The Collaborative Economy

What is the Collaborative Economy?
The collaborative economy is defined as practices and business models based on horizontal networks and participation of a community. It is built on "distributed power and trust within communities as opposed to centralized institutions" (R. Botsman), blurring the lines between producer and consumer. These communities meet and interact on online networks and peer-to-peer platforms, as well as in shared spaces such as fablabs and coworking spaces.

This phenomena can be seen as the sum of the following developments:


 * The Sharing Economy aka Collaborative Consumption

Collaborative consumption is the seamless circulation of products and services among individuals through sharing, swapping, trading, renting, borrowing or giving, fostering access over ownership and reducing waste.


 * Open Knowledge

Open knowledge enables anyone to freely use, reuse, and redistribute knowledge such as content, data, code or designs. This principle is the foundation of commons-based peer production (such as free software, the creative commons, open science, …) as well as open education, open data and open governance.


 * Open and Horizontal Governance

Open and horizontal governance are transforming organizations, public services and civic action. Leading examples include civic engagement platforms, participatory budgeting, open government initiatives, co-operatives, open value networks, horizontal organizations, swarms, do-ocracries and holacracies.


 * Crowdfunding and Person-to-Person Banking

Crowdfunding and person-to-person banking enable the circulation of capital between individuals to fund creative, social and entrepreneurial projects.


 * Makers, Open Design & Manufacturing

Open design and manufacturing democratize the process of designing, producing and distributing physical goods by combining open knowledge with distributed infrastructures. They rely on tools, spaces, communities and marketplaces and are fueled by the maker movement, the culture of hacking and Do-It-Yourself (DIY).

Collaborative tools
the collaborative tools we know or use

Why promote the collaborative economy
the various visions of the collaborative economy and their social benefits