Implementing sustainable circular practice processes is a significant challenge, given their inherent complexity and the unpredictable return for companies. To achieve the greatest possible success, the involvement of all actors, from the economic to the social to the political sphere – the entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE), is necessary. EE is capable of fostering sustainability and circularity and is an ignition point for the transition to a sustainable circular economy through a range of scientific, technological and digital enablers that allow exploring new sources of value and driving a change in the society- environment (Santos et al., 2023; Klofsten et al., 2024).

Entrepreneurship geography studies often overlook how sustainable entrepreneurial communities emerge. Developing such communities centred on sustainability and the circular economy benefits society (Peçanha e Ferreira, 2025). However, the systems complexity of the ecosystems perspective presents challenges and opportunities, impacting not only individual companies (Siqueira et al., 2023) but also value chains, networks and broader institutional environments (Kanda et al., 2021; Guerrero and Siegel, 2024) when fostering sustainability and the circular economy. Several researchers have emphasised a multi-level dimension that encompasses the macro level, which describes the ecosystem; the meso level, which outlines the support ecosystem; and the micro level, which characterises the ecosystem incubator (Miles and Morrison, 2018; Roundy et al., 2018).

Ecosystem actors coordinate their efforts (Guerrero and Siegel, 2024; Ferreira et al., 2024), suggesting that models fostering sustainability-focused ecosystems should incorporate macro, meso, and micro dimensions for effective implementation. A sustainable-focused ecosystem refers to an interconnected environment where companies develop innovative solutions that promote sustainability. This ecosystem includes a variety of participants, such as entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, support organizations and universities, all collaborating to nurture businesses that positively impact he environment and society (Kanda et al., 2021; Autio and Thomas, 2022; Chaudhary et al, 2024). In this way, it is essential that models developed encompass the complexity and integrated nature of the ecosystem, thereby nurturing the transition of traditional economies towards more sustainable, circular ecosystems.

Therefore, academia must explore the factors that contribute to the success of circular and sustainable EE. Consequently, our special issue proposal aims to help fill this gap in the literature by bringing together cutting-edge emerging research in a central repository to advance the discipline and identify strategies for the progression of sustainable and circular EE across the micro (company), meso (industry), and macro (national) contexts. Through this, a cumulative understanding can be achieved in terms of designing effective strategies and policies that nurture value-creation mechanisms in sustainable and circular energy systems.
The relationship between environmental and social sustainability and the circular economy is crucial in mitigating climate change. Therefore, economic growth must be inseparable from the rational use of resources. The traditional model, dominant in many businesses and economies, of “make, use, discard” will not change if we adopt approaches that fundamentally alter traditional procedures (Audretsch et al., 2023; Audretsch et al., 2024). The development and adoption of the circularity paradigm still face multiple barriers (Xia et al., 2019), such as financial barriers (Bhandari et al., 2019), market barriers (Agyemang et al., 2018), market knowledge and awareness (Guo et al., 2020) and political barriers (Yoshino et al., 2019).

The literature shows that ecosystems emerge as drivers in the transition to circularity (Bocken & Snihur 2020; Ferreira et al., 2023a). The notion of ecosystem, widely accepted among researchers, refers to an EE as a community of multiple parties interested in coevolving and providing a favorable environment for new venture creations in a region (Spiegel, 2017). EE are the union of localised cultural perspectives, social networks, investment capital, universities and active economic policies that create favourable environments for innovation-based ventures. EE, from academic literature to politics and business, is critical for building resilient economies based on business innovation. However, research on EE is still underdeveloped and under-theorised (Spiegel, 2017; Chaudhary et al., 2024). EE shows that network collaboration is fundamental to creating sustainable value, as sustainability and the circular economy create challenges and opportunities not only for individual companies (Bocken & Snihur, 2020; Ferreira et al., 2023b) but also for value chains, networks, ecosystems and broader institutional environments (Kanda et al., 2021).

Few investigations on EE apply the circular economy paradigm (Kusumo et al., 2022). This special issue, therefore, aims to fill this gap by calling for research that examines the importance of successful strategies for sustainable and circular EE in micro (company), meso (industry), and macro (national) contexts. This will enable a cumulative understanding of designing effective strategies and policies, as well as discovering value creation mechanisms in sustainable and circular ecosystems.

In our proposed SI, we seek to unravel how effective policies, frameworks, and strategies of value creation in sustainable and circular EE evolve, with a focus on:

1. National/regional policy interventions leveraged to connect and foster synergistic growth within the sustainable and circular ecosystems.
2. Sustainable ecosystem leaders shape the venture strategies adopted globally.
3. Circular and sustainable economy ventures leverage the competitive advantage of their EE.
4. Case studies of purposeful interventions that have transformed regional and local ecosystems towards sustainability and circularity value creation.
5. Effective strategies that new and existing ventures apply to connect their business models to sustainable and circular EE and appropriate value.
6. Adoption of indicators to nurture growth and stability across all levels of sustainable and circular ecosystems.
7. The role of digital platforms and other technologies (Artificial Intelligence, robotics, Internet of Things, social media) in facilitating the sustainability and circularity of companies and wider EE.
8. Effective practices for moving business ecosystems towards sustainability and circularity.
9. Policy, frameworks and strategies for fostering collaborative innovation networks within sustainable and circular ecosystems.
10. Ethical and Societal Considerations in advancing sustainable and circular EE.