Circular citizenship behaviors: How individuals can promote systemic change toward a circular economy

Sustainability challenges, such as transitioning to a circular economy, require people to engage in sustainable behaviors. Yet, current systems often inhibit sustainable behaviors, implying systemic changes are needed. Importantly, citizens can take action to provoke systemic changes. We propose the systemic change through citizen action (SCCA) framework that indicates which actions citizens can take to promote systemic changes that contribute to a circular economy. Specifically, the SCCA proposes that citizens can promote systemic change to support circularity by engaging in circular citizenship behaviors that aim at influencing other actors, including governments, businesses, and other citizens. The SCCA indicates which behaviors citizens can take to urge different actors to take action that would promote systemic change, thereby integrating previously dispersed research. We provide a research agenda indicating how the SCCA framework can inspire future research, including identifying key factors influencing citizens' likelihood to engage in circular citizenship behaviors.