Circular Economy Skills & Standards: What skills are needed for the transition?

On 17 June 2026, the Circular Economy Forum Austria’s webinar explored the question of which skills, job profiles and standards are key to implementing the circular economy. The focus was on three areas: circular jobs and skills profiles, international standards within the ISO 59000 family, and education and training for the circular economy. 

Circular jobs and new skills profiles

Contribution by Valerie-Sophie Schönberg, Executive Director of the Circular Economy Forum Austria

The circular economy is transforming not only products and business models, but also work, roles and skills profiles. Circle Economy (2021) classifies jobs in a circular economy into three groups: 

• Core Circular Jobs: Professions that directly implement the circular economy, such as repair, reuse, waste and resource management, renewable energy or circular production. 
• Enabling Circular Jobs: Roles that enable circular solutions, for example in design, education, digitalisation, leasing models, consultancy, research or product development. 
• Indirect Circular Jobs: support activities that indirectly strengthen the circular economy, for example in logistics, administration, the public sector, information services or finance.

New tasks are emerging across the entire lifecycle, from design, procurement and production through to use, repair, take-back, reuse, recycling, data management and organisational development. In this context, a competence encompasses more than mere specialist knowledge. It encompasses the interplay between:

• Knowledge: technical fundamentals, concepts, methods and interrelationships 
• Skills: practical application, analysis, design and implementation 
• Posture: Awareness of problems, a willingness to cooperate, a sense of responsibility and systems thinking

The circular economy therefore requires clear skills profiles, new job roles, common standards and innovative training programmes that embed the circular economy more widely. Find out more about „Circular Jobs“ in the free online magazine CIRCULAR INSIDER AUSTRIA or in the reference work Handbook on the Circular Economy (2026) published by Linde Verlag.

Skills gaps, new job profiles and international examples
Contribution by Raphael Schranz, Certified Circular Economy Officer, management consultant and adviser to the Circular Economy Forum Austria

Raphael Schranz demonstrated that implementing the circular economy requires new skill sets. In addition to technical expertise, an understanding of economic interrelationships, scientific principles, system boundaries and the logic of cooperation is needed.

Key areas of expertise include, amongst others:

• Circular product and system design 
• Circular business model development 
• Supply chain and stakeholder mapping 
• Reverse Logistics and Raw Materials Management 
• Finance and Macroeconomics 
• Fundamentals of chemistry, physics and biology 
• Understanding complexity, for example in relation to system boundaries, elements, symbioses and meta-structures 

New or refined job profiles included, amongst others, Circular Designer and Circularity Manager ... International examples, such as those from 3D printing and prefabrication in the construction sector, demonstrated how circular approaches can influence resource use, construction times, reusability and cost-effectiveness.

Circular Economy in accordance with ISO
Input from Reha Tütenek, Portfolio Manager Certification at the Austrian Standards Institute 

Reha Tütenek outlined the role of standards, competencies and certification in the circular economy. The ISO 59000 series marked the first publication of international standards for the circular economy in 2024. These standards establish common terminology, a consistent understanding and greater comparability.

The standards are interlinked in this context, functioning as a model of development and maturity:

• ISO 59004: Understanding
  ISO 59004 establishes the terminological and conceptual framework. It defines key terms, principles and guidelines for the circular economy and helps organisations to develop a common understanding. 
• ISO 59010: Transformation and Implementation
  ISO 59010 helps organisations to further develop linear business models and value creation approaches. The focus is on circular business models, value creation networks, collaborations and the practical transformation of products, services and processes. 
• ISO 59020: Measurement and Evaluation
  ISO 59020 makes circularity measurable. It provides guidance on assessing material flows, resource efficiency, reuse, recyclability and circularity performance. This makes it possible to determine whether and how circular measures are having an impact. 
• Circular Economy Officer in accordance with ISO 59004: Building Competencies
  Individual certification focuses on the people who are responsible for applying and interpreting standards within organisations. It highlights skills and helps companies build up a pool of qualified specialists in the circular economy. 
• ISO 59001: Systematic management
  ISO 59001 is currently being developed as the future management system standard for the circular economy. It is intended to help organisations embed the circular economy on a long-term basis through objectives, governance, key performance indicators, risk and opportunity management, performance evaluation and continuous improvement.

This creates a clear path: understand, transform, measure, build capabilities and manage systematically. Standards are thus not seen as an end in themselves, but as a framework to guide the integration of the circular economy from individual projects into the organisation as a whole.

Education and training for the circular economy
Contribution by Birgit Gahleitner, lecturer at a university of applied sciences, management consultant and adviser to the Circular Economy Forum Austria

Birgit Gahleitner placed the focus on education and training. The circular economy should not be seen as an additional topic, but rather as a fundamental mindset and part of a broader understanding of circularity.

Circular literacy means, Cycles and Connections to understand the entire system, including:

• Design 
• sustainable production 
• Usage and Service 
• Repair 
• Refurbishment and Remanufacturing 
• Returns and Reverse Logistics 
• Material safety 
• Separation, sorting and recycling 
• Energy efficiency and usage patterns 

In education and training, the circular economy is already evident in various formats, such as standard curricula, module weeks, seminars, guest lectures, university programmes and postgraduate further education courses. Relevant subject areas include decarbonisation, future thinking, circular product and service design, sustainable materials management, environmental economics, green marketing, sustainable leadership and future business.

Further reading:

The full Articles and details are available to watch again in the YouTube video: