Notes de la rédaction
This is the press release related to the article from Coline Ruwet, Roxane De Hoe, Géraldine Thiry, Philippe Roman, François Lohest, Kevin Maréchal and Coralie Muylaert, published on 6 March 2023. Read the article.
Hire a suit for a party? Find a floor sander? Borrow comics from the library? Grab a scooter to get to a different part of the city? All of these practices have one thing in common: people do not purchase these products but pay for their use and availability. This is known as the functional economy, which combines a “service” approach (a value proposal based on the provision of an integrated solution and usage performance) and a “life cycle” approach (aimed at closing material loops or shortening them, and eco-designing and maximising uses to increase the lifespan of products). How is this economy implemented in Brussels and how is it taken into account by the regional institutions in their ambition to make Brussels a more sustainable city? These are the two main questions which the authors of the 177th issue of Brussels Studies – Coline Ruwet, Roxane De Hoe, Géraldine Thiry and Philippe Roman (ICHEC), François Lohest (ERU), Kevin Maréchal and Coralie Muylaert (ULiège) – wished to answer.
In order to define the outlines of the functional economy, the team gathered research material composed of official documents and regional strategic plans concerning economic expansion in Brussels, approximately sixty interviews with stakeholders from eight organisations providing functional economy services, and the most exhaustive inventory possible of the services available in the capital. In 2021, the latter amounted to just over 100 of the 110 825 companies in the Brussels-Capital Region.
Three major findings are highlighted by the authors. Firstly, the model is neither rapidly expanding nor very well known. Secondly, the areas of mobility, equipment and clothing represent most of the services, while other areas of need are not very well developed in Brussels (e.g. food and entertainment). Third, and finally, the analysis reveals a very wide diversity in terms of business models, forms of organisation, main targets and legal status, which limits the potential for transition of existing services.
There is still a lot to be done in order for the functional economy to become established as a sustainable mode of consumption on a larger scale. The researchers observe that, to a large degree, this economic model is confined to a simple business model whose development is integrated with that of the circular economy in institutional documents. However, the specificities of the functional economy – including the break with the principle of purchasing products – call for transformations of practices which cannot be reduced to those carried out in the framework of a transition to the circular economy. In order to allow the functional model to gain visibility and recognition and more generally to give careful thought to the ecological, economic and social transition in Brussels, it would be relevant and necessary to create a physical and legal opportunity to “work on” the model as well as its virtuous links with that of the circular economy.
This publication presents some of the results of the Brufonctionnel research project funded by Innoviris.brussels (Prospective Research call, 2017-2022).
References
Ruwet, C., De Hoe, R., Thiry, G., Roman, P., Lohest, F., Maréchal, K. et Muylaert, C., “Housing evictions in Brussels: how many, who and where?”, Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 177, 6 March 2023. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/6706
Contact
Tatiana Debroux, Editor in chief:
tdebroux[at]brusselsstudies.be