As climate change and environmental degradation are progressing, taking action to protect the environment and our societies is imperative. Thus, it is highly important to promote the implementation of the Green Deal Strategies, which aim at mitigating climate change impacts. This special issue will include selected papers presented at the International Conference on ‘Strategies toward Green Deal Implementation – Water and Raw Materials’ (ICGreenDeal2020) held during 14-16 December 2020. The conference focused on interdisciplinary strategies and innovative solutions (technological, environmental, economic, and social) that can be implemented under the Green Deal Strategies to prevent and mitigate climate change impacts.

This special issue aims to illustrate the latest developments in the various aspects of Circular Bio-economy, such as biomass cultivation and processing technologies, raw materials and products from biomass, recycling technologies and innovative products, new business models, education, policies, sustainability analysis, etc. 

Current circular economy initiatives in different regions (e.g. the EU, China) produce very diverse geographical outcomes, based also on competing ideological perspectives. A rigorous analysis and critique of the various circular economy approaches is missing from the international literature as they are implemented across different geographies and politico-economic systems. This special issue aims at bridging this gap.

A Special Issue comprised of paper from the International Society for the Circular Economy (IS4CE) inaugural conference that will focus on various themes within the circular economy such as the non-linear systems theory (complexity science), the circular design of products, components, materials and systems, finance for circular economy, industrial ecology, business management, business models, climate change and circular economy, bio-economy/ecology, among others.