Repair, Reuse, Re-Purpose, Up/Recycle: The Foundations of a Sustainable Future?

Public Webinar (via Eventbrite)

UWE Bristol

14th February, 2022: 15.00-17.00

Organised by: Dr. Jon Mulholland (Associate Professor in Sociology – Health and Social Sciences, UWE Bristol),

Travis Carrigan, Eleanor Poole, Molly Richardson, Amy Townsend (BA Sociology, UWE Bristol)

In Conjunction with Sustainable Futures: Society and Environment in an Age of Crisis (UZSY6W-30-3), Social Science in the City, Social Science Research Group, and in Partnership with the Bristol Wood Recycling Project

Registration Free

Event Link: https://ca.bbcollab.com/guest/2d722c18635a4c61b3b3686db93cebd6

We are confronted with a multi-dimensional ecological crisis; a crisis that in almost all respects is human made. Despite the bulk of the world’s population living in conditions of unsustainable poverty, it is the relentless consumption of new material goods, produced and distributed via a globalised system of industrial manufacture, that lies at the heart of this crisis. The ecological footprint of a linear economic model that commences with extraction and ends in waste, is as deep as it is wide. Tackling our ecological crisis necessarily requires an end to the relentless treadmill of globalised extraction, production, consumption and disposal. But what might take the place of such a treadmill? Some have proposed repair, reuse, re-purposing and up/recycling as critical components of new, more circular and sustainable economies and societies. But exactly what role might these interventions in a traditionally linear product life-cycle have? What are the opportunities, challenges and limits to growing these changed relationships to material goods? What are the varied benefits and costs associated with repair, reuse, re-purposing and up/recycling? What contribution might they make to a truly sustainable economic and societal future? This public webinar brings together academics, policy makers, organisations, activists and the interested public to consider these important questions.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Kersty Hobson (Reader in Human Geography, Cardiff University) - 'What are the Limits of the Loops?: Critical Insights on Circular Economies in Practice'

• Professor Tim Cooper (Product Design, Nottingham Trent University) – ‘Wasted Value: How businesses and consumers can benefit from increased product lifetimes’?

• Cllr Nicola Beech (Cabinet member for Climate, Ecology, Waste and Energy, Bristol City Council) – ‘Toward a Zero-Waste Bristol Strategy: Opportunities and Challenges?’

• Martine Postma (Repair Café International Foundation) – 'Bin it? no way! An introduction to Repair Café’

• Ian Coles (Co-Director, Bristol Wood Recycling Project) – ‘Pallets to Paradise - How to Fund Social Inclusion by Saving Materials from Waste.’

For any further details, contact: Jon Mulholland (jon.mulholland@uwe.ac.uk), Travis Carrigan (Travis2.Carrigan@live.uwe.ac.uk), Eleonor Poole (Eleanor2.Poole@live.uwe.ac.uk), Molly Richardson (Molly2.Richardson@live.uwe.ac.uk) or Amy Townsend (Amy2.Townsend@live.uwe.ac.uk)