The concept of circular economy has been criticised for catering to the current capitalist and consumerist status quo. With a planetary crisis on our hands, how can we reconcile the idea of circular design with the social climate justice agenda? This was discussed through the different viewpoints of the many ‘circular economies’ and how they might work together to provide the tools for effective transitions to more sustainable futures. This event explored how perspectives across design, academia, industry and education converge with circularity.
The There and Back Again symposium happened on Friday 30 October 2020. After being delayed from the original date planned in May 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic it was rescheduled as an online event. As it has been for many since March, taking a full programme of workshops and talks online was a steep learning curve. But it was worth the effort and well above! As we had in previous ‘live’ editions, we once more got the chance to experiment with new formats of engagement. Moving online meant we spoke to much broader and more numerous audiences than an in-person event could have reached. What’s more, the full event was recorded and is now available for all to see how creative and innovative the UAL circular design community is.
The recording is divided into 3 parts (plus an introduction) which each correspond to a session, in the way that a live symposium would have themed slots throughout the day. This is one of the key parts of the There and Back Again identity, we strive to bring together a varied programme which involves emerging research by UAL students as much as it does presentations by senior researchers.
"We hope to create an environment in which all can learn from each other and that can foster new collaboration relationships".
Introduction
Circular Ideas
This first session draws together the UAL Post-Grad Community across colleges and taught and research courses. The applications to this year’s MA speaker opportunity were of an exceptionally high quality. We were extremely excited to hear from students from 4 different colleges on their ongoing work which relates to different aspects of designing or future thinking for a circular and more sustainable future.
Cassie Quinn from MA Biodesign at Central Saint Martins unveiled her early research around using squid proteins to make finishes for recycled yarns that could increase their strength and avoid micro-fibrillation. Her work takes on a holistic perspective which also includes mycelium in a circular bio-system for material regeneration.
Holly English and Claudia Sambo, a duo of conceptual artists from Chelsea College of Arts MA Fine Art asked the audience “what if we used potatoes as a currency?” This thought-provoking presentation unpicked some of the key parts of current economic systems to ask important questions about the future of money.
Rebecca Ghim from MA Design for Social Innovation and Sustainable Futures at London College of Communication continued with the theme of food but this time looking at how her knowledge of Korean cuisine and of digital collaborative platforms could merge to challenge the growing issue of food waste. This presentation showed how a multi-cultural approach could lead to exciting and more sustainable habits through “open-fridge session”.
The last MA student to speak was Kaela Katz from London College of Fashion’s MA Fashion Futures who introduced her urban fibre shed project which is set in the context of Walthamstow’s thriving fashion district and uses the waste available in this network to feed an adaptive regeneration lab.
The new format by which the students pre-recorded their presentation for all to watch together and then comment in a live session of Q&A opened up new possibilities for rich and engaging content. A real opportunity afforded by these unusual circumstances! The conversations were deftly mediated by UAL PhD student Daniella Jenkins who brought all the themes together into a compelling vision for the future.
The last act of the Circular Ideas session was UAL PhD student Loula Mercedes’s presentation on her ongoing work with circular bio-material from plant waste. Her description of her field work in coffee plantation in Colombia gave a new perspective on the role of the material designer in a circular economy context.
Circular Actions
There and Back Again is also an opportunity to network with key players in the field and we have been very privileged over the past editions to invite some wonderful speakers to share their experience with us. As well as learning from these leading players in the field, it is always an opportunity to grow the UAL circular and sustainable design network. Bringing these contributions to the table is a way for us to stay up to date with the most exciting discourses and innovation and curate a relevant debate.
This year we had the honour of welcoming A Transparent Company founder Neliana Fuenmayor, and fashion designer, educator, and Extinction Rebellion activist Clare Farrell. These two speakers offered very complementary perspectives on the topic of change in fashion and the need to “tell the truth” about the industry’s impacts.
This session was also about taking ideas into action and the concepts discussed by the panel were applied in a workshop session. The approximately one hundred participants in the webinar at that point were placed in breakout rooms to discuss the challenges and potential solutions for sustainability and social and political impacts for food, fashion, and homes.
Dropping into the rooms as a facilitator revealed different dynamics created by the mix of people in the virtual room. Some enjoyed going round the table to find out where each of them was in the world, sharing perspectives from their specific locality, others got engaged in heated debates about the key issues of the circularity challenge. For all, this was an opportunity to share and network in a warmer and closer way than the unidirectional webinar format normally allows.
Circular Change
The final session featured two talks showing how circular design can be transferred both to teaching and to industry collaboration.
The Teaching Change Making talk was delivered by us two organisers of the TABA event. This was a great moment for us to reflect on the achievements of three years of TABA and of the interest group that we developed in parallel. The Circular design Lab was created to keep the conversations going with postgraduate students in between the symposium editions and contributed to the emergence of a passionate community of circular designers at UAL. This talk, and the Q&A with Professor Becky Earley which came after it, were an opportunity to think back on the methods, the insights and the legacy of our work on TABA, hopefully inspiring others to develop their own communities of practice at UAL.
The day was closed with a brilliant keynote talk by Clare Brass from Department 22. Her consultancy work spans many different fields, including fashion, food and policy. She presented some case studies of past projects, prompting the audience to consider how their own practice on design, whether in communications, product or systems design could help change the world.
We feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to run this event and engage in such a dynamic way with the community of passionate designers, students and academics who strive to change to world through their work and activism. None of it would have been possible with the ongoing support of the Post-Grad Community and of the CCW PhD Initiative fund.
We are ever grateful for the help in setting up the event that the Centre for Circular Design has provided as well as hosting the event as part of the public facing programme. Extra thanks also go to the PostGrad Community team for helping in many ways with the running of the CDL Post-Grad Interest Group and the three previous editions of the symposium.
Related Links
Post-Grad Interest Groups
UAL’s Post-Grad Community supports a growing number of issue-specific, cross-disciplinary interest groups led by postgraduate students and academics.
These groups connect creatives with shared research/practice interests across different specialisms and subject areas.
PhD students have launched interest groups in the past to coincide with exhibitions and symposiums that they have organised under the same theme. Students have also used Interest Groups as a working group towards research or a standalone event or series.