The Triple Helix concept of innovation systems holds that consensus space among industry, government and university is required to bring together their competences to achieve enhanced economic and social development on a systemic scale. In line with this argument, this article analyses empirically how the concept of circular economy is conceived in the institutional spheres of “industry”, “government” and “university”. Innovation systems are constantly being reconstructed through knowledge production and communication, which is reflected in how concepts develop in the different spheres. By applying natural language processing tools to key contributions from each of the three spheres (the “Triple Helix”), it is shown that, although institutional backgrounds do contribute to differing conceptualizations of circular economy, there is a substantial but limited conceptual consensus space, which, according to the Triple Helix, should open new opportunities for innovations. The consensus space shared across the three spheres focuses on materials and products and sees circular economy as a way to create new resources, businesses and products from waste. The industry sphere highlights business opportunities on global scale, which are also evident in the government sphere. The government sphere connects circular economy to waste-related innovation policies targeted at industrial renewal, economic growth, investments and jobs. The university sphere, in turn, focuses on production and environmental issues, waste and knowledge, and is rather distinct from the two other spheres. The importance of the differing conceptions of circular economy is based on the logic of Triple Helix systems. Accordingly, sufficient consensus between the Triple Helix spheres can advance the application of the concept of circular economy beyond the individual spheres to achieve systemic changes.

The article identifies consumer perspectives related to the activities that facilitate circular economy transitions across major consumption domains. Building on insights from surveys on the circular economy, we review consumer perspectives in the key consumption domains of food, housing, and transport, as well as consumer electronics. Our focus is on the responsibility for organizing the reuse of products and services, the preferred procedures for extending the lifespan of products and services, and the ways to acquire products and services. Analyzing responses from a representative survey of the population in Finland in 2018 (n = 1555), we argue that consumers’ perspectives vary significantly across the domains examined. The responsibility for reuse is attributed mainly to consumers themselves, particularly in housing and consumer electronics. Personal activities are also highlighted in the extension of product and service lifespans in the domains of consumer electronics and transportation. As for acquisitions, the respondents overwhelmingly favored ownership over services or sharing. Further, statistically significant differences due to gender, age, education, income level, and household size were observed. The results indicate that domain-specific strategies to promote circularity that consider consumers’ backgrounds are likely to attract a better response from consumers than an all-encompassing approach.

This study tests the explanatory strength of the party-centered theory of electoral campaign professionalism. The theory was previously subject to testing in various types of elections during the first decade of the new millennium, covering Germany, Austria, Sweden, and Finland. Nevertheless, empirical research in this field has been on hold for almost a decade, obstructing the development of the theory during a time when politics and political campaigns have taken new paths. In this article, the theory is revisited, presenting results from a unique time series study covering 48 party campaigns between 2009 and 2019 in three consecutive European parliamentary elections in two multiparty democracies, Sweden and Finland. Our results provide weak support for the party-centered theory of campaign professionalism in the form it was originally operationalized. Only a centralized party organization and a large support base with a catch-all strategy were found to be statistically significant predictors of campaign professionalism.

This chapter investigates the mediatization of politics in the context of the 2009 European Parliamentary (EP) election campaigns. The chapter also investigates and compares the framing of politics as a strategic game and whether there is a correlation between an interpretive journalistic style and the use of pro-and anti-European Union (EU) frames during the 2009 EP election campaigns. 0The chapter also investigate and compare how the media across a number of member states framed the European Union, and whether there is a correlation between an interpretive journalistic style and the Medias framing of the EU. The chapter studies shown that in all investigated member states of the EU, the media to varying degrees intervened and shaped their coverage of the 2009 EP election campaigns according to their own needs and logics rather than those of political parties and candidates.