We investigate why companies collaborate within the circular oriented innovation process. The purpose is to understand what motives trigger collaborative circular oriented innovation, as well as conditions, drivers and barriers. First, we define circular oriented innovation building on sustainable oriented innovation literature. Subsequently, we investigate 11 leading circular economy companies operating within the Netherlands, who developed collaborative circular oriented innovation activities. ‘Hard’ and ‘soft’ dimensions for innovation are identified and applied to delineate the drivers and barriers for collaborative circular oriented innovation. Our findings indicate that collaborations are conducted by entrepreneurially-minded actors through sharing a vision, enthusiasm, and crucially, a credible proposition for a circular economy. Furthermore, collaboration is sought early, to co-develop the problem and solution space and integrate disparate knowledge from across the value network, to mitigate increased complexity. Motives to collaborate vary between personal and organisational, and intrinsic and extrinsic levels. Collaborations start based on a relational basis between ‘CE front-runners’ to advance knowledge through experimentation. ‘Soft’ challenges to advance collaborations towards the competitive remain around culture, and the mindset to share rewards and risks. Without suitable solutions to these challenges, collaborative circular oriented innovation could remain underdeveloped within the transition towards the systemic level.

This paper focuses on how the Internet of Things (IoT) could contribute to the transition to a circular economy (CE), through supporting circular business model and design strategies. While literature has highlighted the opportunities for IoT to support circular strategies in business, little has been published about actual implementations in practice. The aim of this study was therefore to understand how companies to date have implemented IoT for circular strategies, and how these implementations compare to the range of opportunities described in literature. To that end, a two-step approach was followed. Firstly, building on academic literature, a framework was developed which categorizes different IoT-enabled circular strategies. The framework recognizes tracking, monitoring, control, optimization, and design evolution as IoT capabilities. Efficiency in use, increased utilization, and product lifetime extension are distinguished as circular in-use strategies, while reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling are distinguished as circular looping strategies. The framework complements previously published work, as it adds additional detail to the categorization, and allows for easy mapping of diverse cases. Secondly, 40 cases from practice were analyzed and mapped to the framework. This way, practice-based insights were derived about the current distribution of IoT-enabled circular strategies implemented in practice. The results show that current implementation of IoT-enabled circular strategies mainly supports two strategies in the use phase: efficiency in use and product lifetime extension. Only a small number of the reviewed cases display IoT-enabled looping (reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling). Similarly, few cases describe ‘design evolution’ for CE, i.e., the feedback of data from products in use to support circular design. Based on these results, this study identifies the need for future research to further investigate why IoT-enabled looping strategies and design evolution for circular strategies have not been implemented to scale.

This study addresses what competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) designers need in order to successfully design products and services for a circular economy. Existing literature, though sparse, has identified a number of circular economy competencies for design. Yet, a coherent overview is lacking. To complement the competencies found in the literature with insights from practice, we conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with design professionals. Our study identifies seven circular economy competencies for design: (1) Circular Impact Assessment, (2) Design for Recovery, (3) Design for Multiple Use Cycles, (4) Circular Business Models, (5) Circular User Engagement, (6) Circular Economy Collaboration, and (7) Circular Economy Communication. We used a general sustainability competencies framework to categorize our findings. Interestingly, we did not find evidence of the Systems Thinking competency in practice, although in the literature it is mentioned as a relevant competency for design for a circular economy. In addition, we found that methods and tools are still largely lacking or in a premature stage of development. We conclude that design for a circular economy can be seen as an upcoming, independent field within the sustainability domain, and that requires a specific set of competencies, methods, and tools. Our overview of circular economy competencies for design can guide the development of relevant methods and tools, circular economy-based design curricula, and training programs in the future.

In a recent study, we identified seven key circular competencies for design: (1) Design for Multiple Use Cycles, (2) Design for Recovery, (3) Circular Impact Assessment, (4) Circular Business Models, (5) Circular User Engagement, (6) Circular Economy Collaboration, and (7) Circular Economy Communication. These were derived from small-scale studies with designers working in the Netherlands. We set out to assess to what extent this set of seven competencies is recognized by an international group of designers and to evaluate whether any competencies are missing. We used an online survey to collect data from 128 respondents from 25 countries working on circular economy projects. The survey results showed that respondents use and have expertise in all seven competencies and they stressed the practical importance of two new competencies: Circular Systems Thinking and Circular Materials and Manufacturing. The resulting set of nine key competencies is the first internationally verified, coherent set of key circular economy competencies for design. This set will strengthen the pedagogical base of design for a circular economy and will guide the development of circular design methodology.

Collaborative innovation is necessary to explore and implement circular economy strategies. Yet, empirical investigations into such collaborations are scarce. It is unclear whether the circular context creates differences or represents adaptions within how collaborative innovation is conducted. We draw upon strategic management and open innovation literature to highlight what is known about collaborative innovation and the types of innovation conducted. We use these insights to investigate explorative qualitative case research into how practitioners in the Netherlands have conducted collaborative circular oriented innovation. Our findings show that open innovation criteria can aid our understanding and analysis. Key managerial considerations relate to the incremental or systemic nature of the innovation pursued, which induce different collaborative projects and knowledge management structures. For incremental innovation, we observe phases of collaboration, whereas for more systemic innovation, we observe a more collaborative portfolio and layered approach. Furthermore, the more radical innovation pursuits that explore slowing or recovery strategies, especially beyond business-to-business arrangements, challenge companies. A crucial challenge remains related to how to develop and assess collaborative and system-oriented business models in the transition towards a circular economy. Finally, future research is needed to assess whether the current modes of collaborative innovation are sufficient to deliver a circular economy transition.

In the transition to a circular economy companies are exploring new business models, implying a shift from selling products to offering products in circular business models, such as leasing. Product design is thought to play a crucial role in enabling this. Having a robust overview of relevant design roles and competencies is of foundational importance for the development of circular design tools and methods, and for the development of circular economy-based design curricula in higher education. However, how the role of design and the competencies required by designers need to change has hardly been investigated. Building on insights from literature regarding competencies of designers required to consider sustainability, sustainable design, and circular design, we developed a framework in which these competencies are related to the functional, coordinating, and strategic roles that have been recognized within the literature for designers. To complement the results from the literature with insights from practice, a single longitudinal in-depth case study was carried out describing a lease and refurbishment pilot conducted by a Dutch design-driven manufacturer of baby strollers. This case study allowed verification of the literature regarding the functional and coordinating roles of the designer. In addition, we were able to fill the gap observed in the literature regarding the strategic role product designers can assume when designing offers for circular business models. The competencies that we found are (1) the ability to concurrently develop the circular business model and the product’s design and (2) the ability to anticipate how the circular offering will evolve over multiple lifecycles. These findings have been used to expand the framework.