An evidence-based participation conflict circularity nexus framework for integrated natural resource governance

Abstract Natural resource governance faces mounting pressure from resource depletion, distributional conflicts, and incomplete transitions to circular material flows. Participatory governance, conflict management, and circular economy (CE) have matured over the past quarter-century but largely in parallel. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020, this review screened 1,847 records across Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Wiley Online Library (2000–2026), retaining 138 peer-reviewed studies from 48 countries, coded against 22 variables. The findings show that 57% of the studies addressed a single pillar, 41% engaged two, and only 3% integrated all three; none combined the three with a digital transparency layer. The review proposes the participation–conflict–circularity (PCC) nexus framework, in which conflict analysis structurally mediates between participatory design and circular resource flows, with blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) as optional scaffolds. Three priority test beds were identified: post-conflict mining, transboundary water–energy–food–ecosystem (WEFE) basins, and urban mining in the Global South.