This groundbreaking handbook leads the way in accelerating the transition to a sustainable circular economy by introducing the concept of a catalyst as a positive and enhancing driving force for sustainability. Catalysts create and maintain favourable conditions for complex systemic sustainability transition changes, and a discussion and understanding of catalysts is required to move from a linear economy to a sustainable and circular economy.

With contributions from leading experts from around the globe, this volume presents theoretical insights, contextualised case studies, and participatory methodologies, which identify different catalysts, including technology, innovation, business models, management and organisation, regulation, sustainability policy, product design, and culture. The authors then show how these catalysts accelerate sustainability transitions. As a unique value to the reader, the book brings together public policy and private business perspectives to address the circular economy as a systemic change. Its theoretical and practical perspectives are coupled with real-world case studies from Finland, Italy, China, India, Nigeria, and others to provide tangible insights on catalysing the circular economy across organisational, hierarchical, and disciplinary boundaries.

With its broad interdisciplinary and geographically diverse scope, this handbook will be a valuable tool for researchers, academics, and policy-makers in the fields of circular economy, sustainability transitions, environmental studies, business, and the social sciences more broadly.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Hanna Lehtimäki is a professor of innovation management in the business school and a director of research for the Center for Sustainable Circular Economy at the University of Eastern Finland. Her research examines circular economy with theoretical frameworks on strategic management, organisation theory, leadership, and entrepreneurship. She and her research team advance transdisciplinary social sciences research and societal impact in sustainable circular economy transition.

Leena Aarikka-Stenroos is a professor of industrial management and a director of the Research Centre for Managing Circular Economy, ManCE at Tampere University in Finland. Her research on circular economy is positioned in the multidiciplinary crossroads of innovation, technological development, and business including business-to-business marketing and ecosystems. She holds leader and specialist positions to advance ecological sustainability.

Ari Jokinen is a senior research fellow in environmental policy at Tampere University in Finland. He holds a PhD in administrative sciences and is an adjunct professor in natural resources policy at the University of Eastern Finland. His research interests include sustainability policy, focusing on urban transformations, circular economy, biodiversity, and the politics of nature.

Pekka Jokinen is a professor of environmental policy at Tampere University, Finland. His research focuses on environmental governance, social change, and sustainabilities, and his current work concerns climate policy and urban circular economy. Jokinen has written on a wide range of issues in environmental politics and policy.