Grassroots, municipality and labor in the circular economy: The need of a street-level analysis in the European Union and Turkey

Abstract

Ebru Tekin Bilbil Grassroots, Municipality and Labor in the Circular Economy: The Need of a Street-Level Analysis in the European Union and Turkey Introduction Following the highest turnover of the European Parliament elections in 2019, the future of Europe is now focusing more on social and economic issues with the involvement of civil society organizations. As such, the circular economy (CE) is targeted as one of the “new sustainable economic models” (Opinion, 2018: 57) with a specific focus on the concepts of prosperity, efficiency, social inclusion and environmental responsibility. Nevertheless, the theoretical and practical sides of the CE have been mostly discussed from the system and design aspects in the CE literature. Therefore, there are gaps in this literature in understanding the CE concept from different perspectives. These gaps might be filled by focusing on social and institutional dimensions (Moreau, et.al., 2017). Whilst criticizing the system-wide approach to the CE, this chapter proposes to integrate the micro and street analyses within urban policies. The concept of CE is considered as an ultimate model in academic, policy as well as operational circles, both its practical and theoretical implementation and assessments (Gregson, et.al., 2015). Although there is not a precise definition of the CE (Haas, et.al., 2015; Özsoy, 2018a), both academic, public and civil society, organizations have a constant attempt to define and systematically analyze it as a concept, which is qualified as “complex and far-reaching” (UN, 2015).