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Aquatic ecosystems play a major role to ensure that water, which is both essential and scarce, is always available for both present and future generations. This has become even more urgent in light of the ongoing increase in total world population and predicted changes in the world climate. Since aquatic ecosystems have been and are being damaged at a rate far in excess of both natural restoration and anthropogenic restoration it is essential that both restorative processes be accelerated. However, ecological disequilibrium, evolutionary processes, and invasive species are likely to disrupt both processes. Most current debate focuses on water distribution but, since the heath of the aquatic ecosystem plays a major role in water quality and availability, it is argued that sustainable use of the planet requires that this attribute be given greater attention. The prospects for fully restoring damaged aquatic ecosystems to predisturbance conditions increasingly appear unlikely. Partial restoration now appears to be a more accurate description of the process, although full ecological restoration should always remain an aspiration. Adapted from the source document.

The circular economy (CE) presents an alternative perspective to the linear take-make-use-dispose model prevalent in industrial value chains. CE envisions economies operating like natural ecosystems—restorative and waste-free, underpinned by principles such as reuse, repair, share, and pay-for-use. Surprisingly, although these principles align with the fundamentals of service management, there is limited scholarly exploration of CE within service research. Leveraging service-dominant logic, this study introduces the concept of circular service ecosystems as ideal types of service ecosystems, regenerative, and embedded within nature, where (material, intellectual, digital and financial) resources flow seamlessly within and between nested systems without creating any waste or leakage. By analyzing 3,178 blogs penned by CE experts over 7 years and conducting in-depth interviews with industry specialists, this study offers two significant contributions. Firstly, it presents a process framework elucidating the transition towards circular service ecosystems. This framework explains the emergence of novel circular solutions and service ecosystem properties through processes of de- and re-institutionalization. Secondly, the study identifies six shaping strategies that actors can apply to drive circular service ecosystem transitions. The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of circular service ecosystems and CE as promising areas for future service research, providing a comprehensive research agenda to explore these areas in depth.