ExPliCit: Exploring Plausible Circular futures

The circular economy represents a new paradigm that can push the frontiers of sustainable development by reshaping the relationships between ecological systems, economic activities and social justice.

While there is a consensus that the transition to a CE could promote a more sustainable future, there is so far a lack of discussion on how a truly circular economic system should be organised. Most of the current academic literature portrays the transition to a CE as a straightforward, neutral and apolitical process, implicitly characterised by a techno-optimistic and eco-modernist stance.

Against this background, this project calls for opening a debate to deconstruct the increasingly hegemonic discourse on the CE based on a technocratic approach and reshape it by incorporating normative and political dimensions, considering a variety of plausible CE futures and discussing their implications for the organisation of production and distribution networks, while engaging a broad range of stakeholders.

The project will involve a broad range of 5 academic and 5 non-academic partners to ensure that the project will be able to realise relevant knowledge transfer through secondment mechanisms.

The consortium will be led by the Universita degli studi di Napoli Parthenope (Italy)