The Circular Economy’s Role in Biodiversity Protection

Paul Dewick and Joseph Sarkis emphasize the important role the circular economy has in protecting biodiversity. They begin by presenting business strategies for circularity and extending these to consider biodiversity. CE business models draw attention to the importance of reducing waste and pollution, reusing and recycling materials, and regenerating natural systems. The models focus on the strategies of narrowing, slowing, closing, and regenerating/restoring and show how circularity can advance biodiversity protection. Dewick and Sarkis provide practice-oriented guidelines for implementing circular strategies and discuss how enabling factors like IT support, stakeholder engagement, and measurement are important for facilitating circular strategies that protect biodiversity

Degrowth within – Aligning circular economy and strong sustainability narratives

This perspective calls for building greater understanding of overlapping and conflicting considerations between the sustainability principles that inform current conceptions of circular economy and degrowth. We contend that scholars and practitioners need to be pragmatic and to recognize evident ideological differences, but simultaneously to acknowledge beneficial similarities and complements. The common aim of both frameworks – to change business-as-usual and to enable human society to operate within ecological planetary boundaries – will likely engender opportunities to formulate new solutions. Management of the inherent tensions, such as the scale and scope of rebound effects, will continue to pose challenges. However, with thoughtful dialogue, commitment to respectful discourse, and more refined articulation we are confident that progress will be made. By building on synergies and seeking holistic strategies, the academic community, along with its transdisciplinary partners, can advance strong global sustainability efforts

Regulation and Regenerative eco-innovation: the case of extracted materials in the UK

Regenerative eco-innovation, demanding radical and architectural change to restore, renew and revitalise the natural system, is arguably the most important type of eco-innovation to address the pressing challenges of sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of the regulatory framework and wider contextual conditions in facilitating or hindering regenerative eco-innovations. This is especially relevant for the built environment, a sector that is highly regulated and where rates of innovation are typically slow. We combined a review of relevant archival material with an interview programme involving key stakeholders from the UK’s built environment sector. We contribute to the literature by extending and elaborating our understanding of regenerative eco-innovation in two ways. First, we extend the literature on regulation and eco-innovation by exploring what constitutes high quality regulation in the context of regenerative development. Second, we elaborate on how regenerative eco-innovations are facilitated or hindered by wider contextual conditions. Our paper also has practical utility. More understanding of how effective regulation can support regenerative eco-innovations, and of how the wider contextual conditions facilitate or hinder regenerative eco-innovations, allows industry and government to respond better to the urgent global challenge of closing material cycles

Applying Enquiry and Problem Based earning to Mission-oriented Innovation Policy: From Policy to Pedagogy to Teaching and Learning Practice

Mission-oriented Innovation Policy (MIP) has risen to prominence around the world. Within the European Union’s Horizon Europe FP9 programme it forms Pillar2, addressing sustainability ‘missions’ around climate, energy, mobility, food, natural resources and the environment. And yet there has been limited academic research to-date on the question of how to translate MIP into the knowledge and skills needed by multi-stakeholder practitioners to effectively work within a mission-oriented policy framework. Our paper addresses this question through the prism of Enquiry and Problem-Based Learning (EPBL). An iterative research study was undertaken comprising four elements. The first involved a literature review mapping the synergies between MIP and EPBL; the second piloted the use of EPBL for undergraduate modules related to sustainability challenges; the third involved external stakeholders in the co-creation of a postgraduate programme that brought together innovation and sustainability, with EPBL fundamental to the design and development; the fourth curated and comparatively analysed international cases of EPBL in the context of MIP, and sustainability challenges highlighting the versatility of EPBL and the importance of creativity in EPBL design and implementation. The paper makes both a scientific and practical contribution. In pedagogic scientific terms we show how EPBL can underpin the design of programmes to provide learners with the knowledge and skills to support organisations working effectively within a mission-orientated innovation policy addressing sustainability challenges. For practitioners we provide recommendations for educators seeking to embed EPBL within their curriculum. We conclude by calling for external stakeholders to proactively engage with educators to co-create programmes with context specific outcomes