Institutionalising the circular economy in regional strategies in Poland: An adaptive governance approach

Abstract

A new concept charting a new direction for regional socio -economic development in the early 2020s is the circular economy (CE). The novelty means that there is no empirically verified methodology for implementation, and therefore, the extent and scope of incorporating CE into regional declarations and actions will vary. For regions, structured activities should follow the adopted development strategy. Therefore, based on an analysis of the invocation of the CE concept in elements of the strategic management model, included in the regional development strategy (2018–2021), it is possible to determine the degree of its structuring. For this purpose, content analysis and correlation analysis were used. The study aims to explain differences in the institutionalisation of CE in voivodeship development strategies in Poland. The article hypothesises that a high level of CE structuring is correlated with its definition in the strategy and also the state of the environment in the region, and explains the variation in CE institutionalisation using adaptive governance theory. We conclude, based on the results, that regions with higher environmental pollution use CE in more detail in regional development strategies.