The global economic and environmental crisis seems to be leading to the end of a ‘linear economy’ based on consumption and waste, while setting the ground for redistributed micro-productions, inspired by new ethics of sustainability and cutting-edge economic models. With this in mind, this paper is focused on exploring textile artisans’ communities, bottom-up and human-centred aggregations embodying the craft atmosphere of a territory due to physical proximity and shared material cultural background. Such communities are engaged in giving form and meaning to local natural fibres and managing the process of making culturally and socially significant apparel. Literature on textile artisanship has shown the potential for the application of service design to empower collaborative communities and co-design relational services triggering holistic sustainability. Through participatory action research, this project intends to fill a gap within the strategic agenda, which could create sustainable interconnections within the patchy artisan landscape. Therefore, this paper explores possible ways in which service design could strategically contribute to encourage textile artisans’ communities towards a sustainable future.

1. SERVICE ECOSYSTEM:
empowering textile
artisans’communities
towards a sustainable
future
Loughborough Design School | AHRC Design Star
supervisors: Dr MC Escobar-Tello, Dr VA Mitchell Nordes ‘15
Francesco Mazzarella, PhD researcher

2. index
research background
anthropocentrism & beyond
sustainability challenges
towards holistic sustainability
service design
conclusions

3. research background
the global crisis is leading to the
end of a linear economy, while
setting the ground for redistributed
microproductions, based on new
ethics of sustainability

4. the craft discourse is mainly
based on individual making
practices, overlooking their
human and social dimension

5. it is missing a strategic
agenda, which could create
sustainable interconnections
within this pacthy landscape

6. the aim is to explore how service
design can strategically drive
textile artisans’ communities
towards a sustainable future

7. TEXTILE
ARTISANSHIP

8. textile artisanship is the human-
centred economic activity of giving
form and meaning to local fibres,
by hands or directly controlling
mechanised and digital tools,
and managing the apparel making

9. anthropocentrism
material
by hands
machinery
digital tools
quality
skilled control
personal identity
material culture
local fibres:
vegetable
animal
discarded
artisan
community
small scale
localised
diversified
flexible
tool making

10. textiles
utilitarian
culturally meaningful
aesthetic
large availability of fibres
great employment
wide applications
rising consumer trends
why?

11. textile artisans’ communities
are bottom-up aggregations,
embodying the craft atmosphere
of a territory, due to physical
proximity and shared material
cultural background
& beyond

12. SUSTAINABILITY
CHALLENGES

13. delocalisation of manufacturing
dwindling of natural fibres
water and carbon footprints
increasing purchase of clothes

14. fast fashion
(quick, high quantity, low quality and price)
=
fast landfill
(producers, heritage, environment are no taken into account)

15. artisans are living a precarious
condition, experiencing a
generational divide and
threatening of traditional crafts

16. due to ineffective top-down
policies, some artisans are
joining an informal economy,
and are even more endangered
in the developing world

17. HOLISTIC
SUSTAINABILITY

18. designers can potentially
reduce environmental impacts
by 80%, through...
synergies designers & artisans
long-term visions
hard & soft design decisions

19. textile artisans’ communities
can contribute to sustainable
development as they...
preserve cultural heritage provide social engagement
boost creative economy enhanceresourcestewardship

20. environmental sustainability
local natural fibres
no chemical dyestuff
dematerialisation
design for disassembly
design for disposal
rich environmental info
traceability & transparency
cradle2cradle

21. economic sustainability
micro-economies
sustainable business models
target market niches
relocalise production
glocal markets (tourism)

22. social sustainability
happiness & wellbeing
profitability & social capital
entrepreneurship
grassroots innovation
enabling ecosystem
sharing (time, space, relations)

23. cultural sustainability
cultural heritage & diversity
environmental education
collaborative consumption
(services for mending, sharing, leasing, collecting, reselling, upcycling)

24. SERVICE
DESIGN

25. macro-transformations
micro-transformations
(good design of sustainable products/processes/services
addressing people’s needs within local systems)

26. service design can facilitate
this holistic process:
1. artisans’ communities
2. collaborative services
3. enabling ecosystem

27. methodology
ontology
different stakeholders
acknowledge multiple
realities
constructivism
interpretivism
participatory
action
research
epistemology
research
paradigm
interaction with
participants influences
the research
qualitative and flexible
process of in situ
data collection

28. participatory action research
reflect
set a strategic agenda
for driving TAC toward
a sustainable future
1C
preliminarystudy
plan
select TAC
to involve
in co-design
2A 2C
to co-design
collaborative
services for
sustainable
TAC
plan
map textile
artisanal
landscape
1A
plan
build
interconnections
among TAC
reflect
synthesize service
design process
into a theoretical
framework
3A 3C
evaluation
to develop
an enabling
ecosystem of
sustainable
TAC
act & observe
explore sustainable
future scenarios
for TAC
co-design
collaborative
services
act & observe
1B
act & observe
develop an
enabling ecosystem
of services
3B2B
PS: TAC: Textile Artisans’ Communities
to develop
theoretical
frameworkof
sustainable
future for
TAC
mainstudy
reflect
evaluate whereas
service design
has met the
theoretical framework

29. conclusions
an enabling ecosystem (with
autopoietic interrelations among
artisans, designers, communities,
policy makers) will boost sustainable
communities, with stronger sense
of belonging and social responsibility

30. questions ?
f.mazzarella@lboro.ac.uk
francesco.mazzarella10
Francesco Mazzarella