Green, Circular and Bioeconomy are mainstreamed as global sustainability concepts (D’Amato et al., 2017). Despite their interrelation towards a sustainable exploitation of natural resources in economic cycles, their relations, benefits/barriers, and best practices are hardly discussed in literature, especially referring to the public sector. Generally, private actors are considered as the driving force behind an economic model and public actors are mainly responsible for public strategies. However, the public sector can play a key role also in terms of practices. Both central governments and municipalities can interact among each other by providing more human-oriented practices and strategies in terms of social and environmental aspects, by developing economic opportunities and involving a wide range of actors. In parallel, private actors can represent the frontier for best circular practices to enable a positive shift also in public actors. Measuring the impacts of policy actions requires good quality data, metrics and indicators to monitor the performance of the economy with respect to the use of raw materials, the management of waste flows and recycling and circularity practices (Wang et al., 2020). Furthermore, policy and decision makers need robust quantitative approaches to select and implement strategies to move towards sustainable development (Gonzalez et al., 2018; Santibanez-Gonzalez and Huisingh, 2015; Santibanez Gonzalez et al., 2019). At the same time, the water–food–energy nexus models for bioeconomy have attracted the attention of decision-makers oriented towards a less resource-intensive society (Ronzon and Sanjuán, 2020). A coordination between the development of the regional economy and the environment is required for green growth (Baleta et al., 2019) providing a global challenge that concerns developed and developing countries. This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) aims to stimulate a debate on these aspects, supporting a creative and valuable discussion between leading international researchers and experts on these three reference topics: i) green economy, ii) circular economy and iii) bioeconomy. VSI articles should focus on resource management practices and strategies in the public/private sectors. Potential authors are encouraged to submit high-quality original empirical, quantitative, and conceptual research papers.
Topics include, but are not limited to: The nexus among technological and economic aspects of renewable energies within public/private facilities; The impact of public policies associated to green practices for economic development in rural areas/cities; The assessment of circularity performances in the public/private sector of developed and developing countries; The adoption of circular practices and strategies in public/private sector of developed and developing countries; The role of policy makers in the development of good quality data, metrics and indicators to monitor performances of the emerging circular bioeconomy; The assessment of alternative (and/or complementary) policy measures in stimulating the emergence of a circular bioeconomy in developed and developing countries; The assessment of the social and environmental benefits associated with the emergence of a circular bioeconomy in developed and developing countries.