Gemeentelijk netwerkmanagement voor circulaire economie: Empirisch onderzoek naar hoe gemeentelijke functionarissen omgaan met belemmeringen en spanningen

Municipal network management for the circular economy: Empirical research into how local government officials deal with obstacles and tensions The transition from a linear to a circular economy (CE) involves a systemic change and requires the parties involved to adapt their structures, culture and behaviour. Through network management and a long-term approach, they seek to create enabling conditions for the required transition (Cramer, 2021; Klijn et al., 2025). The article demonstrates how local authorities use network management to initiate CE processes, what obstacles and tensions they encounter in doing so, and how they employ their own development-oriented strategy, which complements previous work by Van Duijn et al. (2021). Civil servants perform as ‘boundary spanners’. They act beyond the boundaries of their own department and organisation by mobilising both internal and external networks, fostering administrative support, and supporting and connecting initiatives. They facilitate interaction with relevant parties and work on developing platforms or seek to become part of them. In this way, they utilise the network while simultaneously strengthening it.