Co-producing commons-based resilience: lessons from R-Urban

Figures & data

Figure 1 R-Urban-predicted effects in different urban sectors

Note: Improvements in CO₂ reduction, energy consumption, water consumption and waste were obtained through the introduction of saving schemes and positive activities (composting, reuse and recycling, solar energy production and car sharing). The comparison is with average consumption/person in France (2008), based on data estimated for 100 citizens using diverse R-Urban hubs totalling 2000  m²

Figure 2 R-Urban network

Source: aaa

Figure 3 R-Urban participation

Source: aaa

Figure 4 R-Urban local ecosystems

Source: aaa

Figure 5 Colombes, France

Source: aaa

Figure 6 Three R-Urban civic hubs in Colombes

Source: aaa

Figure 7 R-Urban assets in Colombes, identified with residents

Source: aaa

Figure 8 Agrocité, 2013

Source: aaa

Figure 9 Recyclab, 2015

Source: aaa

Table 1 Agrocité, Recyclab and Ecohab functions (2015)

R-Urban hub	Components	Users	Governance	Location	Design and building	Date
Agrocité Urban agriculture unit Building 150 m^2, plot 3000 m^2	Agrolab: ecological building hosting a local market, workshop, greenhouse space, community café/canteen local shop and educational and cultural space Experimental micro-farm: including cultivation plots, beehives, chicken farm and compost facilities Community gardens	Three organizations: Agrocité, Ecole de Compost and AMAP + 400 citizens	Hybrid structure: user organization (NGO) (e.g., the community garden, cultural and educational spaces) + social enterprise (e.g., micro-farm, market and cafe)	Plot issued from the demolition of a small local industry in the core of the social housing estate Fosses Jean Temporary lease on the land that belongs to the city; planned for development in 10 years	Integrated ecological devices, built through participative workshops: compost heating system, wormery, compost toilets, hydroponic growing system, grey water plant filtering system Eco-construction with raw or reused materials: reused windows and cladding elements; recycled drying panels; straw for insulation from local farmers Local labour (i.e., local eco-construction company) partially self-built (interior insulation, outdoor facilities, cladding, fences)	Built 2013
Recyclab Recycling and eco-construction unit Building 120 m^2, plot 700 m^2	Facilities for storing and reusing locally salvaged materials, recycling and transforming them into eco-construction elements for self-building and retrofitting Co-working workshops for makers and designers and a participative workshop open to residents for repairing and small DIY sessions	Four organizations: Recyclab, Simone de Colombes, Colombes a Velos and Repair café; one carpenter + 200 citizens	Social enterprise	Existing road that was closed to be transformed into a car park Temporary lease on land that belonged to the city, planned for development in 10 years	Designed to be quickly dismantled in order to access the public infrastructure in the road for maintenance or repair (sewage, electricity, etc) Built with small companies; partially self-built (interior insulation and cladding) Eco-construction with raw or reused materials: built with reused containers and prefabricated wooden huts on top and clad with salvaged wood Integration to context: geometry informed by the shape of the street tree canopies	Built 2013
Ecohab Cooperative eco-housing Building 600 m^2, plot 1100 m^2	Seven flats + two temporary residential units for students and researchers + one civic or commercial space Shared facilities: food growing collective, energy, rain water harvesting, car sharing	Seven families + one organization/local business; two researchers in residence	Cooperative	Plot issued from the demolition of one family house Planned to be pursued by the cooperative	Planned to be built with small companies + partially self-built (partition walls and cladding with salvaged wood)	Unbuilt. Construction licence blocked (May 2014)

Table 2 R-Urban hubs impact, 2015

Social	Ecological	Economic
500 users 40 stakeholders > 4000 followers 18 researchers Dissemination: > 100 press references 80 web references 8 international exhibitions 60,000 hits/18,000 visitors/year	300 t CO2 emission reduction 500 t waste reduction/year 70% electricity produced locally 60% ecological footprint reduction for the two hubs 50 t reduction of water consumption 24 t organic waste transformed into compost	20 small civic initiatives and temporary green jobs created in relation with the two hubs 62 training certificates for compost masters released by the Compost School €100,000/year turnover

Note: These figures concern only the two existing units, including the construction period. The proportional reductions of water and energy consumption were calculated in comparison with average consumption for similar size units covering the same activity and using conventional energy, transportation and construction materials. The reduction of waste and CO₂ emissions was calculated by Objective Carbon (www.objectifcarbone), a local company based in Colombes specialized in CO₂ counselling.

Figure 10 Flea market at Agrocité, 2014

Source: aaa

Figure 11 Repair café at Recyclab, 2014

Source: aaa

Figure 12 Actor networks at Agrocité

Source: aaa

Figure 13 Actor networks at Recyclab

Source: aaa