City of Bergen

The City of Bergen is piloting digital sharing stations focused primarily on outdoor sports and leisure equipment. They are collaborating with BUA, an existing Norway-wide rental organisation for outdoor sport and leisure equipment, to see how sharing stations can help the organisation modernise and improve their service offering. 

The three sharing stations will be placed at or near sports and activity facilities in different neighbourhoods across Bergen:

• Melkeplassen: A neighbourhood with a strong culture of youth-led and self-organised physical activity, anchored by the Fysak Melkeplassen activity centre. The area is an existing BUA location and combines high activity levels with social diversity, making it a relevant test site for improving access to shared equipment.
• Olsvik / Varden: These are residential areas that have recently benefited from substantial investment in new multi-sport facilities. These locations offer a broad mix of outdoor activity options and attract children, youth, and families. The sharing station(s) will be integrated into these facilities to support informal and spontaneous use.
• Public park location (e.g. Lynghaugparken): A larger, city-level recreational park with diverse user groups and a wide range of outdoor sports and leisure activities. This location allows Bergen to explore how a sharing station functions in a high-traffic public leisure setting. 

Together, these locations enable Bergen to test sharing stations in neighbourhood-based sports facilities and larger public park environments.

Bergen is testing two related but distinct sharing concepts, which together will be implemented across the three pilot stations:

• Shared Pick-up Point (longer-term sharing): An outdoor, digital, multi-purpose sharing station designed for longer-term (e.g. weekly) rental of sports and leisure equipment. This concept focuses on convenience and flexibility, allowing users to pick up and return equipment independently and outside fixed opening hours. 
• “Share to Play” (short-term, spontaneous sharing): An outdoor sharing station focused on short-term access to sports and leisure equipment located directly at activity sites. The concept supports spontaneous, inclusive play and immediate use of facilities, particularly for young people.

Across the Bergen pilot sites, the city pursues a common set of objectives:

Promoting active and inclusive lifestyles

• Lower barriers to participation in sports and outdoor activities, especially for young people.
• Support spontaneous and self-organised physical activity in public spaces.

Improving access to shared equipment

• Complement existing sharing services such as BUA by increasing availability, flexibility, and convenience.
• Address practical barriers such as limited opening hours and distance.

Strengthening neighbourhood meeting places

• Enhance sports facilities and parks as attractive social spaces.
• Encourage shared use of public infrastructure and informal social interaction.

Testing outdoor sharing concepts

• Explore how different sharing models (short-term vs. longer-term use) function in outdoor, facility-based settings.
• Generate insights to inform future scaling and integration into Bergen’s sports and public space strategies.