Critical Factors for Eco-Industrial Park Development: A Systemic Analysis of Industrial Symbiosis

Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) operate as networks for exchanging by-products. This study identifies, from the scientific literature, the critical success factors (CSFs) reported for EIP formation. Fifty factor statements from five documents are consolidated into 17 factors. The Vester Sensitivity Model (VSM) is then applied in its descriptive and interpretative phases (steps 1–5) to characterize the systemic role of each factor, using an influence matrix scored by the first author under a documented coding protocol. Business Partnership, Flows, and Proactive Culture show the highest participation in the system (very critical), followed by Stakeholders, Sustainable Approach, and Trust and Cooperation (critical), whereas Regulatory Framework and Additional Revenue are the most active factors. A Monte Carlo perturbation shows that the most critical and the most active factors are stable, but the role class of most factors is not (with 10% of cells perturbed, only 2 of 17 keep it in at least 90% of runs). In an evidence matrix, 19 of the 50 principal relationships have explicit support in nine documents, 19 have partial support and 12 rest on the author’s judgment. The roles are model-derived structural propositions, not empirically estimated causal effects, and the matrix has not been independently assessed; this assessment, structure-of-effects and simulation stages, and validation in real EIPs remain future work.