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– This study embarks on a comprehensive journey through the factors influencing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance by employing a two-fold approach: a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. Scopus, a prominent scientific database, was utilized to examine publications spanning the years 2014–2023. The article selection process followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Biblioshiny, R Studio software, version 4.2.0, was used for bibliometric analysis. – Bibliometric analysis identified the most influential articles, journals, countries, authors, and themes in the field. The systematic literature review established seven key themes as the fundamental factors influencing ESG performance. Moreover, future research directions were suggested and discussed in this article. – The findings offer valuable guidance to the academic community, industry practitioners, and policymakers for real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regions are the most important administrative units of the EU's development policies and so far, have been extensively used for framing and implementing strategic priorities. However, when it comes to regional implementation of the circular economy (CE), there is lack of systematicity both in academic literature and policy documents. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the regional adoption of CE, by systematically reviewing and synthesises the current academic literature in this emerging field, unveiling research gaps and discussing a future research agenda. The review was conducted by identifying relevant academic papers from leading journals using the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Overall, 82 relevant papers were identified through the review, which proceeded to descriptive, bibliometric and content analysis. This study has found that generally, the adoption of the circular economy on the regional level is underexplored, which was supported by the dearth of relevant academic contributions detected at the beginning of the process. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this is the first attempt to provide a holistic systematic literature review in the regional circular economy domain. Hence, the present study is considered as a crucial initial contribution in the direction of establishing robust conceptual frameworks which involve the constructs of regional circular economy and laying the groundwork for future studies in this field. • Regions constitute the minimum optimal adoption level for building a functional CE. • NUTS 2 level regions are proposed as a regional unit for CE implementation. • The literature on regional CE implementation is highly fragmented. • Robust conceptual frameworks with regional CE constructs are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the concept of a circular economy (CE) has gained importance and attracted significant attention among scholars and practitioners. Research that examines the role of modern technologies in supporting the transition from a linear economy to the CE is therefore highly needed. This article analyzes and classifies existing research at the intersection of the CE and the Internet of Things (IoT), as an enabling technology. While studies on both concepts have proliferated, there is a lack of research that systematizes the literature and clarifies the relationship between the IoT and the CE. In order to achieve this, we reviewed a total of 170 academic articles published between 2007 and 2021 from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Based on the coding of keywords, four categories can be identified: (1) IoT-related technologies in the CE context, (2) enablers of IoT in the CE, (3) barriers to IoT adoption in the CE, and (4) the impacts of the IoT on the sustainability of (circular) economies. The current study is the first attempt to use a keyword coding approach to better understand IoT research in the CE domain. The review findings identify important drivers and enablers and provide a structured framework for research in this field. Finally, this study highlights several research directions that may provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial manufacturing is the largest end-use sector in terms of both final energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions (more than 30% of the total); its increase is rapidly altering the world climate. The need to mitigate the environmental impacts of manufacturing processes makes energy efficiency a key success factor for sustainable production. Accordingly, the scientific community's interest in energy management has grown considerably, resulting in several literature reviews on energy modelling and production systems analysis, emissions calculation, sustainability tools and benchmarking techniques. However, a comprehensive analysis of methods and tools aimed at improving energy awareness and assessing their effects on energy efficiency is lacking. To address this gap, this paper undertakes a systematic literature review of energy assessment methods and tools. From the 1367 papers retrieved by searching scientific literature databases, 64 scientific articles met the inclusion criteria and were analysed in detail. The study aims to provide scholars with a picture of the current state of scientific research and to identify the scientific works that could help industry practitioners in energy management. Following the ISO 50001 framework, the methods and tools were divided into three main groups (i.e. energy analysis, energy evaluation and energy-saving measures methods) and the specific findings relating to each group were synthesized. Finally, the paper addresses unresolved issues and challenges and makes suggestions for future research directions. • A systematic literature review of energy assessment methods and tools are provided. • Relevant concepts, themes and characteristics has been summarized. • A classification of energy assessment methods and tools has been presented. • The limits and the possible solution strategies to overcome them are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]