026· Systemic Practice and Action Research· Vol 39· 0 citations· 53 references
Abstract
Transitioning toward a circular and regenerative economy requires more than technological innovation; it demands a shift in the underlying systems that shape how value, knowledge, and legitimacy are defined [Meadows D, Randers J, Meadows D, The limits to growth: the 30-year update, Routledge (2012); Raworth K, Doughnut economics: seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist, Chelsea Green Publishing (2017)]. While the circular economy (CE) is widely promoted as a pathway to sustainability, its implementation across industrial sectors remains uneven and frequently limited to efficiency-driven, technical interventions [Voulvoulis N et al., Glob. Environ. Change 75:102544 (2022)]. This paper examines the systemic conditions that constrain the adoption of circular economy principles through a case study of the craft distilling industry in regional Victoria, Australia. Guided by Sposito’s (2021) Rational–Holistic Model of Planning and Decision-Making, the study applies a multimethodological systems approach, integrating thematic analysis, boundary critique, and soft systems tools (PQR and CATWOE). This enables an exploration of how system structures - particularly those relating to motivation, control, knowledge, and legitimacy - shape what is considered feasible and acceptable in practice. The findings reveal that barriers to circular economy implementation are not solely technical or economic but are embedded within broader institutional and cultural frameworks. Regulatory fragmentation, compliance-driven definitions of legitimacy, and economically dominant worldviews constrain the uptake of more regenerative practices. By contrasting existing (“is mode”) and alternative (“ought mode”) system configurations, the study highlights the importance of reconfiguring underlying assumptions about system purpose and governance. The paper contributes methodologically by demonstrating how systems thinking combined with thematic analysis can reveal structural constraints, and conceptually by positioning CE as a pathway dependent on a broader shift toward a sustainability-oriented worldview.
The intensification of ecological crises, resource scarcity, and social inequalities compels design to fundamentally redefine its role, methods, and criteria for innovation. This article argues that innovation in design can no longer be understood as the mere creation of new artifacts, but rather as the capacity to reconfigure systems of production, consumption, and disposal. Based on the widely recognized premise that the majority of the environmental impacts of products and services are determined during the design phase, the designer is repositioned as a strategic agent in the transition toward sustainable socio-economic models.Within this context, the article examines the synergistic articulation of four complementary approaches: Ecodesign, as an analytical foundation oriented toward life-cycle thinking; Circular Design, focused on redefining business models and material flows; Biodesign, which incorporates biological principles and processes; and Human-Centered Design (HCD), responsible for ensuring social, cultural, and ethical relevance. It is argued that the transdisciplinary integration of these approaches constitutes an emerging paradigm of systemic innovation in design, in which success is assessed according to interdependent environmental, social, and economic criteria, thereby demanding new professional competencies and expanded forms of collaboration.
C. Carreto, R. Carreto· AHFE International· 0 citations
This paper provides anecdotes and examples on a wide range of topics related to sustainability, circular economy, local governance, and community development in Nepal, and illustrates the disconnect between global concepts like the circular economy and the ground realities of rural Nepal. It discusses the origins of the circular economy concept, its benefits, and the challenges likely to be faced while transitioning from a linear model of production and consumption to one that is cyclical. The role of local governments in adopting new practices like waste management and the potential pitfalls of introducing modern solutions without considering traditional practices and local contexts have been analyzed within the complexities surrounding the circular economy, especially in relation to practicality in implementation in rural areas. Being based on secondary literatures, and the author’s own observation-based reflection, the article also discusses how imported ideas and practices, if not aligned with local traditions and resources, can lead to unintended consequences and challenges. The critique of initiatives that prioritize superficial modernization over addressing core issues like sustainable waste management or preserving traditional farming practices has also been discussed.
U. Pyakurel· Aadim Journal of Multidiscip...· 0 citations
Introduction: The fashion industry epitomises capitalism’s growth imperative, driving ecological degradation and social harm through overproduction and overconsumption. Circularity—based in decoupling, dematerialization, efficiency, and innovation—is the dominant response from industry and policymakers. Critics argue circularity has been misappropriated by green growth, sustaining business-as-usual while deflecting attention from production volumes. This study investigated whether degrowth is a necessary precondition for achieving circularity in fashion.
Materials and methods: This study examined stakeholder perspectives across the fashion industry, drawing on 23 semi-structured expert interviews analysed via reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: In total, 74% of stakeholders agreed that circularity in fashion is not possible without first reducing overproduction and overconsumption. The analysis further found stakeholder agreement on complementarities between degrowth and circularity: degrowth, sufficiency, and policy (top-down) must be coupled with circularity, efficiency, and innovation (bottom-up) to transition fashion away from today’s harmful linear system.
Conclusions: This study advanced a ‘Degrowth to the Doughnut’ framework, sequencing degrowth ahead of circularity and operationalising efficiency and sufficiency in tandem. The study concludes with stakeholder-informed policy recommendations to address overproduction.
Indigo Jones· Academia Environmental Scien...· 0 citations
Despite growing policy interest, global circularity is declining — falling to just 6.9% in 2025. This paper argues that a key reason is the absence of a concrete vision of what a circular economy would look like as a physical place. To provide that vision, the argument traces a line across three bodies of work. Bauwens et al.’s (2020) scenarios of bottom-up sufficiency and peer-to-peer circularity offer the greatest potential for community empowerment. When pursued through a systematic application of circular economy principles to food, water, energy, and housing, these scenarios converge on a settlement model: the Circular Economy Village (CEV). Instantiating bottom-up sufficiency, the CEV is a walkable, mixed-use precinct in which resources circulate locally as a self-reinforcing system — eliminating waste, regenerating nature, and providing food, water, energy, and housing through integrated, community-governed infrastructure. Embodying peer-to-peer circularity, a network of CEVs can scale to constitute a global circular economy consistent with Herman Daly’s steady-state economy and the economy in equilibrium anticipated by the Limits to Growth Report (1972). The paper introduces a three-dimensional model of circularity — temporal, spatial, and relational — and proposes that a circular future can look like a network of Circular Economy Villages.
Steven Liaros· Journal of Circular Economy· 0 citations
This paper aims to critique the prevailing linear growth model in hospitality, which is associated with volume-driven expansion, intensive resource use and the externalisation of environmental and social costs. It examines the implications of these practices for environmental sustainability, community stability and economic resilience, and proposes a circular value ecosystem as an alternative framework through which hospitality systems can generate regenerative ecological, social and economic value.
As a critical reflection, the paper uses a conceptual synthesis of literature and theory to interrogate dominant growth assumptions, contrast them with socio-ecological alternatives and develop a regeneration-orientated research and practice agenda, calling for a shift in the underlying logic through which hospitality growth, performance and responsibility are understood.
The paper argues that dominant growth-orientated models misalign with long-term environmental and social goals, and that indicators such as RevPAR and occupancy maximisation fail to capture wider value creation. It develops the Circular Value Ecosystem (CVE) as a regenerative alternative and introduces three novel conceptual metrics, namely, the Regenerative Value Index (RVI), the Resource Circularity Score (RCS) and the Community Embeddedness Ratio (CER), to operationalise multi-capital value creation in hospitality contexts.
It proposes three metrics (regenerative value, resource circularity and community embeddedness) to support strategic decision-making and performance assessment and shows how business models can be reconfigured to operate within environmental limits while strengthening the role of hospitality firms within their local ecosystems.
This paper provides practical tools and guidance for hospitality managers to move beyond incremental sustainability. It introduces clear metrics – such as regenerative value, resource circularity and community embeddedness – that can support performance assessment and strategic decision-making. The findings also outline how business models can be adapted to operate within environmental limits while strengthening the role of hospitality firms as active contributors to their local ecosystems.
This paper offers an original contribution by integrating circular and regenerative thinking into a hospitality-specific framework, underpinned by three novel metrics, that collectively reorients the trajectory of hospitality innovation toward regeneration, circularity and place-based stewardship.
A. Elbaz, I. Salem, Mohamed Gamal Abdel Rasheed et al.· International Journal of Con...· 0 citations
This article interrogates the potential of the circular economy as a structuring paradigm for ecological transition and sustainable development in Tunisia, with particular emphasis on the management of construction and demolition waste (CDW). Situating the analysis within critiques of the dominant linear economic model, it elucidates how the circular reconfiguration of material flows may contribute to reducing environmental externalities, preserving natural capital, and stimulating territorially embedded forms of green employment. The study adopts a multidimensional and interdisciplinary methodological framework, combining a critical review of academic literature, the analysis of institutional and policy reports, qualitative interviews with key public and private stakeholders, and an in- depth case study of the RE-MED project, implemented notably in the Greater Tunis region. The study's results demonstrate the development of novel socio-technical configurations for reclaiming and recycling construction and demolition waste (CDW). Concurrently, they underscore how deeply entrenched institutional inertia, regulatory deficiencies, economic hurdles, and socio-cultural pushback continue to obstruct the widespread systemic adoption of circular economy models. The article concludes by advancing a set of policy-relevant recommendations aimed at reinforcing governancearchitectures, consolidating recycling value chains, and fostering the societal embedding of circular economy principles within the Tunisian context.
M. Ellouze· Advances in Social Sciences...· 0 citations
