Collaborators: City of Saint-Quentin, Wandsbek District of the City of Hamburg, City of Amersfoort, Familjebostäder, Hogeschool Utrecht, Ghent University, Euratechnologies, The City of Bergen, The City of Sint-Niklaas, The Municipality of Vesthimmerland, Kringwinkel Antwerp, and Holland Circular Hotspot (HCH).
Date: September 2024 – ongoing
Locations: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
Bax is proud to coordinate Digital Kiosks, a Europe-wide alliance of municipalities, housing providers, research organisations, business support organisations, and European networks, aiming to advance the sharing revolution. Across 7 countries, 12 cities and support organisations will test and deploy 22 connected smart lockers, known as sharing stations, to enable convenient on-site sharing.
Our current consumption model is broken. The average Westerner owns over 10,000 items, 80% of which are used less than three times a year. For example, the average drill is used for only 12 minutes during its entire lifespan, and vacuum cleaners remain unused for 98% of their lifetime. These items require vast amounts of energy and raw materials to produce, yet most sit idle in homes and offices across Europe.
Our challenge is to transform this broken consumption pattern.
Approach
To address the growing consumption crisis, we are focusing on the sharing economy, where durable products are made accessible to everyone through various access services. These products can be locally repaired, reused, and shared. Under Bax’s coordination, the Interreg Europe North Sea Region project ‘Digital Kiosks’ will introduce sharing stations to combat this consumption crisis. This European alliance of municipalities, housing providers, and research organisations is committed to accelerating the deployment of sharing stations. Digital Kiosks is the first Europe-wide collaboration to co-create, test, and evaluate sharing stations, advancing local sharing economy strategies for cities and housing associations. Bax manages the project and supports all partners in their roles.
Impact
Over three years, Digital Kiosks will:
- Deploy 22 sharing stations across six European countries, engaging 5,000+ end-users.
- Develop a Sharing Station Implementation Guide for public authorities and organisations.
- Create the Digital Kiosks Innovation Framework to support sustainable large-scale deployment.
- Develop a Community Engagement Toolkit for citizen involvement in co-creating sharing stations.
- Expand the Digital Kiosks network, collaborating with 30+ partners to support sustainable sharing stations.
Resource efficiency and the circular economy is a focus area of the integrated climate protection concept of Hamburg-Wandsbek. As such, the development, diversification, and upscaling of new and innovative concepts for sharing stations are important actions. We are excited to work with other inspiring European cities and solution providers on moving forward with the idea of a more resource-efficient and climate-friendly society
– Tim Roesler, Head of Climate Protection Unit, City of Hamburg | Wandsbek District
Digital Kiosks is the first-ever European project to focus on the new concept of sharing stations. 12 pioneering organisations will work together over the next three years to co-create, deploy, and evaluate 22 sharing stations across 7 European countries. Digital Kiosks is part of a global shift towards more sustainable and social communities!
– François Dubreuil, Bax Innovation Consultant
