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What if borrowing a power drill, renting a refrigerator, or sharing sports equipment became as easy as using a bike-sharing service? That is the ambition behind Access Hubs, a European project co-funded by the Interreg North-West Europe (NWE) program. IÉSEG School of Management is one of twelve partners from six European countries working together to make this vision a reality.

Access Hubs aims to develop a new generation of access-based services for everyday goods, making borrowing, renting, and sharing simple, reliable, and attractive alternatives to ownership. By promoting access over ownership, the project will help accelerate the transition towards a more circular economy.

“The access economy represents a major shift in the way we consume. Instead of owning products outright, people can now access them whenever they need them through rental, sharing, or borrowing services. Yet we continue to purchase many items that we use only occasionally: nearly 80% of everyday consumer goods—such as gardening, DIY, kitchen, and sports equipment—are used less than once a month. Although the benefits of the access economy are widely recognised, practical, cultural, and organisational barriers still limit its uptake. Access Hubs aims to overcome these obstacles by making these services more visible, easier to access, and simpler to scale across Europe,” explains Sébastien Bourdin, Professor of Economic Geography at IÉSEG School of Management and the project’s lead at the School.»

Sébastien BOURDIN, Professor of Economic Geography at IÉSEG School of Management and the project’s lead at the School

Advancing the access economy across Europe

Across Europe, environmental challenges and the need to preserve natural resources are driving the emergence of new consumption models. The access economy is based on a simple principle: prioritizing use over ownership by making it easier for people to rent, borrow, or share everyday goods.

Access Hubs fully embraces this vision. The project seeks to support public authorities, businesses, and organisations involved in reuse and repair in developing solutions that enable citizens to access the goods they need, when they need them, without having to buy them.

A key objective is also to increase the visibility of these services through innovative digital platforms that will bring together all available rental, borrowing, and sharing offers within a single entry point for each participating territory. Ultimately, Access Hubs will contribute to building a more resource-efficient economy focused on access rather than ownership.

IÉSEG leads Work Package 1

Within the consortium, IÉSEG leads Work Package 1 (WP1), dedicated to generating knowledge on the access economy.

The research conducted by the School will map the current state of the access economy across the partner regions, identify the key drivers of adoption, and better understand the barriers that continue to prevent its large-scale development. The work will result in regional assessments, decision-support tools for public authorities, strategic recommendations, and a European guide to developing the access economy. These outputs will provide the consortium with the evidence base needed to design, test, and implement the solutions developed throughout the project.

“The main challenge is no longer simply to develop rental or sharing services, but to understand why people choose to use them—or why they don’t. Our role is to identify the factors that build trust, simplify access, and increase the attractiveness of these new consumption models. The knowledge produced by IÉSEG will directly inform the design of solutions that better meet the needs of both citizens and European regions,” says Sébastien Bourdin.”, says Sébastien BOURDIN.

Contributing to the development of access platforms

IÉSEG also contributes to Work Package 2 (WP2), coordinated by the Rediscovery Centre in Ireland.

WP2 focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of seven pilot digital platforms across five European countries. These platforms will act as one-stop shops where citizens can easily find, compare, and access all available rental, borrowing, and sharing services in their local area, whether provided by public authorities, non-profit organisations, or private companies.

The work package will analyse the most effective business models, governance approaches, and public-private partnerships for developing these platforms. It will also produce implementation plans, pilot the solutions in partner regions, assess their environmental, economic, and social impacts, and develop a European implementation guide for public authorities wishing to establish their own access platforms.

A consortium of 12 European partners

Access Hubs brings together 12 organisations from six European countries, combining expertise in the fields of circular economy, territorial innovation, research, and digital technologies:

– Kringwinkel Antwerpen (Belgium) – Project Coordinator
– City of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
– Municipality of The Hague (Netherlands)
– City of Ghent (Belgium)
– Dortmund Economic Development Agency (Germany)
– Valenciennes Métropole (France)
– Béthune-Bruay Artois Lys Romane Urban Community (France)
– IÉSEG School of Management (France)
– We Right Click (France)
– Rediscovery Centre (Ireland)
– Made (Belgium)
– University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

The diversity of the consortium will enable the project to test, evaluate, and adapt its solutions across a wide range of territorial contexts before scaling them up across Europe.

A project supported by Interreg North-West Europe

Access Hubs is co-funded by the Interreg North-West Europe program, a European Union funding instrument supporting transnational cooperation projects that address shared challenges across North-West Europe.

Over a period of 42 months, the partners will combine their expertise to develop practical tools, generate new knowledge, and deliver concrete solutions that accelerate the adoption of consumption models based on access, sharing, and the collective use of resources.

“Beyond the results we expect to achieve during the project’s 42-month lifetime, our ambition is to contribute to a lasting transformation in consumption practices. By promoting access over ownership, we can reduce pressure on natural resources, support the circular economy, and strengthen the resilience of European regions. Access Hubs aims to demonstrate that these models are not only environmentally sound but also economically viable, attractive, and beneficial for both citizens and local stakeholders,” concludes Sébastien Bourdin.