Sustainable strategies and circular economy ecosystems: A literature review and future research agenda

Abstract

Various social and political entities are now promoting sustainable industrialisation through cultural transformations in regulation via research, education, ethics, politics and governance. The increasing uncertainties around dealing with the scope of environmental challenges also emphasise the need to consider these issues as social-ecological systems. Prior reviews on sustainable strategies and circular economies have not approached the literature from this angle. To address this gap, we carried out a systematic literature review to generate insights into the evolution of sustainable strategies for circular economy ecosystems. This review combines bibliometric techniques with content analysis to identify the main thematic groups and research trends. We also put forward a framework for circular ecosystem-related sustainable strategies that may not only assist scholars, policymakers, organisations and stakeholders in advancing with their respective projects but also provide an agenda for future research on this field.