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The concept of the circular economy is being proposed as an alternative for the current linear economy. However, little research has been done on how to integrate this topic within education. Serious games are suggested as an appropriate way to create awareness about and stimulate behavioral change toward sustainable development. Therefore, the serious game ecoCEO has been developed to introduce the circular economy concept within upper secondary education. The game's intention is to introduce students to the challenge of resource scarcity, circular product design, sustainable entrepreneurship and circular business models. EcoCEO has been tested among 42 students, whose written reflections were qualitatively examined. EcoCEO appears successful, at least partially, in contrasting the circular economy with the linear economy and in conveying relevant concepts such as recycling and reuse. EcoCEO also illustrates the importance of the circular economy within the context of material scarcity. Moreover, most students in our case study seem to have a good impression of the role and responsibilities of a (sustainable) entrepreneur. Despite its difficulty level, the majority of the students reported having fun while playing ecoCEO.

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Solar Photovoltaics (PV) is an important contributor to a sustainable energy transition and consists of an increasingly affordable and accessible technology. Although solar PV policies in industrialized countries have mainly benefited affluent households, non-homeowner market segments often remain underdeveloped. In this paper, we review barriers and enablers for solar PV investments in non-homeowner market segments and investigate sustainability aspects of its institutional environment. We use focus group data from Flanders (Belgium) to investigate non-homeowner residential markets (including social, rental, and collective housing), public sector markets (including schools, and health and social care facilities), and commercial markets. They have in common that they are mostly governed or mediated by organizations, and that very specific regulatory and institutional conditions apply. Our main finding is that, even in times of high energy prices, the energy savings potential of solar PV is often not a sufficient condition for organizations to engage in solar PV investments. Major barriers include diseconomies of scale, split incentive problems, internal organizational barriers, and legal uncertainty. Important enablers are energy sharing frameworks and framework contracts for group purchasing. We conclude with recommendations on institutional quality, organizational capacity building, market development, mechanism design, and social justice to ensure sustainability.

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