Introduction

The transition toward sustainable socio-economic-technological systems is essential to address pressing environmental challenges. Issues such as biodiversity loss, waste generation, and resource depletion indeed threaten the planet’s regenerative capacity. In response, the concepts of sustainability and, more recently, the circular economy have gained significant importance. Businesses play a crucial role in this transition. Enabling factors such as product design capabilities, creating collaborations and partnerships, and accessing and utilizing technologies can influence the magnitude and speed of implementing sustainability and circular economy strategies in companies. Among the enabling factors, access to financing plays a prominent role. This introductory chapter contextualizes crowdfunding within sustainability and circular economy issues and outlines the volume's structure.