Small Business Innovation and Sustainable Circular Economy: Pathways, Practices, and Performance
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 50
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in socio-economic development, yet their contribution to sustainability transitions remains underexplored. This Special Issue seeks to examine how small businesses innovate, for example, technologically, socially, and organizationally, to advance environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Building on the existing literature on sustainable entrepreneurship, responsible innovation, circular economy adoption, and digital transformation, the issue focuses on the unique constraints and opportunities faced by SMEs, including resource scarcity, regulatory pressures, community embeddedness, and agile business models.
The purpose of this Special Issue is threefold: (a) to identify emerging patterns of sustainability-oriented innovation in small firms, (b) to evaluate tools and frameworks that enable SMEs to measure, monitor, and scale sustainability performance, and (c) to explore policy, ecosystem, and supply-chain conditions that support sustainable SME innovation. By integrating empirical evidence, conceptual work, and applied case studies, this issue will complement existing research by offering a multidimensional and practice-relevant understanding of how small firms can accelerate sustainable development and contribute meaningfully to global net-zero, circularity, and resilience agendas.
This Special Issue directly advances the aims of Sustainability by focusing on the following:
- Measuring and monitoring sustainability performance, especially through digital tools, life-cycle assessment (LCA), environmental management systems, and simplified frameworks accessible to SMEs.
- Policies and regulations, examining how national net-zero targets, ESG disclosure standards, and supply-chain requirements affect small business innovation activity.
- Socio-economic dimensions, such as local employment, community resilience, inclusive innovation, and social enterprise models.
- Integrated approaches, analysing how environmental, social, technological factors interact to shape sustainable SME transitions.
- Applied sustainability, via case studies, pilot projects, industry collaborations, and real-world applications of green technologies, circular business models, or sustainable manufacturing processes.
This Special Issue therefore fills a critical gap by linking micro-level innovation practices with macro-level sustainability imperatives, offering actionable insights to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.
Dr. Elaine Conway
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
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