Environmental Sustainability of the Collaborative Economy
* Research Report: Multidisciplinary framework on commons collaborative economy. By Paola Imperatore. UOC et al. for DECODE (H2020–ICT-2016-1 DECODE D.2.1), 2017
Description
This chapter aims at reconstructing the debate around collaborative economy and environmental sustainability. Even though this model - based on sharing goods and services - was initially greeted from different perspectives as a sustainable alternative to the capitalistic economy, in the last years several scholars have put in question this optimistic interpretation. In parallel with authors that support that collaborative economy is a more sustainable model able to reduce consumption, other scholars argue that it has become a driver of hyperconsumption. The following dissertation tries, in a first part, to present the current debate around the environmental sustainability of collaborative economy, a debate still open. In this part, we also discuss the purpose of some scholars to address collaborative model with a real ecological approach (such as through a legal framework or a pivotal role of social movements linked with the issue of the sustainable consumption) in opposition to the companies that use the sustainability arguments as a brand to attract more people, making a greenwashing operation. In the second part, we show the analysis of the tools proposed in academic literature in order to measure, in a more systematic way, the environmental impact of collaborative business models."
More information
DECODE = DEcentralised Citizens Owned Data Ecosystem
D2.1 Multidisciplinary Framework on Commons Collaborative Economy Version Number: V1.3
Lead beneficiary: IN3 UOCDue Date: July 2017
Author(s): Mayo Fuster Morell (Principal investigator), Bruno Carballa Smichowski, Guido Smorto, Ricard Espelt, Paola Imperatore, Manel Rebordosa, Marc Rocas, Natalia Rodríguez,Enric Senabre (Dimmons IN3 UOC), Marco Ciurcina (NEXA)
Editors and reviewers: Francesca Bria (IMI), Eleonora Bassi (NEXA), Marco Ciurcina (NEXA), andStefano Lucarelli (CNRS