ABOUT THE PROJECT

According to the European Economic and Social Committee’s Opinion Paper INT/686 “Collaborative or participatory consumption, a sustainability model for the 21st century”, collaborative or participatory consumption is spreading to a growing number of communities and cities around the world, which are using technological networks to do more with less, through activities such as hiring, lending, exchanging, bartering, giving away or sharing products on a previously unimaginable scale. Collaborative or participatory consumption therefore represents an innovative complement to a production economy in the form of a use-based economy offering economic, social and environmental benefits.

Whether the motives are monetary, ecological or even altruistic, sharing has certainly created a bit of hype recently. The European Commission has already conducted a case study on Sharing Economy with policy recommendations and a solid conclusion that the sharing economy shows a vastly different approach to commerce than conventional industries do and that there is a lack of tailored policy frameworks for regulating new sharing economy industries.