Circular economy and cultural heritage conservation: a proposal for integrating Level(s) evaluation tool

As the world continues to urbanize, sustainable development challenges will be more and more concentrated in cities and they increasingly require identifying and implementing new development models and strategies to be able to conserve the identity in a general context of homogenization/standardization. In this perspective, cultural heritage plays an important role also for enhancing quality of life, well-being and health conditions. The circular economy model can be implemented in the cities in order to achieve sustainable development. It offers a great opportunity to increase urban productivity, and to date, there are some good practices of circularization of processes at different scales in which the implementation of circular processes has produced benefits. In the circular approach, resources are reused, recycled, recovered, regenerated and shared. Among resources, cultural heritage/landscape should be considered. Cultural heritage conservation/valorization and circular economy are intertwined: cultural heritage conservation can be implemented through circular economy, and circular economy can be implemented through cultural heritage conservation/valorization. Assuming the unifying approach of the landscape as a ‘prism’, proposed through the historic urban landscape (HUL) approach, in which all different perspectives converge with respect to which it is possible to interpret the city system, this contribution intends to propose some strategies for values-centred regeneration of the city based on the circular economy model. In particular, the focus is on the operational strategy of cultural heritage adaptive reuse, highlighting the relationship between ‘intrinsic value’ and use values. In this perspective, the evaluation activity plays a fundamental role in identifying the multidimensional productivity of the different project alternatives and related impacts, beyond the reductive perspective of the tourism approach (e.g. in terms of the archaeological/museum park).

Climate change, pollution, and inequalities are prominent issues in cities and regions, calling for an ecological and cultural transition towards a sustainable society where wellbeing, quality of life, ecosystems human health and equity are prioritized. Circular economy and circular city models offer frameworks for achieving these objectives, promoting symbiotic relationships between different forms of capital within urban ecosystems: economic, environmental, social, cultural, institutional and human capitals. Historic urban areas, through the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage, can contribute to the circular economy model, enhancing urban metabolism while preserving cultural integrity. Co-design and co-planning processes involving stakeholders and communities are essential to realize the circular city, thus integrating conservation with development. The aim of this paper is to conduct an ex post analysis of cultural heritage adaptive reuse projects in Europe, that are particularly well “performing” from the perspective of the circular economy implementation in cities and regions. Circular economy is interpreted not only in terms of reuse/regeneration of waste, but also has promoting a new mindset. These examples are examined based on specific criteria and indicators from the EU-funded Horizon 2020 CLIC research project, identifying success factors, tools, and models emerging from good practices that can potentially be replicated and transferred for the circular adaptive reuse of Italian cultural heritage. Particular attention in the selection of case studies has been given to the co-planning and co-design experiences activated, to highlight the social innovation capacity of the analysed adaptive reuse projects.

<p>This article aims to develop a structured reasoning and a first proposal of evaluation criteria to assess the impacts of cultural heritage adaptive reuse projects in the perspective of the circular economy model. Adaptive reuse of cultural heritage can be key in the implementation of circular economy and circular city/territory models. The article explores and clarifies why and how cultural heritage adaptive reuse is key to implement a circular economy in cities and regions, stressing the “multidimensional productivity” of heritage reuse and its contribution to the achievement of a “human sustainable development”. The article addresses first the theoretical aspects comparing and discussing the literature on circular economy and its applications, while proposing a first set of evaluation criteria able to express what can be interpreted/chosen as relevant in this context.</p>

Over the last decade, the unsustainability of the current economic model, based on the so-called take-make-dispose paradigm, has emerged. In particular, the agro-food sector (AFS) has been severely affected by such problems as resource scarcity and food loss and waste generation along the supply chain. In addition, climate change and biodiversity loss have helped to define an imperative paradigm shift towards a circular economy. Recently, with the publication of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the scientific research examining the adoption of circular economy (CE) models and tools has increased. In this context, the importance of shifting towards a circular economy has become urgent. In this paper, a systematic literature review (SLR) was performed to investigate the state-of-the-art research related to the adoption of circular economy models and tools along the agro-food supply chain. Furthermore, this review highlights that, due to the complexity of the agri-food supply chain, it is almost utopian to define a unique circular economy model for the whole sector. In addition, it emerges that future researches should be concentrated on the integration of different stages of the supply chain with circular economy models and tools in order to create a closed-loop agri-food system.

Participatory evaluation of cultural heritage adaptive reuse interventions in the circular economy perspective: A case study of historic buildings in Salerno (Italy)

Circular economy is the economic model focused on recycling, reusing waste, and extending the lifespan of materials. In the current context of resource depletion, environmental pollution and climate change, adopting the circular economy model is an inevitable trend for humanity. In developing the circular economy model within countries, the mining industry including the coal mining industry are among the economic sectors prioritized for effectuating. Implementing the circular economy model needs to be carried out synchronously at all three levels including the macro - level (government policies), the meso - level (interconnected models across enterprises in one industry, inter-industry collaborations, and local initiatives) and the micro - level (specific solutions within businesses related to recycling, waste reuse, and extending material lifespans). Through the paper, the authors synthesized the theory of the circular economy and the circular economy park model from existing literature, analyzed several typical cases of establishing the circular economy park in China, and analyzed the feasibility of applying the circular economy park model to Vietnam’s coal mining industry. Finally, the paper proposed the circular economy park model specifically tailored for Vietnam’s coal mining industry and suggested some recommendations to promote the adoption of the circular economy park model within the industry.

Towards a circular economy for sustainable development: An application of full cost accounting to municipal waste recyclables

Community-based virtual power plants’ technology and circular economy models in the energy sector: A Techno-economy study

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Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 Technologies Introduction: Markets that promote product reuse rather than product elimination and subsequent extraction of new resources are examples of a circular economy. All waste categories, including clothing, scrap metal, and outdated technology, are recycled or put to better use in such economies. This approach can offer a solution not only to safeguard the environment but also to use natural resources more wisely and produce new industries, jobs, and skill sets. A paradigm of production and consumption known as the "circular economy" incorporates sharing, leasing, reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling to lengthen the package's life cycle. The primary goal of a circular economic model is to design out waste. This model is predicated on the idea that there is no such thing as waste. To accomplish this, last-generation products are made with high-quality materials and are amenable to the extraction and reuse cycle, making it easier for users to handle, modify, or update them. The circular economic model is ultimately distinguished by these short product cycles, with the exception of disposal and recycling, which waste a significant amount of embodied energy and labor. The ultimate objective is to manage finite stocks and balance renewable resource flows to protect and enhance natural capital. Research significance: The circular economic model distinguishes between the cycles of technology and biology. Consumption only occurs during biological cycles when biologically-based goods are intended to replenish the system through procedures like food, compost, or anaerobic digestion of cork, linen, or other materials. These cycles recreate environments that give the economy renewable resources, such as soil or the ocean. Technical cycles, on the other hand, restore and reuse products through tactics like recycling, reusing, repairing, or producing something new. Ultimately, one of the goals of the circular economy is to increase resource yields by focusing on the components, goods, and services that are circulated and used most frequently across the technological and biological cycles. The concept of the circular economy gained popularity in China in the 1990s in response to economic expansion and the depletion of natural resources. The central idea of the circular economy concept is to strike a balance between resource and environmental use, capitalizing on material flow and recycling, and economic growth Methodology: ideal solution (TOPSIS) is prioritized through unity is a technique that provides, this is a multicriteria decision analytical method. TOPSIS stands for (PIS). Short geometric distance alternative to select is the positive ideal solution, basically distance to have ideal solution of thought (nis) negative too long from is geometry. Of TOPSIS the assumption is even greater is, is coming or going the criteria are the same are increasing. Many parameters in scaling problems or criteria often improper dimensions normalizations due to having are generally required. Alternative: Reliability, Responsiveness, Agility, Costs, Active management efficiency. Evaluation preference: Regenerate, Share, Optimise, Loop, Virtualise, Exchange. Results: From the result it is seen that Share is got the first rank where as is the Regenerate is having the lowest rank.

Protection and sustainable management of water was indicated as one of the strategic tasks in the process of transformation towards a circular economy (CE) in the European Union (EU), therefore, the water and wastewater sector plays an important role in this process. At the same time, the European Commission (EC) strongly underlined the importance of the possibility to assess the transformation process toward the CE, and developed a set of CE indicators that are available on the Eurostat website. However, these indicators have limited ability to assess the transformation progress in the water and wastewater sector. This paper presents a set of indicators for assessing the economic progress of transformation towards the CE in this sector. The proposed economic CE indicators were grouped into the following actions of the CE model in the water and wastewater sector: reduction, reclamation (removal), reuse, recycling, recovery and landfilling. The selection of specific indicators was based on a systematic review of the literature presenting economic indicators developed by international organisations and researchers (covering different thematic areas, scopes and potential applications). The selected economic CE indicators were assigned to three groups of the cash flow: income (revenues, expenses), costs, and investment financing. The proposed CE indicators can be used by water supply and sewage companies (i.e., supplying water to the public and wastewater treatment plants, and companies that use water in their production processes) to assess the level of the transformation toward the CE at a microeconomic level. An important aspect of future application and usage of the proposed set of CE economic indicators is the collection and processing of data needed for their reporting. The proposed set of CE economic indicators refers to information that are reported by the companies to prove its revenues, costs and investment outlays, and are collected by companies anyway. The proposed set of economic CE indicators is flexible, allowing the adaptation of indicators and areas of interest to maintain effectiveness throughout the transition period from linear to the CE model.

Public awareness of circular economy in southern Poland: Case of the Malopolska region

According to a recent report issued at the World Governments Summit in Dubai in February 2019, the current linear economy model in the Arabian Gulf region is depleting its resources at an accelerated rate while generating unprecedented amounts of waste and emissions, causing social, economic, and environmental damage. If waste is the world’s biggest problem because of its environmental and health risks, the Gulf States needs to exploit the vast resources of wastes and benefit from its revenues. Hence, the importance of applying the circular economy as a modern model seeks to enhance the value and productivity of resources and reduce slack and losses, which has a positive impact on the economy and the environment. The report noted that countries in the region could save nearly $138 billion by 2030 if they adopted the circular economic model. Whereas the GCC countries are taking accelerated steps toward adopting the circular economy model to achieve sustainable growth according to their strategic vision, the question arises: How does the application of the circular economy model contribute to the improvement of waste management and treatment systems in the Gulf States? The research aims to introduce the circular economy model and try to diagnose the reality of the wastes industry in the region while demonstrating the contribution of the application of the circular economy model to improving waste management and treatment systems in the Arab Gulf countries, with the potential to benefit from global experiences in this field.

The circular economic model is a newly (re)discovered paradigm by the humanity which seems to be inevitable in order to create a sustainable resource managment for our future, in all sectors of the economy, especially in industrial production. Disciplines such as industrial ecology have already shed the light on the importance of copying or adapting nature-based ecosystems in industrial zones, parks, see e.g., the worldwide spreading eco-industrial parks. In many parts of the world, the circular economic is not only emerging as a theoretical concept, but is also being integrated into policy-making processes and practice. The circular economy can also be an alternative to traditional – linear – economic systems on a global scale. The European Union is making a strong move in this direction, as are many other countries, including the United States and China. China is one of the most committed promoters of this concept, where we can talk about the political mainstreaming of the circular economic model since the 1990s. The country is having an exponentially increasing number of pilot projects for circular economic. By implementing the circular economic model, China is reflecting on the complex problems of the very rapid industrialization and economic growth. An extremely centralised political regime like China is using top-down methods which may not be possible to implement neither in the EU nor in the US, but it is rather the system-level thinking of circularity which must be studied, not the concrete plans and steps. This article aims to analyse why circular economy is a beneficial approach to industrial sites, why we may state that the Chinese practice is very unique and specific in a global comparison, and what might be the potential lessons or patterns other countries or regions could study and interprete. The methodology applied by the author is based on the review of recent international literature available on the best practices of circular economic, as well as concrete case studies and statistical data from China. Based on the already existing and published models, it is undebated that the Chinese practice is progressive in quantitative terms, however, there are several weak points of the pilot and demonstration projects, mainly regarding the lowel level of involvement of stakeholders (park managment and business actors) and the density of cooperation networks

The study focuses on the concept of a circular economy based on industrial ecology. Industry 5.0 has the potential to advance Sustainable Development Goal-9 (SDG-9), fostering innovation, encouraging inclusive and sustainable industry, and building resilient infrastructure by going beyond profit-centered productivity. The research utilized bibliometric analysis to examine the transitions of Industry 5.0 with SDG-9 and circular economy models. The three crucial phrases “sustainable development goals 9,” “circular economy,” or “industry 5.0” were employed to collect data from the Web of Science database during the period 2005-2025. The researchers examined 1,165 papers on performance analysis indicators, viz., most prolific authors, disciplines, universities, etc. We performed scientific mapping on citation analysis, bibliographic coupling of authors and countries, and co-occurrence of keywords using VOSviewer, which displayed network and density visualizations. The results revealed that most papers, 495, were published in the year 2024. The most prolific author among the 4,004 authors leading the analysis is Leng JW, with 19 publications. SDG-9, Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, accounted for the highest number of articles published among the 17 SDGs, with 552. Among the documents, 959 were articles published in the English language. The highest affiliation out of 1,732 is Hong Kong Polytechnic University, leading with 34 publications. Premier publishers were Elsevier with 317 publications, MDPI with 295, and IEEE with 198. China led with 276 publications, followed by Italy with 178, India with 155, and England with 123 out of a total of 91 countries. The keyword that appeared most frequently was "industry 5.0," occurring 507 times. The principal findings indicate that Industry 5.0's human-centric approach establishes the social foundation, SDG-9 gives the strategic direction, and the Circular Economy offers the operational model for a sustainable industrial system. Key contributions encompass: (1) a comprehensive theoretical framework integrating these three domains, (2) the identification of specific technological enablers (e.g., artificial intelligence for resource optimization, collaborative robots for remanufacturing) that facilitate this integration, and (3) a precise delineation of the novel findings and their substantial policy and practical implications for businesses, governments, and researchers. The amalgamation creates new opportunities for interdisciplinary study and innovation for scholars. Policymakers and educational institutions may impart the new skills and abilities needed for the shift to Industry 5.0. This integration ensures that technological innovations benefit all facets of society by placing a strong emphasis on human-centric approaches in agriculture and healthcare. Future research should explore the role of renewable energy in achieving sustainable industrialization.