Seminar title :
– Urban Sharing: business models, sustainability and institutionalization pathways –
This seminar will be delivered by Dr. Oksana Mont, Professor at Lund University
Research Seminar Series Objectives :
The series programme is organised jointly by the CIEMS Research & DATA Research Team of the INPT. The research seminar series aims to :
– Host well respected scholars presenting cutting edge research
– Promote conversations about current and future research directions
Speaker Information :
Oksana Mont is a Professor in Sustainable consumption governance. She has a PhD in Technology, MSc in Environmental Management and Policy, and MSc in Biology and Chemistry. She conducts inter-disciplinary and international research on sustainable business models, sustainable consumption and lifestyles and sustainable consumption policy. The current topical domain is the sharing economy and circular economy. Oksana leads a research group on Sustainable consumption governance at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University and supervises 7 PhD students. She has over 15 years of project leadership. She is a Principal Investigator of the 5-year programme on Urban Sharing funded by the European Research Council (https:www.urbansharing.org) and a 4-year project on Urban Reconomy funded by the Swedish Research Council Formas. She also leads projects on business models in two 4-year programmes funded by MISTRA on “REES – Resource-Efficient and Effective Solutions” (https://mistrarees.se) and “Mistra Sustainable Consumption – from niche to mainstream” (https://www.sustainableconsumption.se). She is an editor of a book on “Research Agenda for Sustainable consumption governance” (2019) Open Access: https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788117807/9781788117807.xml, Edward Elgar and co-editor of a book with Max Koch on “Sustainability and the Political Economy of Welfare (2016), Routledge. She is an author of more than 200 academic publications and official reports (i10-index 62).
Talk outline :
Part I – Urban sharing: science and practice
(Morning, 2 hours)
Urban sharing is an umbrella term for a great variety of organisational models in the sharing economy that are transforming marketplaces and cityscapes, where goods and services are shared and exchanged. Urban sharing promises to reduce environmental impacts by putting underutilised assets to work; to generate economic revenue from urban assets; and to improve social cohesion by connecting individuals via ubiquitous digital technology. However, some commentators warn that there is little evidence to support sustainability claims of urban sharing. They maintain that awaited environmental effects failed to materialise, that economic benefits are not equally distributed and that there are concerns about public safety, privacy, and health. But, urban sharing organisations (USOs) do not operate in a vacuum – their design, operations and sustainability impacts are affected by cities and the broader institutional contexts. Different institutions and urban actors may influence sharing in various ways in different cities. Yet, we know relatively little about how USOs become institutionalised in diverse urban contexts, what role cities play in shaping the landscape of urban sharing, and how institutionalisation pathways influence the sustainability impacts of USOs. Urban sharing is a growing global phenomenon with the potential to dramatically impact the current economic paradigm and enhance sustainability in cities.
In this talk, Prof. Oksana Mon will briefly revisit the origins of the sharing economy, how the idea of the sharing economy evolved in some cities and what is the status of it in these cities. She will unpack the aforementioned concepts of business models in the sharing economy, give an overview of sustainability impacts and discuss the role of institutions and governance in shaping the sharing economy in diverse urban settings. She will finish by highlighting emerging research topics and practical challenges faced by USOs, cities and other actors in the organisational field of the sharing economy.
This part could be of interest both for academics (students and researchers) and for practitioners working in or with the sharing economy.
Part II – Doing inter- and trans-disciplinary research: concepts and methods
(Afternoon, 2 hours)
Studying urban sharing calls for inter-disciplinary type of research where diverse disciplines can contribute to unpacking the complex societal phenomenon, to understanding views and actions of diverse actors and where a broad range of methods are needed in order to evaluate economic, environmental and social impacts of sharing economy organisations, while novel and existing conceptualisations of institutional forces and governance mechanisms can help analyse institutionalization pathways of the sharing economy in different cities.
In this part, Prof. Oksana Mon will share her experiences from different stages of research, starting with identifying a relevant problem to study when writing a research proposal, specifying elements of research design and then executing the research by using different methods and developing various skills. She will provide an overview of the communication channels that we currently use for communicating the results of our research beyond the academic publishing channel. She will finish by addressing the changing importance of ethical considerations when doing transdisciplinary research. When discussing all of the above she will use examples from her research projects on Urban Sharing.
This part could be of interest mostly for academics, including students and researchers.
Place & Date :
INPT Rabat – Morocco
Thursday, January 09, 2020
Information :
Phone : +212 6 28 88 86 19
E-mail: [email protected]
