汉堡国际经济研究所（HWWI）：量化欧洲地区的循环经济

105

F山F

Volume10,Number3,2023,105136

DOI:10.18335/region.v10i3.498

journalhomepage:ISSN:2409-5370

QuantifyingtheCircularEconomyinEuropeanRegions:aBridgetowardsSmartSpecialisation?

MirkoKruse✶,JanWedemeier✷

✶UniversityofBremen,Bremen,Germany

✷HamburgInstituteofInternationalEconomics(HWWI),Hamburg,Germany

Received:26May2023/Accepted:24October2023

Abstract.CircularEconomy(CE)aspectsarebecomingincreasinglyrelevantforasustainabletransitionandregionaldevelopment.Still,amethodologytoassessregionalperformanceandinterregionaldierencesisexclaimedtobemissingatleastintheEu-ropeancontext.Thisgapmakesitdiculttoassesspoliciesandevaluatedevelopmentpatterns.Theauthorspresentamethodologytoovercomethisresearchgapbyincludingseveraldimensionsofsocial,environmental,andeconomicCEaspects.Themethodologyconsistsof29indicatorsgroupedinsixdimensionswithdataobtainedfromvariousdatabases.AstaticandatrendindexarecalculatedtocompareEuropeanNUTS2regionsintermsoftheircurrentCEstatusanditsdevelopmentoverthelastyears.ThenewinsightspaintamoredierentiatedpictureofregionalCEtransitionhighlightingthatasegregationisobservablenotsomuchbetweenNorthandSouthorEastandWestbutmorebetweenurbanandruralregions.RegardingthepracticalCEimplementationinEuropeanregions,theinstrumentofsmartspecialisationisdiscussed.

JELclassication:O18,P48,R1,R11

Keywords:CircularEconomy,SmartSpecialisation,Transformation,AssessmentMethodology,RegionalDevelopment

DeclarationofInterest:Theauthorsreporttherearenocompetingintereststode-clare.

1Introduction

Thechallengeofasustainabletransitionhastwosides.Therstisrelatedtotheoutputsideofproduction,namelythegenerationofgreenhousegas(GHG)emissionsandtheirreduction.Wherebythepolicyfocusisstronglyconcentratedonthisaspect,thesecondsidewhichisrelatedtothematerialinputofproduction,stillleadsarelativenicheexistence.However,therelevanceofthisneglectedperspectiveishighlightedbyfactssuchasthetriplingofglobalextractionofmaterialsbetween1970and2017(

IPCC

2015,

2020,

Oberleetal.

2019,

UnitedNations

2021

).Atthesametime,globalpopulationandglobalincomelevelstendtoriseinparallelwithchangingconsumptionpatternsfollowingaGlobalNorthernstandard.Thishasplacedadditionalpressureonmaterialextractionandconsumption.

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Asthemajorityofthismaterialstreamisnotrecycled,composted,orreusedafterithasserveditsprimaryobjective,itisturnedintowaste.Whilerawmaterialsbecomeincreasinglyscarceandmoreexpensivetoextract,wasteofunrecycledmaterialaccumu-latesinequalmeasureandleadstonewproblemssuchasthepollutionofbiospheres

(Deusetal.

2017,

Haasetal.

2020,

Nikolaou,Tsagarakis

2021)

.Onesubstantialap-proachtoreduceextractionandwastegenerationisthedecouplingofeconomicgrowthfromenvironmentalexploitation.OneofthecentralleverstoachievethisdecouplingisthetransformationtowardsaCircularEconomy(CE).TheconceptofaCEisbasedondevelopingcircularsystemsofmaterialandenergythatmaintainthevalueofresourcesaslongaspossibletorealignenvironmentalboundarieswitheconomicactivity(

Muñoz,

Navia

2021

).TheideaofcircularityisbecomingincreasinglypopularandispromotedbynationalgovernmentssupranationalorganisationssuchastheEU,aswellasmanybusinessorganisationsandbusinessaroundtheworld(

Korhonen,HonkasaloSeppälä

2018

).RegardingthepracticalimplementationofaCE,activitieswillnotonlyinvolvetheproductlevelbutalsoadministrativelevels,particularlyregions.ThisisbyreasonthatfacilitatingfactorsforaCEsuchasstakeholdercooperationortheestablishmentofclosedcyclesarepositivelyrelatedtoproximity.Accordingly,manypoliticalstrate-giesareimplementedonaregionallevel(

Vanhamäkietal.

2020

).However,theroleofregionsinaCEisnotcoveredasextensivelyinthescienticdebateasitsrelevancewouldjustify.Sincethesuccessfulimplementationofcircularmeasuresinregionsneedstorecogniseregionalcharacteristicsratherthanproposingaone-size-ts-allsolution,themissingregionalfocusalsoconstitutesapoliticalproblem.AddressingthisapparentgapisevenmoreurgentforEuropeastheGreenDealsetsanewdevelopmentparadigmofclimate-neutralityuntil2050thatinvolvesCEasacentralbuildingblockforEUpolicyinthecomingdecade(

EuropeanCommission

2019,

2021,

McCann,Soete

2020,

Arsova

etal.

2022)

.

ThearticleathandllsagapbyaddressingthetopicofCEinEuropeanregions.OneofthecentralweaknessesistheavailabilityofaquantitativeframeworktomeasuretheimplementationandeectsofCEattheregionallevel.SuchanextensiveframeworkismissinginEurope,thusweproposeamulti-dimensionalmethodologythatcombinesexistingapproachesandintroducesnewaspectstoovercomeshortcomingsofearliermod-els(

EuropeanCommission

2011,

Eliaetal.

2017,

Mitrovic,Veselinov

2018,

OECD

2020,

Mazur-Wierzbicka

2021,

Arsovaetal.

2022

).Todoso,bothastaticandatrendindexarecalculatedtoassessthestateandtherecentdevelopmentofCEinEuropeanNUTS2regions.Thisanalysisanswerswhichregionscanserveasanexampleforothers,whichregionalpolicieshavebeensuccessful,andhighlightshowtoshapetheprocessinthefuture.ThesendingsarethenintegratedintotheframeworkofregionalinnovationpolicyinEurope,particularlytheregionalinnovationstrategiesforsmartspecialisation(RIS3).ThisinstrumenthasbeenpromotedastheprimarypolicymeasureforregionalpolicyinEuropeandisincreasinglydiscussedintermsofagreentransition.Accordingly,articlediscusseshowCEandsmartspecialisationarerelatedandmakeaclaimthattheirmutualrelevanceforregionaldevelopmentshouldbefurtheranalysed(

Doranovaetal.

2012,

Gianelle,Kleibrink

2015,

Montresor,Quatraro

2018,

Gerlitzetal.

2020)

.ApplyingsuchaframeworkofregionalCEmeasurement(1)allowspolicymakersandscientiststotrackprogressofregionalCEdevelopment,(2)highlightsgeographicalpatterns,(3)identiestargetregionsforfurtheranalysis,and(4)helpstofocussupportschemestothoseregionsthatneedsupport.

Againstthisbackground,thearticleisstructuredasfollows:Section

2

providesanoverviewabouttheconceptofCEanditsrelevance,particularlyforEurope.Afterwards,thegeographicaldimensionofCEispresentedbeforethelinkagesbetweenCEandsmartspecialisationarediscussed.InSection

3

,anoverviewofthestate-of-the-artassessmentofCEinregionsispresentedandresearchgapsareidentied.Section

4

addressesthesegapsandrevealsthedevelopmentofamulti-dimensionalframeworkofCEassessment.TheresultsarepresentedinSection

5

anddiscussedinSection

6.

Thearticlecloseswithaconclusionandadiscussionofthepolicyrelevance(Section

7

).

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2TheconceptofCE

CEasaconcepthasemergedfromintegratingdierentscienticdisciplinesfromeco-nomicstonaturalsciencesandisanchoredinthebroaderwasteandresourcedebate

(Blomsma,Brennan

2017)

.Thesediverseoriginsleadtoacertainlevelofconfusionre-gardingthedenitionofCEanditsembeddingindierentresearchstreams.ThecurrentdiscussionaboutCEinpracticerequiresasolidfoundationoftheconcept'sintellectualrootswhichwillbeillustratedinthecorrespondingsubsections.

2.1Theoreticalfoundations

Theoriginsofcircularityconsiderationstracebacktothe1960swiththerecognitionofplanetEarthasaclosedsystemofcircularrelationships(

Boulding

1966,

Haasetal.

2020,

Nikolaou,Tsagarakis

2021)

.CEasaparticulartopicwasrstintroducedby

Pearce,Turner

(1990),butasteadyshiftcouldberecognisedoverthepreviousdecades

whenattentiontransferredtoagreaterindustrialandsocietalfocusregardingcontrollingpollutionandresourcetreatment(e.g.,

Meadowsetal.

1972

).CEthengatheredfurtherpaceinthe1990swiththeemergenceofseveralenvironmentallyrelatedresearchstreamsdevelopinginparallel,merging,andthenseparatingovertime.Amongtheseresearchstreamswereeldssuchasindustrialecologywhichisbasedontheideatolearnfrommaterialandenergyowsinnature,industrialsymbiosisfocusingonactornetworks,cradle-to-cradledesigncentringonadaptingsocietalowstonaturalowsandsharingeconomyapproachesemphasisingtheroleofindividualbehaviour(

Korhonenetal.

2018,

Domenechetal.

2019,

Bourdinetal.

2022

).

TheconceptwhichevolvedfromthismelangeofideasandthatlaterbecameknownasCEhasrecentlygainedurgencyinlightofmitigationofclimatechangewithaparticulardrivederivedfrompolicymakerssuchastheEU,individualcountriessuchasChinaorSweden,aswellasbusinessdevelopmentbodiessuchastheEllenMacArthurFoundation

(Chizaryfardetal.

2021)

.CEasaconceptwasdevelopedandledbypractitionerswithascholarlypositionandisstillemerging.ThisisoneofthereasonsofconceptualconfusionaboutCEdenitions(

Korhonenetal.

2018

).ThemultitudeofCEvariantsinthescienticliteratureintermsofconcept,approach,andscopeunderlinesthedevelopmenttheconcepthasundergone(

Kirchherretal.

2017,

Wilts

2017

).ThefactthatCEisanevolvingconceptinuencedbydierentscienticdisciplinesandshapedbydierentstakeholdergroupsprovidesanexplanationwhytheprocessofdevelopingadenitionisnotcompletedandprobablyneverwillbe.Untilnow,thereisnoconsensusonhowtoclearlydeneCEsothatseveraldenitionsexistinparallel(

Korhonen,Honkasalo

Seppälä

2018,

Kovacicetal.

2020,

Chizaryfardetal.

2021)

.Evenifonewantedtoprovideasingledenition,thisendeavourwouldbedoomedtofailasitwouldalwaysexcludesomeinterestsandcouldnotrecognisethedynamicandevolvingdiscussiononCE(

Korhonenetal.

2018

).Accordingly,wedonotclaimtopresentauniversaldenitionhere.However,thedevelopmentofaquantitativemethodologyrequiresanunderstandingofwhataCEisandentails.

Generally,denitionsaredividedbasedondierentassumptions.

Korhonenetal.

(2018)identifytwolinesofthoughtbasedonabusinessandascienti

cperspectiveonCE.Opposingthat,

Hachaichi,Bourdin

(2023)nametwostreamswithonefocusing

onaproductlevelofrestorativedesignandanotheronaneconomiclevelofcreatingcyclesalongproduction,distribution,andconsumptionprocesses(

Hachaichi,Bourdin

2023

).Methodologically,aproduct-levelorientedCEregardsmaterialowsinspiredbybiologicalcycles.Thisisdonesothateachcycleofmaterialuseiscomplementedbyanothercycle,ratherthanseeingthematerialsbeingdisposedafteruse(

Kiser

2016,

Braungartetal.

2007,

Braungart,McDonough

2009,

Braungart

2011)

.Todesignoutwaste,theinputsideofproductionisadaptedbyfocusingonbiologicalingredientsornutrientswhichshouldbeatleastnon-toxicbutpossiblyevenbenecialwhenreturnedtothebiosphere.Theconceptsofrecycling(1)andreuse(2)arecomplementedbythethirdfactorofreducing(3),therebyformingthe3Rprinciples.Theseprincipleshaverecentlybeensupplementedbyrecovering(4)tocreatethe4Rprinciples

(Ellen

MacArthurFoundation

2013,

2015,

Heshmati

2015

).AbroaderdenitionofCE,which

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istheonethatwillbeappliedinthisarticle,combinesthepreviousaspects,andembedsthemintoamultidimensionalframeworkencompassingeconomic,environmental,andsocialaspects.Fromthisperspective,CEisnotonlyaproductionvariantbutaconceptthatalsocoverssocietalaspectsandeconomy-levelimplications.

Accordingly,thebenetsofCEcanbedividedintoeconomic,social,andecologicalaspects.Fromaneconomicpointofview,CEpromisespotentialnetsavingsofmaterialandenergycosts,competitiveadvantages,andincreasedcompetitivenessforcompanies,aswellasimprovementsinselectionandproductqualityforconsumers.Additionally,localindustries,acategorytowhichCEcompaniescommonlybelong,haveproventoperformbetterintimesofeconomicrecessionwhichmightindicateastrongerresiliencethroughcircularity(

GreenovateEurope

2012,

EllenMacArthurFoundation

2013,

Ketels,

Protsiv

2017).

Niangetal.

(2023)highlightthatgrowthinemploymentinCE-related

sectorswashigherthanthegrowthoftotalemployment,indicatinganeconomicbenetofCE.Moreover,thepreservationofhigh-qualitymaterialscanreducethedemandandthereforethedependenceontheimportofrawmaterialsandintermediateconsumption.Regionalcyclesmakevaluechainslessvulnerabletopriceuctuationsandtotheinsecu-rityofsupplypotentiallyarisingfromresourcescarcityorgeopoliticalfactors(

European

Commission

2014,

2016,

Ketels,Protsiv

2017,

Wilts

2017,

Bourdin,Torre

2020)

.

Fromanenvironmentalpointofview,CEreducesthepressureontheextractionofrawmaterialsbyincreasingthesupplyofrecyclates.Moreover,negativeexternalitiesofwasteproductionandinappropriatedisposalcanbeaddressedbyrecycling,designingforrepair,andextendingthelife-cycleofproducts.However,theconceptofCEislimitedbyfundamentallawsofthermodynamicsstatingthatcertainquantitativeandqualita-tivelossesareunavoidable.Moreover,maintainingthehighqualityofvirginmaterialsisalmostimpossiblesinceallprocessesofrecyclinginvolveacertainamountofqualitylossanddown-cycling.ItisthereforerequiredtonoticethatthepromiseofaCEwillnotsolvetheproblemofanunsustainableeconomyonitsownthroughtechnologicalinnovationandnewinstitutionalframeworks.Thisisevenmoretrueasreboundeectsareawell-knownphenomenonandhaveinmanycases,underminedtheeciencygainsofCE(

Georgescuetal.

2014,

Gregsonetal.

2015,

GonçalvesCastroetal.

2022)

.ItisthisaspectthatisprimarilyaddressedinthesocialdimensionofCE.WhileCEinvolvessocialbenetssuchasjobcreation,strongersocietalcooperation,orlowerexpendituresforhouseholds,anexclusivelytechnicaloreconomicfocuswillfailtodeliverbehaviouralchangesandneglectsgovernanceandmanagementchallengesrequiredforasuccessfulCEimplementation.Aspectsofcooperationandmultidimensionalinteractionsbetweendierentstakeholderscomeintoplay.Culturalandsocialaspectssuchasstakeholderrelations,institutions,andpoliciesareinevitablebuildingblocksforaholistictransitionperspective(

Korhonenetal.

2018,

Beaurainetal.

2023,

Chembessietal.

2023

).WhilealargepartofCEliteraturedealswithproductorcompanyperspectives,thegeograph-icalperspective,particularlytheregionallevelmustnotbeneglectedasitwillplayamajorroleintheimplementationofCEpolicy.SocialfactorsofCEimplementationareespeciallyrelatedtosub-nationallevelssuchasregionsastheyprovidetheconditionsforstakeholdercooperation,theset-upofinnovationsystemsofdiverseactors,administra-tivecapacity,aswellasbenecialconditionsforthedevelopment,widespreaduse,anddiusionofenvironmentalinnovations(

VandenHeiligenbergetal.

2017,

Losackeretal.

2021,

Chembessietal.

2021a,

Arauzo-Carodetal.

2022

).Accordingly,theneglectoftheregionalaspectinscienticarticlesandpracticalpolicyofCEunderestimatestheroleplayedbygovernancestructures,andinstitutionalrequirementstodesignappropriateCEpolicies(

EuropeanCommission

2019,

2021,

Vanhamäkietal.

2020,

Dagilieneetal.

2021,

Henrysson,Nuur

2021,

Arsovaetal.

2022,

Morales,Dahlström

2022,

Williams

2022,

Rezaieetal.

2022

).Thisresearchgapisoneofthereasonswhythepotentialtoleveragegreentransitionissofarnotexploited.Leveragingregionaldevelopmentpotentialfortherun-upofCEmightbenetboth.Moreover,theregionalperspectiveallowsfortheidenticationofsuccessfactorsandregionalrequirementsforasuccessfulCEimplementation.

Inthiscontext,currentresearchindicatesthatCEdevelopmentisgeographicallyhighlydiversied.Forinstance,theshareofadoptionofCEprinciplesinhigh-income

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EUcountriestendstobelargerthaninlessdevelopedEUcountries(

Mitrovic,Veselinov

2018

).Attheregionallevel,urbanareasareparticularlyhighlightedwhenitcomestoCEtransition.ThisisjustiedbytheargumentthattheseregionssuermorefromtypicalurbandownsidesofwastegenerationandthereforebenetmostfromCEmeasures.ThesendingsimplythatspatialfactorssuchasanurbanstructureshapetheformationofCE.However,itremainsunclearwhetherthedividebetweenhighly-andless-developedregionsintermsofCEisanobjectivefactoramisunderstandingbasedonlimiteddata

availability(Ba£ováetal.

2016,

Muñoz,Navia

2021,

Mazur-Wierzbicka

2021)

.Thesequestionswillbefurtheraddressedbelow.

2.2CEinEurope

Geographically,researchonCEisstronglyrootedinpartsofAsiaandEuropefromwhereresearchhasgraduallyspread(

Hachaichi,Bourdin

2023)

.Inparticular,ChinahasintroducedCEmeasuresonalargescaleandpromotedCEtoaneconomicdevelop-mentstrategytomitigatetheenvironmentalchallengesassociatedwithstrongeconomicgrowth(

Heshmati

2015,

Silvestrietal.

2020

).TheEUhasalsorecognisedtherelevanceofCEtoaligneconomicgrowthandsustainability.StatingthatrawmaterialsarethelifebloodoftheEUeconomy

(EuropeanCommission

2016,

p.3)andidentifyingahighimportdependencywhenitcomestocertainresources,atransformationtowardsamoreregenerativeandresource-sensitivegrowthmodelisrequired(

Ragossnig,Schneider

2019,

WEF

2014,

EuropeanCommission

2010,

2020a,

EEA

2016,

2020)

.StepstowardstheintegrationofCEinEuropeanpolicyhavebeeninstitutionalisedsince2008withrele-vantdirectivesandstrategyformulations(

Avdiushchenko

2018,

Mazur-Wierzbicka

2021

).TheadoptionofaCircularEconomyActionPlanin2020hasociallypromotedCEtoamainbuildingblockofthesustainabilityagendaoftheEuropeanCommission.ThisActionPlanisalsoembeddedinthelargerpictureofestablishinganewgrowthstrategy,framedastheEUGreenDeal,aswellastheaspirationtoimproveresourceeciencyandreduceEuropeanimportdependenceonrawmaterials(

Wilts

2017,

Salvatorietal.

2019,

Domenechetal.

2019,

Borettetal.

2020,

EuropeanCommission

2011,

2019,

2020a)

.However,theEUeconomyisstillconsideredtoolinearandcertainpolicieshavetakenextendedtimeuntilbeingpursuedbyEuropeanandnationalpolicies(

EuropeanCom

-

mission

2019,

Reikeetal.

2018,

Mazzanti,Zoboli

2009)

.ComparedtotheoriginalideaofCE,certainaspectsareregularlylostintransitiontowardspracticalpolicy.OneoftheseisthesocialaspectofchangingconsumptionandproductionpatternswherebyCEisoftenreducedtoaninstrumentofmaintaininganunsustainablemodelofeconomicgrowth(e.g.,

Dunlap,Laratte

2022)

.

2.3CEandsmartspecialisation

Asindicatedabove,itisclaimedthattheregionalaspectofCEishighlyrelevantforsuc-cessfulpolicyimplementation(e.g.,

Gibbs,O'Neill

2017,

Arsovaetal.

2022)(e.g.

GibbsandO'Neill,2017;Arsovaetal.,2022).Inthiscontext,

Fusilloetal.

(2021)underline

thattrajectoriesofregionalCEinnovationsystemsresonatewithregionalcapabilities.Thereby,theregionallevelhasbecomeafocalpointofEuropeanpolicyoverthelastdecadeasaconsequenceofpreviousstrategiesbeingtoogenericandtooremovedfromregionalrequirementsandcapacities(e.g.,

Fedelietal.

2020

).Oneofthecentralinstru-mentsissmartspecialisation.ThisapproachhasrisentobethepivotalEuropeanpolicyinstrumentforcohesionandregionalpolicy.Thestrategybehindtheinstrumentistoguideregionsintheirprocessofidentifyinganddevelopingtheircompetitiveadvantagesbyconcentratingregionalresourcesaccordingly.Identifyingeconomicgrowthareasviabottom-upprocessesunderthepremiseofstructuralrenewalratherthanstructuralcon-servationshallhelptoovercomeinterregionalgapsintermsofproductivityorresearchanddevelopment(R&D)inEuropebysupportingless-developedregions.Theoretically,theconceptisembeddedintheframeofinnovationsystemsandeconomicgeography

(Foray,Goenaga

2013,

Forayetal.

2009,

2011,

2021,

Isaksen,Trippl

2014,

Asheimetal.

2016,

D'Addaetal.

2018,

Tödtling,Trippl

2018)

.Bynow,smartspecialisationhasbe-comethecentralpillarforeconomicdevelopmentandgrowthpolicyinEurope(

McCann,

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Source:Computationsbytheauthorsbasedondatafrom

JointResearchCentre

(2022)

.

Figure1:CEfocusinsmartspecialisationstrategies(S3),2022

Ortega-Argilés

2015,

Lopesetal.

2019,

GómezPrietoetal.

2019)

.

Inrecentyears,thereisanongoingdiscussionaboutupdatingsmartspecialisationaftertheinstrumenthasexistedforaboutadecade.Onestreamofdiscussionarguesinfavourofextendingtheoriginalsmartspecialisationconcepttobettersuittherequire-mentsofagreentransition.However,otherscallforarefocusingontheinitialtargetsofsmartspecialisation(

Forayetal.

2012,

Doranovaetal.

2012,

Benner

2020,

Tödtling

etal.

2021,

Isaksenetal.

2022)

.Inrelationtothecurrentsustainabilitydiscussion,anextensionofS3hasbeendiscussedinordertocombinesustainabilityandinnovationpolicy(

McCann,Soete

2020,

Larosseetal.

2020,

Arsovaetal.

2021,

Landabaso

2020,

Kruse

2023

).ThelatterstreamofdiscussionisparticularlyinterestingintermsofCE.WhendiscussingCEatregionallevel,thequestionariseswhethertheexistingEuro-peaninstrumentsrecogniseCEasatarget,whethertheyrepresentappropriatedeliverychannelsforCEimplementation,orwhichadaptionsmightberequiredtocombinebothconcepts.

Inpractice,severalEuropeanregionshavealreadycombinedtheirsmartspecialisationstrategies(S3)withCEgoals.Forinstance,exemplaryregionsfromSpainandSloveniapresentstrategiesonsmartspecialisationforaddressingprocessandproductinnovationsintheCEtransition(

SmartSpecialisationPlatform

2020a,

b

).Also,certainFinnishregionshaveidentiedCEasanimportanteconomicdomainofactivitiesintheprioritiesofindustry,construction,andwastesectors(

CouncilofTampereRegion

2021)

.Inthiscontext,Figure

1

providesanoverviewofEuropeanregionsthatalreadyrefertoCEtopicsasafocalpointintheirS3.TheinformationwasextractedfromthedatabaseofregionalS3(

JointResearchCentre

2022

)byscreeningitfortermsindicatingtheimplementationorsupportofCE(circular,sustainableproduction,recycling,resourceeciency,cradletocradle).ThepictureshowsarelativelyevendistributionofregionsthatrefertoCEintheirS3(darkgrey)andhighlightsthattheinstrumentofsmartspecialisationandthepurposeofCEareincreasinglymergedinregionalpoliticalstrategies.

Incurrentresearch,CEinS3andEuropeanregionaldevelopmentareincreasinglyaddressedinqualitativecasestudies.Forinstance,

Hardingetal.

(2021)

ndthatmanyEuropeancasestudiesonsmartspecialisationtofosteragreentransitionhavechosenafocusonCE.Aperspectiveonrenewableenergytransitionandthefacilitatingroleofsmartspecialisationinthiscontextispresentedby

Steenetal.

(2018)

.

Morales,

Dahlström

(2022)analysesmartspecialisationforagreenpathrenewalinFinnishand

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Swedishregions.Apartfromthat,itisanalysedhowvariousregionshaveconcretisedS3thematicpriorityareasrelatedtotheCEprioritieswithintheregionalcontext(

Van-

hamäkietal.

2021)

.

Tsipourietal.

(2020)claimthatthetransformationtowardsa

CEcanbeacceleratedandbecomebenecialwhenCEisastrategicfocalpointforregionalinnovationstrategies.Accordingly,

Stanojev,Gustafsson

(2021)suggestsmart

specialisationtostrengtheni