RESOURCE partner, the Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University (ULEIL), is developing three academic articles that explore the circular economy through the lens of innovation, spatial analysis, and global knowledge flows.
In the first two articles, we are leveraging novel datasets, including patents and trademarks, to investigate how circularity innovation develops and diffuses across Europe at the NUTS-3 regional level in the past two decades. This work also examines the critical role that Knowledge Intensive Business Service firms play in shaping regional circularity innovation landscapes by linking local actors to global knowledge flows. The third study introduces a novel approach that integrates spatial econometric models with proximity concepts to disaggregate Spanish national input-output data to the NUTS-3 sub-national level. This enables simulations of both the direct and spatial spillover effects of circular economy strategies, providing valuable insights for regional planning and policy design.
These research efforts aim to deepen our understanding of circular innovation dynamics and provide evidence-based insights to align the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) policy approach with the broader objectives of the European Green Deal.