“Circular Economy in Project Management”

Call for Papers – Special Issue: “Circular Economy in Project Management”

Journal: International Journal of Project Management (IJPM)
Publisher: Elsevier
Journal metrics: Impact Factor 7.5, CiteScore 14.2
Proposal submission: 16 March 2026
Full‑paper deadline: 30 October 2026

This special issue explores how project management processes, practices, and governance can be reshaped to support the circular economy (CE). It focuses on projects and programs that design, build, and operate infrastructures, products, and complex systems under CE principles, and on how the project lens can help implement circular business models, policies, and multi‑actor transitions.

Why this issue matters

• Projects consume large amounts of materials, energy, and resources; yet global measurements show only about 6.9% of materials entering the economy are recycled or downcycled, highlighting the need for circular strategies at the project level.

• IJPM has already signalled commitment to sustainability and responsible research in projects and programs; this SI consolidates and advances how circularity and circular‑economy transitions become central to project management theory and practice.

• The special issue encourages work at the intersections of strategy, operations, and ecosystem‑level circularity, including project‑based organisations, supply‑chain networks, and policy‑driven programs.

Aims and scope

The SI aims to build a comprehensive knowledge base for circular economy in project management, spanning:

• Firms and project‑based organisations (implementing CE business models and lifecycle‑oriented practices).

• Inter‑organisational networks and ecosystems (collaborative platforms, circular hubs, and industrial‑symbiosis‑type exchanges).

• Societal‑level governance and policy (circular‑city initiatives, regulatory frameworks, and transitions across energy, material, and urban systems).

Papers should have a clear project‑management orientation and can be empirical, conceptual, methodological, or integrative, using stakeholder‑, resource‑based, institutional, or practice‑based theories.

Key thematic areas

The editors outline five main themes; authors may define their own research questions within these clusters.

1. CE business models in project management

• Feasibility and value‑balancing of circular business models in project‑based organisations.

• How projects help design, implement, and scale product‑as‑service, leasing, and other CE‑oriented models.

• Risk, return, and competitive advantage of circular initiatives in specific sectors (construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, etc.).

2. Lifecycle view to circular economy in projects and programs

• Integrating circularity into front‑end, execution, and post‑project phases (e.g., materials reuse, design‑for‑disassembly, end‑of‑life planning).

• Anticipating decommissioning and circular transitions in large‑scale infrastructure and industrial projects.

3. Portfolios and programs of circular projects

• How firms configure project portfolios and programs to accumulate circular competences and reuse resources across projects.

• Mechanisms for transferring circular‑knowledge, design patterns, and circular‑materials platforms from one project to the next.

4. Inter‑organisational collaboration and circular ecosystems

• Public‑sector actors (cities, industrial parks) and governance of circular programs in inter‑organisational collaboration.

• Role of digital platforms, circular hubs, and material‑loop platforms in enabling circular supply‑chain projects.

5. Transformation governance under multiple transitions

• How circular‑economy policies interact with digitalisation, energy‑transition, and climate‑adaptation transitions in project settings.

• Governance mechanisms for balancing circular ambitions with other societal priorities (employment, health, equity) under overlapping institutional pressures.

Guest editors

• Prof. Miia Martinsuo (guest‑issue editor, University of Turku, Finland)

• Dr. Marina Bos‑de Vos, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

• Prof. Kris Hartley, Arizona State University, USA

• Dr. Andrea Urbinati, LIUC Università Cattaneo, Italy

Submission process and timeline

• Proposal stage (required):

  • Submit a 1000‑word research proposal (including research questions, gap, theory, methods, and expected contribution) directly to miia.martinsuo@utu.fi.

  • Deadline for proposals: 16 March 2026

  • Feedback and invitations for full papers will be provided in April 2026.

• Paper development workshop:

  • An online workshop for invited authors will be held in September 2026 to refine manuscripts.

• Full‑paper submission:

  • Submit via Elsevier’s Editorial Manager: https://www.editorialmanager.com/jpma

  • Select article type “SI: Circular economy in project management”.

  • Full‑paper deadline: 30 October 2026

  • Papers will undergo double‑blind peer review and be published online as soon as ready, with final collection expected by late 2027.

This special issue is ideal for project‑management scholars, sustainability‑oriented practitioners, and policy‑researchers who wish to connect circular‑economy transitions with project, program, and portfolio management practices.

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