Scale-Up and Scale-Out Sharing Capacity for Sustainable Urban Transformation

Sharing goods, infrastructure, and services in urban areas is vital for reducing emissions and using scarce resources efficiently. The TransScale project (2024-2026) aims to unlock sustainable urban futures through experimentation and innovation in urban circular/sharing economy initiatives (CSE). The project explores various material flows and products such as food, construction materials, furniture, clothes, and electronics. TransScale will develop capacities and study the roles of municipalities, NGOs and other urban stakeholders in scaling up and scaling out CSE initiatives, and on closing material loops in urban areas, through recycling and reuse, repair and reduction of materials. However, the project critically questions assumptions about the fairness and lower carbon footprint of CSE initiatives, investigating how it can embody these ideals. The project starts with Future Literacy Laboratories looking at alternative futures for the CSE, and we critically discuss and refine these alternatives in workshops with practitioners. TransScale covers in-depth case study analysis looking at the roles, resources, power dynamics, needs, expectations, ideas, and practices of practitioners working on CSE initiatives in each country. To foster greater intersectoral and policy coordination in this field, TransScale will conduct Policy Laboratories bringing together policymakers, practitioners and researchers to discuss needs and policy options, main obstacles and success factors. Also, the project will develop a method based on life cycle assessment to study environmental impacts of the initiatives. TransScale is managed by BA School of Business and Finance (Latvia). Project partners: NIFU (Norway), Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland), Aalborg University (Denmark), ArtSmart (Latvia), Asker kommune (Norway).

Cities face numerous challenges amplified by the scarcity of space, natural resources and the materials that are derived from them. In an urban context, the transition to a circular economy includes creating material loops through recycling and reuse, repair and reduction of material consumption. In all of these respects, the circularity and sharing of resources are particularly relevant and many such initiatives are growing all over the world. The TransScale project will develop capacities and study the roles of different stakeholders (municipalities, communities, NGOs and other urban stakeholders) in scaling up and scaling out urban circular and sharing economy initiatives while both slowing down, narrowing or closing material loops in urban areas and providing socio-economic services. TransScale will challenge ways of existing thinking, via Future Literacy Labs; sharing learning on new organisational forms and policy measures, via Policy Labs; establishing a bespoke learning platform that will out-last the project lifetime; and ????conducting selective material flow analyses of circularity and sharing models, for evaluation purposes. Through these means, ??TransScale aims to help develop and assess solutions that work across scales, locales, asset types and circularity and sharing economy models relevant to the reduction of resource consumption.