This research area focuses on identifying, measuring, and evaluating entrepreneurial strategies and actions that promote environmental sustainability and the circular economy. The approach is holistic and multidisciplinary, considering production processes, consumption, and global distribution chains.

In 1994, British economist John Elkington coined the concept of the Triple Bottom Line—“Planet, People, Profit”—to define sustainable business practices. A company’s success, therefore, should balance (i) environmental responsibility, (ii) social well-being, and (iii) financial viability.

Today, sustainability commitments are often assessed through the ESG framework (Environmental, Social, Governance), which defines a company as “sustainable” if it aligns long-term profitability with environmental protection, social responsibility, and value creation for stakeholders.

At the European level, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), adopted in 2022, mandates large and listed companies to report on their environmental and social impacts, ensuring greater transparency for investors, consumers, and policymakers. To support this, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), issued by EFRAG in 2023, provide harmonized criteria for reliable and comparable sustainability reporting.

This thematic area builds on such frameworks to study how companies can enhance resilience to climate change and other risks, while fostering sustainable and circular practices across supply chains and product life cycles.