The Collaborative Economy in Action: Context and Outline of Country Reports

Abstract

The book titled The Collaborative Economy in Action: European Perspectives is one of the important outcomes of the COST Action CA16121, From Sharing to Caring: Examining the Socio-Technical Aspects of the Collaborative Economy (short name: Sharing and Caring; sharingandcaring.eu) that was active between March 2017 and September 2021. The Action was funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology – COST (www.cost.eu/actions/CA16121). The main objective of the COST Action Sharing and Caring is the development of a European network of researchers and practitioners interested in investigating the collaborative economy models, platforms, and their socio-technological implications. The network involves scholars, practitioners, communities, and policymakers. The COST Action Sharing and Caring helped to connect research initiatives across Europe and enabled scientists to develop their ideas by collaborating with peers. This collaboration opportunity represented a boost for the participants’ research, careers, and innovation potential. The Sharing and Caring network opened new opportunities for 312 participants involved in four working groups, five task forces, and coming from 39 different countries, including 37 European countries and two partner countries (Georgia and Australia). The participants had very diverse backgrounds, from human-computer interaction, computer science, sociology, geography, and business to law and political sciences. Scholars collaborated with practitioners, industry representatives and community activists in studying the collaborative economy phenomena through a practice-focused approach. More than 120 short stories were collected by the participants, as well as 15 in-depth ethnographic case studies. The members of the COST Action assembled a list of bibliographic resources on the collaborative economy and a directory including organizations, scholars, and activists involved in the collaborative economy. The four Working Groups focused on: examining collaborative economy practices and communities (WG1) and digital platforms in use (WG2), studying the impacts of the collaborative economy (WG3), and identifying mechanisms to activate and support the collaborative economy (WG4). The participants of the COST Action organized two Training Schools: one in Funchal, Madeira, in November 2017, and one in Aarhus, Denmark, in August 2019, bringing together scholars, experts, and activists with more than 50 early career researchers. Thirty-eight researchers were supported to travel for Short Term Scientific Missions, 26 early career researchers from Inclusiveness Target Countries received financial support for their participation in international conferences, and 7 participants benefited from virtual mobility grants. The main aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the collaborative economy (CE) in European countries with a variety of its aspects for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon as a whole.