At the end of 2025, Circular Flanders and OVAM announced that 21 projects will receive financial support for up to two years under the Targeted Call Shared Use 2025. The selected projects, with a total budget of 2 million euros, focus on innovative forms of renting and sharing to accelerate the circular transition in Flanders.
21 Flemish Projects Driving the Circular Transition Through Shared Use
The projects are partnerships involving at least two organisations from the social pentagon:
- knowledge institutions
- the financial sector
- businesses
- governments
- civil society
They contribute to the Flemish climate and sustainability objectives and deliver clear social added value.
From Ownership to Use: A Smart Step Forward
The 21 projects experiment, demonstrate and share knowledge to make shared use more accessible, affordable and attractive for citizens, businesses and organisations. This contributes to more sustainable consumption by reducing users’ material footprint.
Scope of the 21 Projects
The projects cover a wide range of solutions, including:
- digital platforms for rental, exchange and logistics
- circular lending services for students, families and organisations
- innovative business models for sectors such as fashion, interior design and agriculture
In addition, they focus on research into behavioral change and data-driven insights to optimise the use of shared products.
Social inclusion also plays an important role, notably through collaborations with sheltered work companies and local authorities.
Together, these initiatives form a powerful lever for a circular economyThe circular economy is a restorative and regenerative economy. By maintaining the value of the products, materials and resources in the economy through smart product design, repurposing and/or shared use of products, it reduces the extraction of natural resources by using resources already present in the economy. in which shared use takes precedence over ownership.
Research Exposes Gap Between Supply and Use
During the Sharing Summit on 20 November 2025, 140 pioneers from the Flemish rental and sharing market came together. CSI-UGent presented the results of a large-scale survey of 1,028 Flemish respondents, showing that consumers are not yet evolving at the same pace as the available offer. The challenge for the sector is to better reach and inform users.
Read also our article Sharing is Multiplying
More information can be found on the Circular Flanders website (in Dutch)
Want to discover more about renting, sharing and connecting with an engaged community? The first action day of the new Living Lab Logistics may be of interest. See you on Thursday 28 May in Ghent.