The circular economy, openness, and dispersed access to research results

Abstract

Many initiatives aimed at achieving a circular economy are based on collaborations between industry and universities. However, these partners often engage in collaborative research without a clear understanding of who will have access to the research results and under which conditions. Such engagement may limit their ability to apply the results to the circular economy. The research project’s contractual terms regulate whether access in the form of licensing will be exclusive to a few or non-exclusive and available for the many in open innovation. We demonstrate a novel method for analysing the contractual agreements of research partnerships to investigate whether and to what extent the outcomes of research partnerships will be accessible. For research funding organizations, research managers and policymakers, the method can be used on a single project or a portfolio of collaborative projects to assess ex-ante whether research results will help promote a circular economy.