My presentation at the clOthing workshop sponsored by WRAP at the Royal College of Art, London, 01/03/2016

1. micro.local.social.circular
service ecosystems for the
sustainable future of textile
artisans’ communities
Francesco Mazzarella, PhD researcher
supervisors: Dr MC Escobar-Tello, Dr VA Mitchell
@FraMazzarella #clOthing sustainRCA 01/03/16

2. 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
research problem

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

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

5. scope
material
by hands
machinery
digital tools
bottom-up
skills, quality
human control
material culture
local, natural
discarded fibres
textiles & fashion
artisan
community
local business
small batches
flexible
local market
tool making
focus

6. our artisans’ community
can contribute to local
sustainable development
to explore how service design
can contribute to encourage
textile artisans’ communities
towards a sustainable future
aim

7. sustainability
challenges

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

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

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

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

12. holistic
sustainability

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

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

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

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

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

18. research
methodology

19. participatory action research
2A
act
sustainable
future trends for TAC
reflect
barriers,
enablers,
sustainable
manifesto
plan
map TAC &
future trends
plan
sampling strategy,
study protocol,
pilot
reflect
impact
of service design
model
2Cto develop
theoretical
framework for
sustainable
future for
TAC
conclusions
& discussion
to develop
flexible service design
model of co-designing
collaborative services
for sustainable TAC
to empower
TAC
to co-design
a collaborative
serviceto scale up
innovations
within enabling
ecosystem
1B
1C
1A main studies
evaluation
scoping
study
2B act
sustainable
future trends for TAC
TAC:
textile artisans’ communities

20. discover
define
develop
deliver
focus group
interviews
shadowing
contextual
interviews
brainstorming
participatory
design
workshop
stakeholders map
ecosystem canvas
servive blueprint
user centred, relational, systemic process of co-creation of
tangible and intangible values to encourage holistic sustainability
service design
process

21. challenging sustainable futuresdiscover
focus group
interviews
shadowing
experts’ focus group shadowing
semi-structured interviews

22. redistributed
manufacturing
circular
economy
flexible
production
alternative
economies

23. slow
consumption
advanced
artisanship
designer
entrepreneur
enabling
ecosystems

24. theoretical framework
a sustainable manifesto
for textile artisans’ communities
Shift the focus from aesthetics to ethics, from style to quality meanings;
Ethical labour and rights must be set: less bad is not good;
Textile artisanship stands as a slow reaction to fast fashion;
Textiles are interconnected to their wholeness: materials, processes,
people, places;
Being vs. having, learning from nature and acknowledging the unpredictable;
Manage connectivity within local communities, as collective wisdom and
social act of collaboration;
Design as political agent, embracing diversity as resource, weaving
synergies among different assets;
Scale up open initiatives within peer-to-peer networks at a glocal scale;
Understand the root system and trigger holistic and systemic change,
from micro to macro scales;
Build an enabling ecosystem: complex, adaptive infrastructure supported
by polycentric governance.
barriers enablers
Dominance of financial structures based
on profits;
Lack of time & efforts to develop
alternative models;
Lack of skills;
Export of machinery and outsource of
production;
Lack of interest for young people in craft
production;
Endangered craft heritage;
Consumers’ misperception of quality;
Over-consumption;
Lack of information on textiles, artisans
and sustainability challenges;
Lack of sustainability uptake;
Lack of training in strategies/management/
entrepreneurship in design curricula.
Change of mindset (systemic thinking);
Interconnected
design-artisanship-academia
-policy-consumers;
Cultural empathy with artisans;
Metatools, flexible, collaborative, reflective;
Storytelling to elicit and convey engaging
meanings;
Empowerment models: access to
information, awareness, ability,
independency;
Development of sustainable business
models;
Technological advancements.

25. PAR strategy
participatory
action
research
to develop a flexible
service design model
of co-designing
collaborative services,
encouraging textile
artisans’ communities
towards a sustainable future
new york
cape town
nottingham
to empower
a heritage artisans’ community
to scale up
a cutting-edge artisans’ ecosystem
to co-design
with contemporary artisans

26. storytelling with
nottingham lace artisans
G.H.Hurt & Son Ltd
shawls
knitting lace
lace fabrics
leavers lace
jewellery
embroidered lace
JC Middlebrook
Cluny Lace Co Ltd
define
contextual
interviews
brainstorming

27. storytelling photo-diaries
what does ‘being a nottingham lace artisan’ mean for you today ?
https://goo.gl/Z25Xpn https://goo.gl/aCH6v0 https://goo.gl/LMZQLI

28. swot analysis of ideas
what may a sustainable future look like for your lace-making business ?

29. finding people
skilled to teach
and learn how
to handle and
update our
machinery
for me
a sustainable future means...
developing
our business
for modern
times while
keeping our
tradition and
quality
being economically
self-sustainable
while running
my own business
full time

30. barriers enablers
lack of skilled workers
young people disinterested
in working in factories
high human control involved
onerous bespoke production
lack of knowledge and availability
of sustainable raw materials
difficulty for upcycled products
to meet consumers’ tastes
lack of skills and time for marketing
overseas competition
shortage of knowledge about users
low sales due to product longevity
long time needed for experimentation
difficulty in marketing hybrid products
lack of consumers’ understanding
of the whole artisanal process
difficult cross collaborations
effort and time for networking
decreasing top-down support
skills transfer
sharing of knowledge and resources
technological advancements
increased customers’ interest
in natural raw materials
waste minimisation within small production
closed loop of resources
(e.g. waste collection, mending, upcycling...)
traceable and transparent supply chain
collective trade shows
improved (digital) communication
shift from craft to high-end fashion market
communication of stories behind products
close consumer relationship & feedback
heritage & contemporary aesthetic
collaborations with other craft media
openness to understand the other
post-sale services (e.g. alterations)
more active and supportive organisations
peer-to-peer support

31. organisatio
ns
design
ers
consumers
participatory design workshopdevelop
deliver
participatory
design
workshop
stakeholders map
service blueprint
manifesto

32. enable lace making businesses
to be viable in nottingham
peer consumers
peer producers
partners
onlineoffline
collaborativeindividual
co-designer
in residence
shared values:
trust
co-creation
quality
modernity
awareness
provenance
sustainability
pride

33. textile artisans’ communities
can contribute to a sustainable
development
rescue cultural heritage provide social engagement
encourage economic development enhance environmental stewardship

34. questions ?
f.mazzarella@lboro.ac.uk
Francesco Mazzarella
@FraMazzarella