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project info
Start date: 17 December 2018
End date: 10 June 2020
funding
Fund: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Total budget: 231 800,00 €
EU contribution: 189 543,79 € (81,77%)
programme
Programming period: 2014-2021
Programme: ESPON
Managing authority: Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructures Department for Spatial Planning and Development (DATER), Division for European Affairs, Luxembourg
intervention field
n/a

Stocktaking and assessment of typologies of Urban Circular Collaborative Economy initiatives

The circular economy is a new economic model where raw material is not limitlessly extracted for the sake of economic growth. It is an economic model where products are carefully designed, so that at the end of their lifecycles they can be reused, recycled and refurbished to get a second or many more lives. In this way the circular economy aims at eradicating the concept of waste. Part of the circular economy is the concept of collaborative economy. The collaborative economy, sometimes also called the sharing economy, is often seen as a way in which people and businesses organize themselves and create new, for profit, business models to share existing products/assets instead of purchasing new ones (e.g. Uber, Airbnb). But the collaborative economy also deals with the ways in which people and businesses organize themselves to create social and environmental benefits (e.g. community supported agriculture, repair cafés). The collaborative economy is furthermore also increasingly associated with governance aspects, such as participative urban governance. This project is looking at Urban Circular Collaborative Economy which is a global phenomenon with strong local characteristics. Commercial digital platforms (e.g. Uber and AIRBNB) as well as activist grass-roots initiatives (e.g. Transition Towns) are susceptible to local cultural dimensions. By gaining a thorough understanding of these initiatives, their cultural context and relevant multilevel policies, evidence-based policy options can be identified, and place-based strategies can be developed to provide appropriate support to these dynamics. This Targeted Analysis activity will contribute to better understand how Urban Circular Collaborative Economy initiatives are being implemented in different EU cities and how they are influenced by regulations at different levels of government, from the local, to the national and the EU. The main objective is to identify and categorize different types of implementation, approaches and strategies to enable other cities to learn from those who are taking the lead as well as develop a ‘common language’ across Europe. The project will also provide recommendations on how the Collaborative economy can be better understood, communicated, shared, and implemented across Europe.

Flag of Austria,Belgium  Multiple locations, Austria, Belgium