What happens when a buzzword finally gets a theoretical foundation? This new research cuts through the confusion and provides the first comprehensive, research-based scaffolding in describing a Circular Economy Champion. By showing the traits and influence of the individuals and organizations, it pushes the circular economy paradigm forward.
News text:
The phrase Circular Economy Champion is everywhere. It appears in EU speeches, corporate sustainability reports, award ceremonies, and academic papers. Everyone talks about these “champions”, but here’s the twist: until now, nobody actually defined what one is.
Our newly published article published under the auspices of the IPR4SC project in the Journal of Cleaner Production changes that. The article takes on a problem that has quietly frustrated researchers and practitioners alike: the term has been used so widely, and in so many different ways, that it lost clarity. Are champions individuals? Organisations? Policy entrepreneurs? Inspirational leaders? Tech innovators? All of the above?
So we dug into this conceptual mess and discovered something crucial, i.e., lack of clarity makes it harder to identify the people or organizations who truly move circular practices forward.
The article reveals that Circular Economy Champions come in more shapes and sizes than expected. They can indeed be individuals, but also organisations or hybrid configurations. An actor capable of pushing circularity forward with intention and impact. What sets them apart are their traits: they have a strong grasp of CE principles, they’re willing to influence others (not just able to), have the ability to turn ideas into concrete action, and they collaborate across networks with surprising effectiveness. Many don’t rely on formal authority; instead, they lead through expertise, enthusiasm, and vision.
But the real magic lies in their impact. Champions don’t just adopt circular practices, they spark them. They drive high-value circular innovation, ranging from technical to business model and systemic solutions. They influence policies, helping create enabling conditions for circularity to scale. They build and coordinate networks, acting as glue within socio-technical ecosystems. And they perform crucial signaling and awareness-raising functions, recognizing and motivating others engaged in circular practice.
In short, they make circularity happen.
By synthesising these traits and impacts, the article delivers the first consistent, home-grown explanation of this key actor and offers a simple but powerful tool for understanding the people and organisations pushing the transition forward. It reduces longstanding ambiguity, clarifies the microfoundations of CE transitions, and lays the groundwork for empirical research and future typologies. In a field where progress depends on understanding who drives circular transformation, this contribution offers much-needed clarity and a powerful tool for identifying the actors who push the circular economy forward. Thus for a field that has grown rapidly, sometimes faster than its concepts, this work brings clarity.
