Collaborative knowledge building for innovation: insights from market engagement in circular public procurement

Abstract

The transition to a circular economy requires organizations to develop and integrate new knowledge, often in collaboration with external stakeholders. Recent evidence suggests that organizations capable of leveraging and integrating knowledge with third-party actors are better positioned to develop innovative circular solutions. However, the processes through which collaborative knowledge building occurs remain poorly understood. Drawing on the knowledge-based view, this study examines how organizations build and mobilize knowledge for circular innovation across organizational boundaries. We study these processes in the context of circular public procurement, in which public and private actors interact to exchange and combine complementary knowledge to develop circular solutions. We propose a framework for collaborative knowledge building in complex interaction settings, based on qualitative data from market engagement initiatives in Denmark and Sweden. The framework unpacks three knowledge functions as modalities of collaborative knowledge building: knowledge integration, knowledge co-development, and knowledge sharing, each characterized by distinct interaction mechanisms and knowledge artifacts. Our contribution lies in elaborating on the collaborative knowledge building approach and clarifying its role in driving innovative circular solutions.