Unravelling the role of necessity-driven circular business models for an environmentally and socially just transition to circular economy

Project description

The Circular Economy (CE) policy agenda is mainly focusing on mature industrial models rather than on lower- and middle-income economies. However, identifying successful necessity-driven circular business models is important as they can still reduce resource consumption and extend product life cycles, while also generating jobs and addressing pressing needs for low-income strata of societies. Previous research has shown that many elements of a necessity-driven CE might even go beyond the borders of informal and precarious communities and be incorporated in more formalised settings. 

Within this context, the project’s aim is to identify the requirements of successful necessity-driven circular business models in the Global South, and understand how these models can learn from and contribute to circular business models in the Global North by upscaling entrepreneurial income generation activities, filling institutional voids and informing policy making in both contexts.

The successful candidate will have a strong aptitude for qualitative research design including ethnographic case study, focus group, interviews and critical discourse analysis and will likely have a background in management, sociology, economics or a related discipline. 

International collaborator(s)

The project is based on a collaboration between Sheffield University Management School (SUMS, United Kingdom) and University of São Paulo (USP, Brazil). The project benefits from the support of several industrial organisations and community partners which have been already working with both SUMS and USP.