Circular and Regenerative Business Models: Innovation, Capabilities, and Market Ecosystems
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 November 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: marketing; neuromarketing; market research; operations research; digital transformation; digital marketing; green marketing; public marketing; place marketing; sustainability
Interests: tourism; sustainable and environmental development; behavioral changes; environmental ethics; economic sociology; tourist happiness; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The accelerating transition toward sustainable economies has intensified the need for business models that move beyond incremental improvement and embrace circularity, regeneration, and systemic value creation. While research on sustainability, green marketing, and responsible innovation has advanced significantly, important gaps remain. Existing studies tend to focus on firm-level environmental practices or consumer responses, with limited integration of how circular and regenerative business models evolve, scale, and reshape market ecosystems. Furthermore, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic capabilities that enable organizations to innovate, collaborate, and govern resources across interconnected networks. Finally, the role of data-driven transparency, ESG information, and digital technologies in supporting these models is still underexplored.
This Special Issue, “Circular and Regenerative Business Models: Innovation, Capabilities, and Market Ecosystems”, welcomes multidisciplinary contributions that examine how innovation, marketing strategy, and ecosystem governance can accelerate regenerative transformation. We encourage conceptual, empirical, and mixed-method studies addressing circular strategies, ecosystem-based value creation, collaborative platforms, dynamic capabilities, and data-enabled sustainability performance. The aim is to advance an integrated research agenda that connects business innovation, market architecture, and regenerative thinking—positioning circular and regenerative business models as catalysts for resilience, competitiveness, and environmental stewardship in the transition toward sustainable economies.
Dr. Luis Manuel Cerdá Suárez
Dr. Rafael Robina-Ramírez
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sustainable marketing
- ecosystem design
- market shaping
- dynamic capabilities
- circular economy
- regenerative business models
- ESG data governance
- market ecosystems
- platform and ecosystem governance
- sustainable innovation management
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