Upscaling sustainable collaborative consumption using public libraries

Transformation to a sustainable society requires major changes in how we organize our societies, also in how and what we consume and produce. Circular economic perspectives are needed to ensure a closed loop between outtake of natural resources and use and reuse of those in production and consumption; a system that is regenerative in its design. Sharing of goods and services represent one way to ensure more sustainable consumption both with beneficial environmental, social and economic effects. Public libraries are in in a unique, but largely unexploited, position to take lead as a facilitator for upscaling of shared consumption due to its current position as an institution organizing sharing and lending. This project conduct extensive comparative case studies of local communities where local public libraries are facilitating sharing of tools, sports and leisure equipment as well as sharing of knowledge and information. The UPSCALE-project include different activities. On part is to try out a system where the library cards are used to borrow items in hardware stores. During 2020, the system was adapted and implemented in Jernia-stores in Drammen and Tromsø, and it was launched in January 2021. Due to the Covid-pandemic the testing was set on a halt, but it has now (november) been taken up again. To gain an insight into the population's interest in sharing other items than books through the libraries, a representative survey has been conducted in five municipalities (Lillestrøm, Drammen, Lier, Tromsø and Nordre Follo) and to library users in the same districts. Findings shows that there is an appetite for more sharing through libraries and at local stores, although there is significant demographic variation. The project has started to conduct qualitative interviews with users of current sharing schemes at libraries organized by voluntary organizations (BUA and TURBO) and lenders in the hardware shops. This provides us with a broader understanding of the role that sharing plays in many families' everyday lives and how this can be developed further. There has been conducted meeting in the reference group presenting and discussing results from wp1 and 2.

Transformation to a sustainable society requires major changes in how we organize our societies, also in how and what we consume and produce. Circular economic perspectives are needed to ensure a closed loop between outtake of natural resources and use and reuse of those in production and consumption; a system that is regenerative in its design. Sharing of goods and services represent one way to ensure more sustainable consumption both with beneficial environmental, social and economic effects. Public libraries are in in a unique, but largely unexploited, position to take lead as a facilitator for upscaling of shared consumption due to its current position as an institution organizing sharing and lending. This project will conduct extensive comparative case studies of local communities where local public libraries are facilitating sharing of tools, sports and leisure equipment as well as sharing of knowledge and information. The project will rely on a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches within the framework of a case study design. Case of local sharing coordinated by local public libraries in four cities will be studied over a period of two years. An innovative functionality applied in the cases is to use the library key card as an access point for borrowing and sharing various types of items, also outside the library facilities. The project seeks to engage a broad specter of citizens and it will actively involve local partners from public and private enterprises, as well as NGOs. The Upscale- project will deliver critical knowledge about how public libraries can operate as motors for transitions to greener consumer practices, while at the same time strengthening local communities and facilitating social innovations for collaborative consumption. It will also develop novel estimations of sustainability impacts and reduction in climate emissions based on a strong foundation of quantitative and qualitative data.