Esther Noëth, Stine Moons, Els Du Bois, and Alexis Jacoby
Although the complexity inherent to sustainability transitions is increasingly acknowledged in both research and practice, the literature on the transition of organisations to the circular economy often lacks this notion of complexity—both in how systems are conceptualized (framing the system, i.e., how boundaries, actors, and interactions are defined) and in how change is enacted (approaches to intervene, i.e., the methods or strategies used to influence systemic transformation). To systematically review this body of literature, a framework and a flow diagram were developed by combining theoretical concepts from complexity theory, systems thinking and sustainability transitions studies.
The framework was developed in an iterative process where different rounds of literature research and restructuring of the different elements alternated. It went through a first validation round with experts in systemic design. This resulted in a framework that consists of three layers: essential components of complex living systems in transition (CLST), techniques for framing CLST and approaches to intervene in CLST. In each layer, five dimensions of elements are discussed: (i) why (purpose of the system), (ii) where (embeddedness), (iii) who (involved actors), (iv) what (involved factors and the way they behave in a CLST) and (v) how (dynamics of change).
The framework is restructured into a flow diagram to systematically evaluate papers and categorise them into six different complexity levels. By evaluating papers on the transition of organisations to the circular economy with this flow diagram, the distribution and diversity of the literature on this topic regarding different aspects of complexity can be assessed, and research gaps become visible.
KEYWORDS: systemic design, transition design, circular economy, sustainability transitions, theoretical framework