Presentation slides for the full paper, "Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza", presented at the 2021 International Conference on Resource Sustainability between 19th and 23rd of July, 2021 at the University College Dublin, Ireland (virtual).

1. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up
upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
2021 International Conference on Resource Sustainability
19-23 July 2021 / University College Dublin, Ireland (virtual)

2. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Material efficiency and upcycling
 UN SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production: “doing more and
better with less” (UN 2019)
 Material efficiency: providing material services with less material production
and processing (Allwood et al. 2011)
 Four strategies for increasing material efficiency: longer-lasting products,
modular design, component reuse for remanufacturing, and products
designed with less materials (Allwood et al. 2011)
 Upcycling: creation/modification of a product from used/waste materials,
components and products for a higher quality/value product than
compositional elements (McDonough & Braungart 2013; Sung 2017)
 Upcycling incorporating multiple strategies for increasing material efficiency:
product lifetime extension, component reuse & waste utilisation

3. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Upcycling and scaling-up
 Amalgamation of a variety of ‘creative’ forms of repair, reuse, repurpose,
refurbishment, upgrade, remanufacture, recycling, etc.
 Part of the circular economy – the alternative to the linear economy of take-
make-use-and-dispose which is restorative and regenerative by intention
and design (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2016; Stahel 2016)
 Benefits not limited to reducing environmental impacts: financially
sustainable businesses, creating new jobs, sociocultural and psychological
benefits (Cumming 2017; Han et al. 2016; Sung et al. 2014)
 Growth of practitioners and businesses (Merriman 2019; Tesler 2019)
 Largely niche activity requiring scaling-up (de Haan & Rotmans 2011)
 Interventions for scaling up: community events, TV and inspirational media,
upcycling centre/plaza, financial incentives, etc. (Sung et al. 2019)

4. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Methods
Two case studies (Yin 2013) between July 2018 and January 2019
Case study one: A community event in Leicester, UK
 One-day family art and craft co-creation workshop “Art with Upcycling” in
November 2018 at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester, UK
 A paper-based questionnaire (n=47) asking about impact on awareness,
attitudes, inspiration, confidence, and intention
 Descriptive statistics and correlational analysis using SPSS
Case study two: An upcycling plaza in Seoul, South Korea
 Seoul Upcycling Plaza, the world’s largest upcycling cultural complex space
in Seoul, South Korea (Seoul Design Foundation 2019)
 Observation in July 2018 and email interviews (n=5) between August 2018
and January 2019 on the extent of success and required improvement

5. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
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6. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
A community event in Leicester, UK
 Residents in East Midlands (93%); majority females (70%); 0-15 years (30%),
35-44 years (28%), 45-54 years (15%), and 25-34 years (13%)
 The event increased the participants’ awareness of upcycling (M=3.41)
 Throughout the event, the participants thought that upcycling was pleasant,
good, worthwhile, beneficial and enjoyable (M=4.40~4.56)
 The event inspired the participants to upcycle in the future (M=3.64)
 The event gave them confidence to upcycle in the future (M=3.64)
 It is probably or very probable that the participants will try upcycling at home
in the future (M=3.66)
 Perception of increased awareness and attitudes correlated with the
perceived gain of inspiration and confidence; and perceived gain of
inspiration and confidence correlated with intention to upcycle in the future

7. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
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8. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
An upcycling plaza in Seoul, South Korea
 One manager, two upcycling entrepreneurs, one upcycling artist and one
visitor
 The most successful programmes: material library (“informative, educational
space with sufficient interesting resources”) and upcycling gallery (“good
exhibition space where upcycling-based artists and small companies could
communicate and showcase their art pieces and products to citizens”)
 Other successful programmes: upcycling stores (“showcase and sell
upcycled products well”), upcycling academy (“the room, environment, and
facilities are great”, “families with children and groups of varied people have
been participating”), and upcycling studios (“promote the concept and
practice of upcycling and raise awareness”, “upcycling artists and small
businesses in the studios are passionate about what they do”)

9. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
An upcycling plaza in Seoul, South Korea
 The most important action for improvement: making meaningful partnerships
with relevant businesses (“I would like the plaza to communicate closely with
the upcycling artists and entrepreneurs in the studios more often in order to
recreate the plaza as the true citizen’s cultural complex without having to use
a large budget”)
 Other required improvement: enhancement in the current programmes (“they
need to put more effort into creating a variety of programmes for different
experiences and increasing overall citizen’s engagement and participation”,
“they need to focus more on the programmes that could make actual
changes in the society. The changes to influence people’s behaviours and
impact businesses’ performances”) and more support from the city council

10. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Discussion and conclusions
 Both upcycling community event and plaza were successful.
 Confirmed the suspected potential positive impact of these for scaling up
upcycling (Sung et al. 2017;2019)
 Both recommended for prototyping, piloting and monitoring in other cities
and countries.
 First case study not generalisable to the overall UK population or second
case study not generalisable to other cities and countries due to the limited
sample size and restricted geographical areas.
 The study extended our understanding of how a community event affects
participants’ awareness, attitudes, inspiration, confidence and intention, and
to what extent each programme in upcycling plaza has been perceived
un/successful for what reason and how the plaza could be improved.

11. Evaluating two interventions for scaling up upcycling: Community event and upcycling plaza
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Thank you 
Dr Kyungeun Sung
Lecturer in Product Design
School of Art, Design and Architecture
Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities
De Montfort University
Gateway House, Leicester, UK
Email: Kyungeun.sung@dmu.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)116 207 8498
Website: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/academic-staff/art-design-
humanities/kyungeun-sung/kyungeun-sung.aspx