Initiating a Minimum Viable Ecosystem for Circularity

Jan Konietzko*, Brian Baldassarre, Nancy Bocken, Paavo Ritala

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeChapterScientific

1 Citation (Scopus)
12 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

To achieve a transformation toward the circular economy, organizations need to take an ecosystem perspective and consider multiple complementary actors that are needed to deliver circularity as a collective outcome. However, practitioners and scholars lack an understanding of the initial phases of ecosystem creation, in terms of how to get started, and what to consider. We therefore investigate how organizations can initiate an ecosystem for a circular economy. The method consists of a concise review of the ecosystem literature and three instrumental cases, to identify important activities that are needed when initiating an ecosystem for circularity. The cases include: (1) an alliance for circular safety footwear, (2) a startup that turns old coffee ground and orange peel waste from another company into new products, and (3) a multi-stakeholder project aimed at recovering resources from wastewater. We propose a framework for a Minimum Viable Ecosystem for Circularity (MVEC) that includes a set of key activities to perform when building ecosystems for a circular economy. These activities provide a useful roadmap for scholars and practitioners for establishing and assessing ecosystems for circularity. We call for further research and practical applications to test and demonstrate the utility of this framework in different contexts.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationA Systemic Transition to Circular Economy
EditorsA.R. Ometto
PublisherSpringer
Pages65-83
Volume12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Publication series

NameGreening of Industry Networks Studies
Volume12
ISSN (Print)2543-0246
ISSN (Electronic)2543-0254

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • Business ecosystem
  • Circular business model
  • Circular economy
  • Ecosystem perspective
  • Systems thinking

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Initiating a Minimum Viable Ecosystem for Circularity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this