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Circular economy (CE) adoption is spreading worldwide, and it aims at decoupling the creation of value from resource consumption, leading to sustainable and responsible production and consumption as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goal 12. The circular transition will ask for the transformation of the companies and the workforce, from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. The set of required skills will be influenced by the circular transition, while the degree of implementation of circular activities will depend on the availability of adequate skills. Nevertheless, the extant literature has not reached a consensus on which competences are required for a circular transition, and few studies have approached this topic at all. This paper presents a systematic literature review to identify and categorize the skills that can facilitate the adoption of circular practices in manufacturing companies. The identified skills were systematically organized within a structured framework extending Porter's Value Chain. Leveraging the literature review's findings, the paper proposes a series of ideal job profiles for circular manufacturing, and it outlines some preliminary education and training paths. This research contributes to the current body of literature and practical understanding on the "human dimension" of circular manufacturing. [Display omitted] • Systematic literature review on skills required for circular manufacturing. • Skill classification based on circular manufacturing value-added activities. • Ideal job profiles modelled on the most relevant skills mentioned in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on the following research questions: 1) How is circular economy imagined in the academic literature in support of sustainability transitions in European cities? 2) How do European cities imagine circular economy as a knowable object of governance? 3) How can the circular economy imaginary be an opportunity for socially inclusive and environmentally desirable urban transitions? We engaged in a three-fold research endeavour to address these questions. Firstly, we conducted an in-depth literature review, mapping the emergence and developments of the circular economy concept in time and space with a specific focus on urban studies. Secondly, we analysed documented translations of the circular economy imaginary in three European metropolitan cities (Amsterdam, Paris and London) to explore the discourses, institutions, representations and social identities underpinning their respective translations, and reflect on how they diverge from each other and how they have the potential to deliver sustainable outcomes. Thirdly, these results were used to outline a research agenda that explores the relationship between the political and the epistemic domain of existing urban translations of circular economy across scales and places, to support future empirical investigations of whether and how circular economy imaginaries can support transformative pathways for socially inclusive and environmentally desirable value creation in cities. In so doing, this paper fosters reflexivity for both theory and practice in order to better understand how theorisations and the application of circular economy could be advanced in support of urban sustainability transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]