This seminar will focus on how local authorities might unleash the power of the sharing economy for their local communities and for collaboration between agencies.
The Sharing Economy is a socio-economic ecosystem built around the sharing of human and physical resources. It includes the shared creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services by different people and organisations.
It is estimated that 25% of UK adults are already sharing online and that global revenues in the sharing economy could rise from £9 billion today to £230 billion in 2025.
The sharing economy allows people to share property, resources, time and skills across online platforms. This can unlock previously unused, or under-used assets – helping people make money from their empty spare room and the tools in their sheds they use once a year. It allows people to go from owning expensive assets, such as cars, to paying for them only when they need them.
Local authorities are increasingly looking at the sharing economy and how it might work for them to enable and empower communities, to provide community care for those in need and to optimize the resources that they can share with other agencies.
This is a tremendous opportunity for local government, which many cities are recognising. And this is happening globally. The City of Flagstaff, Arizona, is supporting a Sharing Economy which emerged out of economic necessity by incubating Fix-it Clinics and developing a website of all the reuse and repair options. Montreal, Québec, is realizing its transportation goals by integrating bike and car-sharing systems with public transit and taxi companies.
In the UK some local authorities are looking at sharing the local authority’s building with local community groups; building new housing developments with car club bays incorporated and integrated into the local transport network and creating local online hubs where residents and businesses can share their skills and possessions with each other.
Participants of this workshop will gain:
- An understanding of what a collaborative economy is.
- Some ideas of how the sharing economy can be developed locally.
- The role of the local authority in enabling and facilitating the sharing economy
- How sharing can be used to empower communities and individuals.
- Some case studies of how the sharing economy is working in practice
- The vital role of digital platforms in the collaborative economy.
- Timely feedback and next steps.
The programme*
The morning session will look at what the sharing economy is and how local government can play a central role in developing sharing at a community and resource level.
The first two sessions will have key speakers from NESTA and the RSA who have been in the forefront of developing ideas around the sharing economy and how it can work at a local level. Jonathan Carr-West, CEO of the LGiU will also focus our thoughts on the central role of local government in enabling the sharing economy.
09.30 Coffee and Registration
10.00 Introduction to day and overview (Francis Sealey, GlobalNet21)
10.15 Local Government & The Sharing Economy (Jonathan Carr-West, CEO, LGiU)
10.30 Unleashing The Sharing Economy? (Helen Goulden Executive Director in Nesta’s Innovation Lab)
10.50 Questions and discussion
11.10 Break Out into Working Groups
11.45 Feedback From Groups
12.05 Lunch
The afternoon will be divided in to three sections with two case studies each in the first two sessions – two that looks at the sharing community and the other two that looks at agency sharing in both resources and information. The third and final session and forum discussion will be how local authorities can develop not only the sharing economy but also an approach to “shared regulation” that is participatory.
12.40 Overview of Afternoon (Francis Sealey)
a. Community Sharing
12.50 Case Study 1 – Involving Your Local Community In the Sharing Economy – (Sam Stephens, StreetLife)
13.10 Case Study 2 – Time Banks (Lex Karlin, Barnet Time Bank)
b. Resource & Information Sharing
13.40 Case Study 3 – Interagency Collaboration & The Sharing Economy Daniel O’Connor from WarpIT
14.00 Case Study 4 – Avoiding The Silos – Skills Planning Through Sharing Data & Information (Rebecca Lovelace, Skills Planner)
14.20 Tea Break
14.30 Questions to Speakers
c. Shared Regulation
14.50 Shared Regulation – A New Approach to Local Governance: The need to develop a more collaborative and participatory approach. (Brhmie Balaram RSA)
15.10 Discussion & Comments on how local authorities might play a role in developing this collaborative approach.
15.35 Feedback on Day
15:50 Close
* This programme was correct at the time of publication but may be altered to reflect speaker changes that are beyond our control.
