Call for paper: Advancing Sustainable Services: Circular Economy, Technology, and Future Directions

Advancing Sustainable Services: Circular Economy, Technology, and Future Directions

This Special Issue stems from the growing need to explore the role of services in advancing quality, sustainability, and circular economy goals. While the shift from a linear to a circular economic model is widely recognized as essential for addressing resource depletion and environmental challenges, the contribution of services to this transition remains underexplored. In particular, there is growing interest in how the concept of service quality, traditionally cantered on efficiency, customer satisfaction, and improvement, can evolve to incorporate sustainability and regeneration. Despite the critical role services play in driving systemic change, the intersection of services, sustainability, and the circular economy has received limited attention in current research.

It aligns with Goal 13 (Climate Action) by examining the role of services in mitigating climate change. Additionally, the focus on enhancing well-being through sustainable services links to Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). It informs discussions related to Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), Goal 14 (Life Below Water), and Goal 15 (Life on Land) through the promotion of practices that preserve natural ecosystems.

List of Topic Areas

The special issue will cover a wide array of topics related to service systems and circular economy. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Design of sustainable and well-being-centric services;
Circular service design;
Quality and innovation in service business models;
Circular and sustainable value creation in services;
Sustainability and stakeholder engagement in service systems;
Integrating circular economy and service systems;
Digital technologies (Ai, IoT, Blockchain,…) enabling sustainable services;
Measuring the economic, environmental and social impact of services;
Smart and sustainable cities;
Sustainable service operations.

Guest Editors

Veronica Ungaro, Roma Tre University, Italy, veronica.ungaro@uniroma3.it

Roberta Guglielmetti Mugion, Roma Tre University, Italy, roberta.guglielmettimugion@uniroma3.it

Jaylan Azer, University of Glasgow, UK, jaylan.azer@glasgow.ac.uk

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

Submit via ScholarOne

Author Guidelines

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.