Project description
How circular economy should be organised
Circular economy supports sustainable development by transforming the relationships between ecological systems and economic activities. Such a new paradigm is expected to restore economy-society-nature interactions, replacing the current linear economic model. However, discussion about how to organise a truly circular economic system is lacking as most of the existing literature neglect it, presenting the transition as a straightforward, neutral and apolitical process characterised by a techno-optimistic and eco-modernist stance. The MSCA-funded ExPliCit project will open a debate to deconstruct the increasingly hegemonic discourse of circular economy based on a technocratic approach and reconstruct it by inserting normative and political dimensions and discussing their implications concerning the organisation of production and distribution networks and stakeholders’ engagement.
Objective
Circular Economy (CE) represents a new paradigm that is capable of pushing the frontiers of sustainable development by transforming the relationships between ecological systems and economic activities. Such a new paradigm is expected to repair economy-society-nature interactions, replacing the current linear economic model with a new one that is restorative and regenerative by intention and design.
However, while there is common agreement that the transition towards a CE could foster more sustainable futures, there is a lack of discussion about how a truly circular economic system should be organised. Most of the current literature on CE fails to recognise this, presenting the transition towards a CE as a straightforward, neutral, and apolitical process, implicitly characterised by a techno-optimistic and eco-modernist stance.
Within this context, this project calls for opening up a debate to deconstruct the increasingly hegemonic discourse of CE based on a technocratic approach and reconstruct it by embedding normative and political dimensions, looking at a plurality of plausible CE futures, and discussing their implications in terms of the organisation of production and distribution networks, also involving a wide set of stakeholders. As such, the project will involve a plurality of disciplinary perspectives, in order to devise future supply chain configurations that could be implemented in specific industrial sectors under specific CE scenarios.
A wide array of non-academic beneficiaries ensures that the project will be capable of realising relevant knowledge transfer through secondment mechanisms.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-SE - HORIZON TMA MSCA Staff ExchangesCoordinator
80133 Napoli
Italy