Thought leader April Rinne, an expert on shareable cities, will discuss “The Sharing Economy in the Urban Millennium” at 2 p.m., Thursday, March 24, in the Cone University Center McKnight Hall. This presentation is for the University’s TIAA Lecture Series.
Rinne is an advisor and guide on the sharing economy, the concept of a peer-based sharing of access to goods and services, coordinated through community-based resources. Examples include car sharing, the rental of apartments/houses and even the sharing of one’s talents and skills.
“Within the sharing economy, my main areas of focus are what it means for cities, policymakers, the future of travel and tourism and emerging markets,” wrote Rinne on her website. “The sharing economy is full of hard questions and unknowns. My goal is to show and help others discover how the sharing economy can create a more inclusive, resilient, robust future — and figure out what to do when not everyone's goals can be met.”
In her 2 p.m. talk, Rinne will cover the basics of the sharing economy and how it can be leveraged to develop careers and create lifestyles. While the lecture is free and open to the campus community, reservations are requested. Group reservations for classes should be requested through the Events and Special Projects Office (speakerseries@uncc.edu or call 704-687-5844).
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Rinne completed a master’s degree in international finance and business relations at Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in international studies at Emory University.
In 2011, the World Economic Forum elected Rinne a Young Global Leader; she is on the Sharing Economy Working Group and serves on the Urbanization Advisory Board. She also is on the advisory boards for Seoul Sharing City in Korea (considered the world's most shareable city today), the National League of Cities and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network and on the board of directors of the World Wide Web Federation.
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