Public agency catalysing sustainability transition: the roles and modes

Abstract

Value creation in circular economy (CE) is a result of co-creation. In industrial context, the collaboration has been studied extensively on company-to-company basis, but related public agency remains unexplored. Still, circular actions happen in societal contexts where public actors and logics are constantly present. The study considers: 1) What roles can a public actor have in industrial CE systems? 2) What are the relationship modes a public actor can have toward a system? The study is relied on multiple case study and qualitative content analysis on the secondary data of international eco-industrial parks. Six distinct roles and two modes for public agency in industrial CE systems were identified. The roles depict the concrete tools used by public actors and the modes the characteristics of these actions. The study provides insights on how public actors can contribute to sustainability transitions and helps practitioners to better understand the premises for public-private interaction.