Understanding the role of central public administration in transitioning towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy: an integrative review

Circular bioeconomy is an intersection which merges circular economy and bioeconomy concepts; it is emerging as a concept which can propel the transition towards a sustainable and circular use of bio resources. Countries and various transnational bodies are now adopting circular bioeconomy policies and strategies to promote this transition. In this context, public administration should play a key role through implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation of these policies and strategies. However, although there is a growing academic literature in circular bioeconomy policies and strategies, there is still lack of research in understanding the general roles of central public administration in pushing and guiding this transition. In this context, this paper aims to shed light on the general role played by central public administrations by applying an integrative literature review method. Scoping literature review was used to conceptualize and characterise existing circular bioeconomy policies and strategies. Bibliometric literature analysis was used to visualize the networking of the key clusters in circular bioeconomy. Scopus and Web of science were used to identify relevant publications, then screened by using inclusion and exclusion criteria to select the most appropriate to be included in the final sample. This paper may contribute to a deeper understanding of the general role of central public administration, in accelerating the change towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy at the national and transnational level and provide a foundation for future research directions.