Interventions for Engaging Households in the Circular Economy

Increasing resource consumption and global climate change are creating an urgent need to change the economic system and promote a shift from a linear to a circular economy. This is an important step towards sustainable development and contributes to achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. To achieve this goal, all stakeholders, including the household sector, need to be involved. This paper analyses the mental models of different groups – Easy‑to‑reach, Hard‑to‑reach and experts – to see how different interventions affect each group’s ability and readiness to move towards a circular economy. The cognitive maps are used as an analysis tool and are processed using the Mental Modeler tool, which allows different scenarios to be visualized and modelled in different groups. The results show that each group responds differently to interventions, especially the Hard‑to‑reach group, so each group needs different strategies to change their behaviour. The Easy‑to‑reach are more open to sustainable solutions and can be reached through educational campaigns, while the Hard‑to‑reach are not ready to accept change and are most often reached through economic interventions. Furthermore, the results show that behaviour change is most effective when different interventions are linked and tailored to each group. The study concludes that there is a need to develop multi‑level policy interventions that work simultaneously across all groups, creating a systematic approach to the transition to a circular economy. Therefore, to promote the transition to a circular economy, it is necessary to develop strategies and policy interventions that involve not only the Easy‑to‑reach groups but especially the Hard‑to‑reach groups whose participation is essential for the transition to sustainability. By addressing the different behaviours of these groups and through target interventions, greater societal participation in the circular economy can be ensured.