The Role of Multistakeholder Platforms in the Path Toward Circular Economy (CE) Transition in Europe

The strength of the circular economy (CE) is stakeholder engagement in fostering synergies along different production chains and CE stages to reduce waste, maximize product value, and increase loop closure. The transition to CE requires the participation of various players, in line with the quadruple helix approach, including enterprises, trade associations, institutions, central and local public administration, education, research and innovation institutions, and citizens, but clear governance is needed. Multistakeholder platforms (MSPs) facilitate dialogue and interaction between actors and create an innovation ecosystem where knowledge, ideas, good practices, perspectives, criticalities, and expectations on CE can be shared. Starting from a national case study, the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP), an analysis of selected platforms with similar characteristics to ICESP has been carried out. The main focus of this study is to understand the role that the platforms have in the reference country, the objectives, the governance, the stakeholders involved, and the main results. Despite similar main goals, platforms can act as hubs for the CE and/or as service providers, with, thus, some differences in the organization, activities, and stakeholders they involve, as well as in the results they achieve.