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The paper aims to contribute to the Circular Economy debate from the Entrepreneurship Education perspective. Despite scholars' growing interest in both these research streams, scarce consideration is given to the comprehension of their mutual implications and meaning.

The paper is based on a cross-case analysis. It compares 16 higher education programmes launched by Universities in Europe aimed to create competences and skills for Circular Economy in students with different profiles. The analysis provides a critical view of the emerging trends for the entrepreneurship education skills and competencies needed for the emerging circular entrepreneurship paradigm.

The paper discusses the main trends of Entrepreneurship Education focused on Circular Economy debate at the European level: rationale and learning objectives (why); contents (what), target students and stakeholders (who) and the learning processes (how). Four thematic areas are identified as common patterns: circular economy business model, green supply chain management, technology entrepreneurship and innovation and public policies and institutional frameworks.

The paper sheds new light on a still under-researched area, suggesting several implications and avenues for future research in Circular Economy and Entrepreneurship Education. Limitations regard the need to analyse education programmes from a larger geographical area, to take into consideration interesting experiences in the rest of the world and to also collect quantitative data.

Practical implications arise for the development of learning initiatives for the Circular Economy: learning objectives and new thematic areas focused on circular, sustainable and innovative rethinking of the process for creating value in the incumbent companies; exploring meaning and benefits of collaborative approaches and participation in the circular economy innovation ecosystem and developing advanced models for soft-skills development in terms of leadership, motivational and creative skills.

The debate on CE can also be rooted in the paradigm of entrepreneurship as a core process to advance knowledge on valuable and sustainable innovation.

In the last decade, the hospitality sector has undergone numerous changes in the organization and structure of its business models. Specifically, the adoption of new digital technologies has initiated transformative changes toward circular economy and sustainability. The present study aims to analyze whether the use of the digital reservation system in circular entrepreneurship businesses has an impact on entrepreneurs’ satisfaction and trust in the in circular economy.

The data collected via a survey of 317 entrepreneurs who use a circular economy strategy were analyzed using SEM in a proposed model based on circular entrepreneurship businesses and the adoption of digital reservation systems.

The results showed a positive relationship between usability and perceived ease of use and user satisfaction and trust in using digital reservation systems to boost circular entrepreneurship in hospitality. Therefore, it was identified that adopting a digital reservation system can increase the efficiency of entrepreneur resources, as well as lead to creation of sustainable knowledge, augment the use of new sources of user information, improve prediction of services and demand and, consequently, boost sustainability and circular economy.

Future research can use the results of the present study to investigate how digital technologies work and affect user trust, satisfaction, and use of these systems in entrepreneurs’ projects in hospitality. In addition, it would be interesting to explore how these factors influence hospitality in different business models that support circular economy in tourism. To this end, researchers can use the variables used in the present study, along with other variables, to extend the proposed model and deepen the authors' research. In summary, this study contributes to the literature on the use of applications in hospitality sector and offer useful insight on how the adoption and use of new technologies can drive the management of knowledge and technology development, decision making and acquisition of new data sources that improve the experience of both entrepreneurs and users that interact with their services to enable circular entrepreneurship.

Hospitality entrepreneurs can use the results of the present study to better evaluate how using these applications can affect the communication protocols with their employees and stakeholders. Furthermore, entrepreneurs operating in the hospitality sector can use the results to develop action plans focused on the circular economy, new knowledge creation, as well as development and adoption of new digital technologies that enable circular entrepreneurship. In this way, hospitality companies will be able to effectively combine both more traditional offline channels and new technologies, such as mobile applications or the Internet.

The authors' prediction of a strong positive link between perceived usefulness and user trust was also supported by the results of data analysis. The finding that perceived utility increases user trust in entrepreneurs when making adopting these technologies is also consistent with other similar studies. Finally, the results of this study also confirmed the hypothesized link between the perceived utility of digital technologies and user satisfaction. Taken together, the results also highlight the relevance of analyzing the use of digital reservation systems in the hospitality sector to enable circular entrepreneurship.

Taken together, the results highlight the relevance of analyzing the use of digital reservation systems in the hospitality sector to enable circular entrepreneurship and increase the perceived usefulness of new digital technologies so that to improve sustainable actions and the circular economy globally.

This paper aims to explore synergies between feminist, first nations and queer theories and social, circular and climate entrepreneurship, to build a framework for supporting climate just entrepreneurship.

This paper draws on an extensive qualitative review of the literature on gender justice, equality, social entrepreneurship, the circular economy, climate entrepreneurship and climate action, as well as theorising feminist, first nations and queer approaches to climate action through entrepreneurship.

Whilst climate change is a “threat multiplier” for existing gender (and other) inequalities, gaps remain in engraining gender equality and gender justice principles in social, circular and climate entrepreneurship. Through analysing the literature for critical gaps and theorising at the intersection of climate entrepreneurship and feminist, first nations and queer theories, the authors advocate that a framework for climate just entrepreneurship could play a pivotal role in combining proactive climate action and gender equality measures through entrepreneurship. It could also be a significant step towards ensuring entrenched, systemic inequalities are not perpetuated in nascent and rapidly evolving fields such as the circular economy, social enterprise and climate entrepreneurship.

The literature on climate entrepreneurship is burgeoning, yet key entrepreneurial concepts lack an explicitly feminist or gender lens approach, even whilst being inextricably linked to effective climate action. This paper seeks to rectify this gap by promoting climate just entrepreneurship as a model for effective climate action.

Various publications have extensively documented the advantages of a circular economy in ensuring sustainability and limiting climate change. Despite academic records emphasising the need to adopt this business strategy, entrepreneurs in developing countries prefer linear economies. This reluctance is attributable to several factors, including insufficient infrastructure and technology, limited financial access, inadequate education systems and the prevalence of informal enterprises. Therefore, a thorough analysis of the underlying economic, political and social conditions is required to identify the drivers of circular economies (CEs) and their contribution to entrepreneurship in developing countries.

In this study, the authors first conducted a comprehensive quantitative literature review based on LangChain to identify the critical CE drivers from the social, technological and organisational perspectives. Based on the input from the expert panel of Iranian academic and industry professionals, the authors applied an integrated fuzzy interpretive structural modelling and cross-impact matrix multiplication approach to classification (Fuzzy-ISM-MICMAC) to investigate the chronology of entrepreneurial drivers.

Level-based model results reveal entrepreneurial drivers in developing nations and their interrelationships, specifically underlining the importance of supply chain factors and stakeholder preferences. Thus, the differences between the perception of the main drivers in developed and developing economies can be identified, with the former paying particular attention to legislative and financial factors. The study's findings contribute to conserving resources, reducing waste and adopting more sustainable corporate practices, thereby assisting developing countries in achieving development goals.

This study employs an innovative quantitative systematic literature review approach that relies on a large language model to identify the drivers of the CE. Furthermore, it adopts a systematic approach to examine the enablers of the CE rather than a narrow and individual perspective of the entrepreneurial drivers. The study employs the fuzzy ISM MICMAC technique to showcase the prioritisation of entrepreneurial prospects in emerging economies.

The present study is aimed at developing a multi-level framework for assessing circularity in agri-food industries by providing the user with a step-by-step approach and selecting a customized set of indicators capable of accurately assessing the circular economy (CE) level.

The framework is composed of four stages. In the first stage, a CE theoretical model based on operations, product and services, culture, organization and ecosystem criteria has been implemented and adapted to the agri-food sector. In the second stage, users are required to collect a set of indicators capable of measuring each criterion. In the third stage, a weight is assigned to each indicator using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Lastly, a geometric multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model, called axial distance-based aggregated measurement (ADAM) model, is used to normalize, assess and aggregate the results and produce final scores for the different alternatives to be ranked based on their final circularity scores.

The model can be a useful tool to support corporate decisions in the CE, making entrepreneurs aware of their starting level. It indicates the extent to which companies are implementing circular business models across different dimensions and, thus, where they are still lacking.

Beyond the attempts to measure the circularity of corporate performance from a purely environmental perspective, the study adopts a holistic view, considering the complexity and disruption of all the principles of the CE.

The shift toward a circular economy (CE) represents a collaborative endeavor necessitating the presence of efficient frameworks, conducive contexts and a common comprehension. This research serves as a pivotal stride towards this goal, presenting an exclusive prospect for the investigation and fusion of these frameworks, with particular emphasis on the Quintuple Helix Model (5HM), into a unified theoretical framework that underscores the core principles of the CE. This study is centered on three pivotal questions aimed at decoding the CE transition in specific regional settings.

Adopting an abductive approach firmly anchored in a two-stage qualitative process, this study specifically merges the foundational principles from institutional theory, entrepreneurship literature and CE frameworks to provide insights into the dynamics of circular ecosystems, with a specific focus on the Huelva region in Spain.

The findings demonstrate significant potential in the CE, ranging from the integration of product and service systems to innovations in eco-industrial practices. Yet, a notable deficiency exists: the absence of institutional entrepreneurs, highlighting the essential role that universities can play. As recognized centers of innovation, universities are suggested to be key contributors to the transformation toward a CE, aligning with their societal and economic responsibilities.

This study highlights the importance of managing relationships with entities like SMEs and policymakers or academia for effective CE adoption. Policymakers can refine strategies based on the research’s insights, while the impact of university-driven circular ecosystems on sustainable societies is another crucial area for research.

The sustainability models cited in CE literature may not be comprehensive enough to prevent problem shifting, and it can be argued that they lack a sound theoretical and conceptual basis. Furthermore, the connections between sustainability objectives and the three levels of the CE operating system remain vague. Additionally, there is insufficient information on how regions foster the involvement of the environment in fivefold helix cooperation and how this impacts the CE.

This paper aims to examine the mechanism of how circular economy practices (CEP) and circular economy entrepreneurship (CEE) promote sustainable supply chain management (SCM) and facilitate sustainable performance (SP) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food value chain in emerging economy. In this context, this mechanism involves the mediating role of sustainable SCM in the relationship between CEP and SP. Simultaneously, it involves the moderating role of CEE in the link between CEP and sustainable SCM.

The paper follows a quantitative approach. Based on systematic literature review on the field, the nexus amongst the constructs were proposed. The Smart partial least square (PLS) version 3.3.2 was employed to analyze structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships between constructs and latent variables. There were 457 valid responses obtained from the survey participants, those are managers at senior and middle levels. The data collected was then used for quantitative analysis and assessment.

The main finding of this study is twofold. First, it sheds light on how CEE associates in strengthening the influence of CEP on sustainable SCM. By this way, the better the CEE, the stronger the impact of the CEP on the sustainable SCM, leading to long-term sustainability. Second, it reveals how sustainable SCM mediates the link between CEP and SP. By this way, the better the CEP, the more the SCM is sustainable, ultimately leading to SP. This contribution is paramount because experimental research on this mechanism has not been intensively explored in the current literature.

The originality of this study is the provision of scientific knowledge and practical mechanisms for the introduction and application of CEP to business behaviors and practices in a real-world context that exists as a research gap in the current literature. In this respect, this study contributes to expanding the existing literature in the field by providing empirical evidence for the mechanism as stated. Furthermore, it provides a practical mechanism for SMEs in given context to enable them apply efficiently the circular economy perspective to their businesses to help them achieve SP. These contributions may be of interest to business practitioners, business leaders, academics and policymakers in the areas that are of their concerns.

Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and the dynamic capabilities view (DCV), this study investigates how circular economy entrepreneurship (CEE) drives technical capabilities (TC) in achieving greater circular economy (CE) performance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the moderating influence of environmental dynamism. SMEs, facing resource constraints, need to promote CE due to growing stakeholder pressures. Thus, the authors recommend that SMEs via CEE can identify CE opportunities and then develop specific TC to exploit opportunities in the business environment to achieve CE performance. However, in doing so SMEs should pay attention to the varying degrees of environmental dynamism.

The RBV and DCV are used as a theoretical lens to investigate the direct and moderation effects between CEE, TC, CE performance and environmental dynamism tested via partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using survey data from 152 managers of SMEs in Nepal.

The study results show that CEE directly has a positive and significant effect on the development of TC and CE performance. Similarly, the development of TC drives SMEs to achieve improved CE performance, as evidenced by the positive and significant effect. Interestingly, the results suggest that environmental dynamism significantly improves the relationship between TC and CE performance, but this effect is strongest at high levels of environmental dynamism rather than at low and moderate levels. Additionally, the findings reveal that while environmental dynamism has a positive effect on the relationship between CEE and TC, this effect is insignificant.

Based on the arguments of the RBV and the DCV, this study explores how environmental dynamism can reduce and amplify SMEs' ability to use CEE to develop TC and improve CEP. First, this study integrates the circular economy and entrepreneurship domains to suggest essential CEP and TC benefits for SMEs via CEE. Second, this study suggests that at low levels of environmental dynamism, CEE has less effect on the SMEs’ development of TC, compared to high levels. Third, this study is conducted in the novel institutional context of Nepal, providing insights regarding how SMEs' CE entrepreneurship impacts TC and CEP.

The Paris agreement for climate changes brought new attention to the themes of reduce carbon emissions, green ecosystems, the circular economy and the need to ensure the emergence of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study aims to investigate entrepreneurship from the perspective of circular economy and waste collection in the Portuguese context.

Following a quantitative approach, the sample comprises 2,690 firm-year observations related to 354 firms from different industries within the waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) scope.

The results show that a large part of SMEs started to comply with waste management regulations as of 2006 and are still not prone to innovation. Regulatory compliance is expected to have a positive impact on innovation, with a significant and positive change in the number of patents and the value of intangibles after companies comply with the waste management regulation.

This paper is original because it addresses equally to entrepreneurial ecosystems and circular economy (studies that address these two aspects are rare), with the Portuguese context in an embryonic stage with an extensive path to follow in the applicability of circular economy to business.