Activating territorial circular ecosystems through intermediaries

This article examines how intermediary organisations activate territorial circular ecosystems. Drawing on 44 interviews in the construction material reuse sector in the Toulouse metropolitan area and the wider Occitanie region (France), it identifies four barriers to circular economy implementation: coordination failures, regulatory uncertainty, logistical and financial constraints, and skill gaps. The analysis shows that intermediaries address these barriers through regional matchmaking, regulatory translation, logistical orchestration, economic alignment and capability-building. These functions are shaped by organisational mandates, funding arrangements and governance positions. The article contributes to regional studies by conceptualising intermediation as a place-based coordination mechanism through which circular practices become operational, routinised and territorially stabilised.