The third cycle of the Citizens’ Assembly for Climate in the Brussels Region focuses on the sharing and collaborative economy. On this occasion, we interviewed Cécile Riffont, from the Resources-Waste Department, and Pietro Fragapane, from the Transition Economy Department at Brussels Environment, to help us better understand this model, largely driven by local citizen initiatives.
Missions Publiques. What exactly is the sharing and collaborative economy?
Pietro Fragapane. The sharing and collaborative economy is based on a simple principle: minimizing the extraction of new resources and optimizing the use of those already in circulation. Concretely, this means prioritizing sharing, repairing, and reusing over linear consumption (produce, consume, discard). Collaborative economy initiatives are built around three key elements:
- The resource, meaning the good or service that people are willing to share — whether it’s an object, a space, a skill, or a service;
- The community, meaning a group of individuals who mobilize around this resource with the aim of serving the common good;
- The governance, meaning the set of rules established by the community to organize access to, use of, and sharing of this resource in order to ensure its proper functioning.
In Brussels, this approach is essential because the city faces major challenges related to resource management, waste, and consumption. Today, more than 1,500 volunteers and 440 employees are involved in these collaborative initiatives, which also generate employment (227 full-time equivalents). Around 49% of the funding for these collaborative initiatives comes from public subsidies, while others operate with a mixed model combining subscriptions and self-financing.
"These initiatives show that it’s possible to adopt more responsible consumption habits without compromising our comfort or access to the items we need.
@bryapro photography
Cécile Riffont
Project Manager, Resources-Waste Department, Brussels Environment
What concrete initiatives are currently working in the Brussels Region?
Cécile Riffont. Brussels is full of innovative initiatives that benefit everyone. Among them are:
- Tournevie, a tool library where people can borrow DIY tools instead of buying them;
- Babylibraries: nine facilities across Brussels offering parents the option to rent baby equipment (bottle warmers, car seats, travel cots, etc.) instead of purchasing it;
- Bicycle libraries: present in eleven neighborhoods, these allow families to borrow bikes adapted to children’s needs.
Other models exist abroad, such as sports equipment libraries or lockers placed in high-traffic areas (shopping centers, metro stations, etc.) where people can autonomously pick up rented items like steam cleaners, drills, and more. These initiatives show that it is possible to adopt more responsible consumption habits without compromising our comfort or access to the goods we need.
"The goal is therefore to fully integrate the sharing and collaborative economy into the daily lives of people in Brussels.
@bryapro photography
Pietro Fragapane
Project manager of the Economy in Transition department at Brussels Environment
Missions Publiques: What are the main challenges for scaling up these practices?
Pietro Fragapane. In the field of mobility, many projects have successfully attracted a large audience and experienced significant growth (such as Cambio, Villo, etc.). For other sectors, even though these initiatives are promising, several obstacles still hinder their large-scale deployment.
The first challenge is price sensitivity: the cost of renting or borrowing is often limited because of competition with low-priced new products. This situation affects the ability of these initiatives to fully cover their operating costs, which threatens their economic viability.
Higher costs could potentially be offset by increasing the volume of activity — but it’s not that simple. Scaling up requires time and significant investment. Another key challenge is optimizing territorial coverage: ensuring that these services are well adapted to residents’ needs and are easily accessible is essential. Finally, the heavy reliance on volunteer work makes it difficult to sustain some of these projects over time.
Missions Publiques. What is the long-term vision for the sharing and collaborative economy in Brussels?
Cécile Riffont and Pietro Fragapane. The ideal would be a city where every citizen has easy access to sharing, rental, and repair services — where buying new becomes the exception rather than the rule. The goal is to fully integrate the sharing and collaborative economy into the daily lives of Brussels residents. Achieving this requires proactive public policies, suitable infrastructure, and collective commitment. The sharing and collaborative economy should not be seen as a constraint, but rather as an opportunity to rethink how we live together — in a more sustainable and solidarity-based way.
