Sammendrag
Transitioning to a circular economy is one of the ways to a sustainable future. Nowadays there is much concern about CE transition. In order to contribute to the environment and economy, various innovative technologies and business models were designed and developed, new approaches to management were implemented. However, the social dimension seems to be left behind. This thesis aims to explore youth engagement in the circular economy in Trondheim, Norway. Moreover, it attempts to understand how the youth initiatives, motivation and empowerment are related to their engagement in the circular economy practices and how the circular economy can utilize the youth participation. The research is conducted as a case study; the studied organization is a student non-profit organization that seeks to reduce waste. The research implements a qualitative single-case study approach. Observation method, semi-structured interviews and document analysis are employed for this study. The results of the study identified what drives the youth initiatives and what involves the youth in circularity in Trondheim. The findings of the study suggest that the youth in Trondheim is involved in various projects that adopt the principles of circularity. Also, the results show that there are mutually beneficial relations between the circular economy system and youth engagement. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the extent of the youth evolvement into the circularity activities influences the youth empowerment. The youth can benefit the government and business sectors in sooner transitioning to the circular economy and should be encouraged to develop the ideas for the circular solutions.