About the project
Centers of sharing Researching and designing municipal sharing infrastructures in urban areas. The research project "Centers of Sharing" (ZdT) is dedicated to the investigation, development and prototype testing of new sharing structures at municipal level. In close cooperation between science, administration and civil society, concepts are being developed for physical locations where high-quality everyday objects (such as tools, kitchen appliances or leisure items) can be shared, maintained and repaired. The so-called centers of sharing aim to reduce resource consumption, promote participation as well as ecological, social and Business Studies sustainability. As part of the project, the City of Essen, together with the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT and the Fachhochschule Dortmund, Faculty of Design, are working on various aspects of the Centers of Sharing from a scientific and design perspective. This includes demand and acceptance analyses among the population, investigations into suitable business models and forms of organization, design planning and the prototypical implementation and evaluation of exemplary lending stations in urban areas. Fachhochschule Dortmund plays a central role in the design development and implementation of prototype systems. In interdisciplinary seminars, students develop speculative design concepts and modular prototypes for various usage scenarios. The focus here is on integration into existing urban structures, social accessibility and public visibility.