The urgency of climate action and the transition to circular economies represents one of the defining challenges of our era. While entrepreneurship has long been recognised as a driver of economic growth and innovation, there is growing recognition that it must also serve as a force for ecological renewal, social inclusion, and long-term resilience (Apostolopoulos et al., 2019; Ferreira et al., 2024; Johnson & Schaltegger, 2020). In this context, entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed not only as a vehicle for sustainability-oriented innovation, but also as a key mechanism for enabling systemic transitions. The circular economy, which seeks to decouple economic growth from resource consumption through responsible business model strategies that slow, close, narrow, and regenerate resource loops (Bocken et al., 2016; Geissdoerfer et al., 2020), has emerged as a critical framework for reimagining production and consumption systems.
While important theoretical and empirical foundations have been established in circular business models (Geissdoerfer et al., 2020; Henry et al., 2020) and sustainable entrepreneurship (Johnson & Schaltegger, 2020), significant gaps remain. Recent scholarship highlights that our understanding of how entrepreneurs operate within, shape, and are constrained by circular and climate-oriented ecosystems remains fragmented (Suchek et al., 2022), while Ferreira et al. (2024) call for research exploring how entrepreneurial ecosystems can foster circular economy transitions within safe and just planetary boundaries. Klofsten et al. (2024) highlight the need to understand resilience strategies circular ventures employ when facing adversity and scaling challenges.
This special issue responds to these calls by advancing our understanding of how entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ecosystems navigate the challenges of climate change and circular economy transitions. We place particular emphasis on the behavioural, cognitive, and social dimensions of entrepreneurship; how entrepreneurs recognise opportunities, make decisions, build ventures, mobilise resources, and create change when confronting climate challenges and circular economy imperatives across different institutional, geographical, and sectoral settings.
Paper Development Opportunity: The Special Issue is linked to the Institute of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE) 2026 conference theme and authors are invited to participate in a paper development workshop at the Conference in Cork, Ireland, November 2026. The guest editors will lead a pre-conference paper guidance session, and submission of papers to a dedicated conference track will provide opportunities for feedback and development. While participation in the conference activities is encouraged, it is not a requirement for submission, and all papers will be judged on their own merits through the standard review process.
List of Topic Areas
Submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following potential topics are sought:
- Entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and evaluation in circular economy and climate adaptation/mitigation contexts, including how entrepreneurs identify, assess, and exploit opportunities arising from climate challenges and circular economy transitions
- Decision-making processes and cognitive mechanisms through which entrepreneurs navigate tensions between economic viability, environmental regeneration, and social inclusion in circular and climate-focused ventures
- Resilience strategies and adaptive capabilities that enable circular and climate-focused entrepreneurs and ventures to withstand, adapt to, and transform in response to adversity, resource constraints, and legitimacy challenges
- The development and scaling of circular business models over time, including transitions from linear to circular approaches and the entrepreneurial processes through which born-circular ventures achieve scale
- Entrepreneurial ecosystem dynamics that support or constrain circular economy transitions and climate entrepreneurship, including multi-stakeholder collaboration, knowledge spillovers, and institutional arrangements
- Regional and geographical variations in resilient and regenerative entrepreneurship, examining how place-based factors, institutional environments, and local resources shape circular and climate entrepreneurial activity
- Financing and resource mobilisation for circular and climate-focused ventures, including the role of patient capital, impact investing, and novel funding mechanisms in supporting long-term regenerative goals
- Legitimation strategies and institutional entrepreneurship through which entrepreneurs challenge dominant linear economic logics and build acceptance for circular and regenerative business models
- Social entrepreneurship and hybrid organising in circular economy and climate contexts, examining how entrepreneurs balance multiple value creation logics and serve marginalised communities in transitions
- Entrepreneurial learning and capability development for circular economy and climate entrepreneurship, including how entrepreneurs acquire knowledge, develop competencies, and navigate the complexities of regenerative business models
- Policy and governance mechanisms that enable resilient and regenerative entrepreneurship, including how regulatory frameworks, incentive structures, and public programs shape entrepreneurial behaviour in circular and climate contexts
- Innovation processes and technological enablers for circular and climate entrepreneurship, including digital technologies, nature-based solutions, and disruptive innovations that facilitate circular transitions
We invite both theoretical and empirical papers that advance our understanding of resilient and regenerative entrepreneurship in the contexts of climate challenges and the circular economy. We particularly welcome papers that adopt qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods approaches to explore the human and behavioural dimensions of entrepreneurship in these domains.
Submission Information
Submissions of full manuscripts are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here:
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see:
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.
ISBE Cork 2026 workshop working paper submissions
Closing date for optional ISBE Cork 2026 workshop working paper submission: 9th October 2026 – see https://www.isbe.org.uk/events/isbe-2026/
Key Dates
Opening date for manuscript submissions: 1 May 2026
Closing date for manuscript submissions: 21 January 2027
For more details refer here
