Table 3.

Overview of the illustrative initiatives and their transformative potential

Initiative	Characteristics
	Integration of circularity principles	Concrete outcomes	Depth of change	Overcoming barriers	Synergy social and technological change
Fertile nutrient cycles	Safeguard (emission reduction), Avoid (better manure efficiency), Prioritise (less feed concentrates)	Yes	First order change: Mainly improvements within the logics of the current linear system	No serious barriers encountered. Efficiency improvements benefited farmers economically	Primarily technological changes. Knowledge sharing enables diffusion
Circular broilers	Recycle (residual streams as feed), Prioritise (no human edible feed concentrates), Entropy (renewable energy production)	Yes	Second order change: Breaks through the existing mindset of linear specialisation by integrating functions of arable and livestock farming. Functions themselves remain unchanged	Overcame economic barriers by cooperating with a meal box company to compensate higher operation costs	Primarily technological, enabled by novel cooperations with neighbouring farmers and a meal box company
Agricycling	Recycle (municipal waste streams as fertiliser), Avoid (no synthetic fertiliser), Safeguard (sequestering carbon and improving soil health)	Yes	Third order change: Redesign of the structure of nutrient flows by reusing municipal waste streams, reconnecting agriculture with society. Farmers become waste-up-cyclers besides their traditional role as food producers	Overcame hard institutional barriers. Exemptions granted by local officials for waste management regulations	Both the technological and social change are central and strengthen each other. Recycling is a new revenue model and regulatory exemptions enable replication in other areas