Special Issue "Emerging Design and Managerial Approaches for Circular Economy"

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: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Silvia Barbero
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture and Design, Politecnico di Torino, 10138 Torino TO, Italy
Interests: ecodesign; systemic design; complexity
Prof. Alberto Petroni
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43121 Parma PR, Italy
Interests: social finance; technology transfer; industrial innovation
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Production is affected by the rise of resource consumption which is exceeding planetary boundaries more and more in the current globalised linear economy (IRP, 2019). These global trends claim to redesign the current production and consumption in order to be more future-oriented on the way to sustainable development (Williams, 2019). The need for and the potential of innovation has never been greater.

We are witnessing an increased interest in the Circular Economy as an essential model contributing to sustainable development and wellbeing (EMF, 2015). Such phenomena present an opportunity for emerging design and managerial approaches to activate innovative paths. In order to achieve this, a holistic frame and reference is required (Hjorth and Bageri, 2006), where the depth of understanding of the complexity comes from the number of variables and relations created in the environment. Tackling sustainability is a vital consideration in the design and management of products, services and technologies.

Against this backdrop, Sustainability is announcing a Special Issue dedicated to the emerging approaches in design and management in order to foster a Circular Economy. This Special Issue will provide an outlet for cutting-edge praxis research by scholars who provide insights into theoretical and practical developments in these domains.

We invite interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and codisciplinary analyses that address the development of circular economies through innovative approaches in design and management. We are particularly interested in scholarly analyses, especially rigorous case study analyses that generate novel and innovative insights around the following topics:

-        Systemic and strategic design approaches for circular economy;
-        Emerging managerial approaches for circular economy;
-        Environmental and social strategies of governance;
-        Codesign for sustainability;
-        Policy design to address circular economy practices;
-        Processes design for output–input optimization.

References:

EMF (2015). Delivery the circular economy: a toolkit for policymakers. Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Hjorth, P., & Bagheri, A. (2006). Navigating towards sustainable development: a system dynamics approach. Futures, 38(1), 74-92.

IRP (2019). Global Resources Outlook 2019: Natural Resources for the Future We Want. Oberle, B., Bringezu, S., Hatfield-Dodds, S., Hellweg, S., Schandl, H., Clement, J., Cabernard, L., Che, N., Chen, D., Droz-Georfet, H., Ekins, P., Fischer-Kowalski, M., Liu, B., Lu, Y., Lutter, S., Mehr, J., Miatto, A., Newth, D., Obershelp, C., Obersteiner, M., Pfister, S., Piccoli, E., Schaldach, R., Schungel, J., Sonderegger, T., Sudheshwar, A., Tanikawa, H., van der Voet, E., Walker, C., West, J., Wang, Z., Zhu, B. A report of International Resource Panel. United Nations Environment Programme. Nairobi, Kenya.

Williams, J. (2019). Circular Cities: challenges to implementing loopung actions. Sustainability, 11(2), 423.

Prof. Silvia Barbero
Prof. Alberto Petroni
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 papers will be 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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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 1900 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

  • sustainability
  • managerial approaches
  • systemic design
  • circular economy

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Cultural and Creative Industries as Innovation and Sustainable Transition Brokers in the Baltic Sea Region: A Strong Tribute to Sustainable Macro-Regional Development
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9742; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179742 (registering DOI) - 30 Aug 2021
Viewed by 139
Abstract
Recent research shows increasing efforts to unfold the potential of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) for regions in order to pursue new sources of innovation, competitive edge and to manifest sustainable and inclusive growth paths driven by creativity. Due to its strong commitments [...] Read more.
Recent research shows increasing efforts to unfold the potential of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) for regions in order to pursue new sources of innovation, competitive edge and to manifest sustainable and inclusive growth paths driven by creativity. Due to its strong commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, on the global level, the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) has become a role model in sustainable development. Yet, individual BSR countries face challenges in the implementation of those goals. In this light, by building on the intermediate results (2017–2020) of two EU Interreg projects—Creative Ports and CTCC—this research reveals CCIs’ potential for sustainable development avenues. The investigation is based on case study methodology underpinned by empirical data gathered from participating Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and topical experts met during the projects’ implementation and study visits. The present multi-project applied research reduces the research-to-practice gap pertaining to the so far underestimated role of CCIs for supporting traditional SMEs in the implementation of their sustainable ideas. Once engaged into cross-sectoral collaboration with traditional SMEs, CCIs become important brokers—sustainable innovation drivers and enablers within regional ecosystems through contribution to environmentally responsible, socially equitable and economically feasible solutions for the business they work with. Thus, on the one hand, CCIs support SMEs in their transition towards more sustainable managerial performance. On the other hand, CCIs overcome disconnection and increase their recognition through new collaboration opportunities, thus providing them with new capitalization avenues on the regional and international level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Design and Managerial Approaches for Circular Economy)
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