This involved a workshop on the WEAR Sustain EU funded project and its toolkit Sustainability Toolkit

1. The Power of Arts and Technology Collaboration
Thursday 14th December, 2017
With Luis Miguel Girao,
and Lucas Evers

2. ABOUT
WEAR sustain is a new 3m Euro project, funded by the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation initiative.
Runs from January 2017 to December 2018.
Aims to engage wearable technology stakeholders to work more closely with
designers and artists across Europe, to shift the development of the EU wearables
and e-textiles industries towards a more sustainable and ethical approach.
Over next two years the program will bring together the rich European landscape
of wearable technology and smart textile stakeholders toward addressing core
ethical and sustainability issues head on at the research & development stages.

3. The European Commission
has launched a STARTS
initiative to promote
inclusion of artists in
innovation projects
funded in H2020.
starts.eu

4. ABOUT
The project is managed by a consortium
of 7 organisations across 5 EU countries:
IMEC (Brussels, Belgium)
University for the Creative Arts (Epsom, UK)
Queen Mary University of London (UK)
Berlin University of the Arts (Berlin, Germany)
Blumine Srl (Milan, Italy)
Digital Spaces Living Lab (Sofia, Bulgaria)
We Connect Data (Brussels, Belgium)

5. OBJECTIVES
WEAR will:
• Develop a sustainable European network of stakeholders and hubs, to connect
and push the boundaries in the design and development of ethical wearables,
electronics and smart textiles (wearable technologies);
• Encourage cross-border and cross-sector collaboration between creative people
and technology developers to design and develop wearables;
• Develop a framework within which future prototypes can be made that will
become the next generation of what ethical and aesthetic wearables could/should be;
• Lead the emergence of innovative approaches to design, production,
manufacturing and business models for wearable technologies;
• Make citizens, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders more aware of the ethical
and aesthetic issues in making and use of wearable technologies.

6. ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY CONCERNS
WEAR sustain critical concerns towards data ethics and sustainability include:
The amount of data that wearable technologies capture, in particular their users’ personal data,
raising ethical issues regarding privacy, ownership, control and processing of this data by the
wearables manufacturers and service providers.
The combined negative environmental, economic and sustainable impact of the of electronic,
textiles and fashion industries on society. Ethical issues include poor labour practices and
conditions within manufacturing, mineral sourcing and the supply chain.

7. SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION
Art & Tech Collaboration
|
Open Calls
(Cross Border:Cross Sector)
|
€2.4m Funding:
|
48 Innovation Awards
€50k each
|
Prep for market
4 KEY PROJECT ELEMENTS

8. KNOWLEDGE
EXCHANGE
Networking &
Events
|
Symposia
|
Local Meet-ups
|
Digital Platform
4 KEY PROJECT ELEMENTS

9. WEAR ECOSYSTEM
Be part of the next
generation of wearables
|
40+ Network of Hubs
& Advocacy Centres
|
Aesthetic
Ethical Support
4 KEY PROJECT ELEMENTS
The WEAR Sustain Network
is an online ecosystem,
designed to facilitate cross-
border and interdisciplinary
collaboration, enabling
wearable technology and
smart textile artists,
designers, innovators and
other industry actors across
Europe to connect, source
and share information.
https://network.wearsustain
.eu/

10. ETHICS &
SUSTAINABILITY
Personal
(Data)
|
Environmental
|
Material
|
Critical
(e.g. labour practices,
supply chain, commerce etc.)
4 KEY PROJECT ELEMENTS

11. ETHICS &
SUSTAINABILITY
Personal
(Data)
|
Environmental
|
Material
|
Critical
SUSTAINABLE
INNOVATION
Art/Tech Collaboration
|
Open Calls
(Cross Border/
Cross Sector)
|
£2.4m Awards:
|
48 Innovations to market
|
Best Practice Methods
WEARABLES
ECOSYSTEM
Be part of the next
generation of
wearables
|
40+ Network of Hubs
& Advocacy Centres
|
Aesthetic
Ethical
Support
SUSTAINABILITY
STRATEGY
& TOOLKIT
Sustainable & Disruptive Innovations
>> Next Generation Wearables
|
Wearables Ecosystem
|
New Knowledge
|
Ethics & Sustainability Guidelines
KNOWLEDGE
EXCHANGE
Events
|
Symposia
|
Local Meet-ups
|
Digital Platform
4 KEY PROJECT ELEMENTS

12. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT & CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
We consume our earth’s natural resources to create and make, have an impact on our environment and upon those who
have played a part in producing and supplying the raw materials that we use each and every day.
Artists, designers, creatives and makers have a measurable ecological footprint like any other sector and can reduce that
footprint through the choices made in their work.
For disciplines that require the transformation of materials into artefacts, jewellery, ceramics and product design, as well as
architecture and interiors the connection to the earth’s natural resources is relatively clear.
Artists and creatives are communicators and can highlight environmental, social and economic themes in our work. They
will always be at the center of culture and culture informs the way that society relates to our environment and treats
people. As artists, designers, creators and makers we can play an important role in informing and inspiring others to see the
world differently and act more sustainably.
Product Lifecycles
Last year 1.6 billion mobile phones were manufactured with average replacement of old for new models by consumers of
just 18 months. We all use mobile phones, they have become an almost indispensable part of our lives but their ubiquity
and the rate of innovation and development have led to significant environmental and social impacts.
By Professor Martin Charter and Scott Keiller, Director and Co-ordinator – Sustainable Innovation, The Centre for Sustainable
Design ®, UCA

13. OPEN CALL 2
[15 November 2017 – 15 January 2018]
26 Awards available
Scope: wearables and e-textiles worn on the body that may/or not collect
body data and/or data about the environment, addressing ethics &
sustainability issues within the product lifecycle.

14. Funding competition for
Interdisciplinary teams of
Artists/Designers working with
Technologists and Engineers
OPEN CALL 2

15. Co-applications from teams in Europe must include:
• At least one collaborator from the art or design
sectors,
• At least one collaborator from the technology/ICT
or engineering sectors.
• A team may consist of more than one co-applicant
from each sector.
Submitted proposals are only considered as eligible if
the proposing individual(s) have (or must be be
prepared to set up) a legal entity.
All applicants must be a citizen or resident of one of the
28 countries in the European Union and associated
non-EU countries.
OPEN CALL 2

16. Themes
WEAR seeks proposals that address vital current and
pressing issues facing European and global society.
Applicants must engage with one or more of 6 themes in a
critical and creative way, proposing solutions to these issues.
For Open Call 2, these themes are:
• Use, reuse or Waste
• Batteries & energy sources / generation
• Sourcing and life-cycle
• Data collection & Privacy
• Social / Workplace
• Body / Physiology / Somatics
• Open Category
Irrespective of the chosen theme(s), both major concerns
(ethics and sustainability) should be addressed in the
proposal.
OPEN CALL 2

17. OPEN CALL 2

18. Selected projects receive up to €50K
• €25K at start (including innovation vouchers)
• €15K after mid-term evaluation (November)
• €10K after final evaluation (January)
In other words:
A maximum of €50,000 in two forms
• A fee (between €35,000 and €40,000) to be spent
for prototype development and team’s salaries
• Innovation vouchers (between €10,000 and
€15,000) aimed at support
OPEN CALL 2

19. The WEAR Sustain Network is an online ecosystem, designed to facilitate
cross-border and interdisciplinary collaboration, enabling wearable
technology and smart textile artists, designers, innovators and other
industry actors across Europe to connect, source and share information.
MENTORING & SUPPORT CATEGORIES

20. Experts working with the teams.
MENTORS
Mentors are responsible to advise and practically support the selected
teams over the time of their project in their field of expertise.

21. Local ambassador centres.
HUBS
Hubs are local ambassador centres and form the
crucial structure and the backbone of the WEAR
ecosystem in Europe, during the WEAR project
duration and beyond. Hubs come in all different
shapes and sizes, and can be described in many
different ways –(fab) labs, design centres, maker
spaces, universities, incubators, accelerators, etc.

22. WEAR’s Sustainability Strategy is a toolkit aimed at future art/
design & technology teams involved in the wearable technology,
electronic and smart textiles community, the European
Commission, the tech industry, and other stakeholders.
SUSTAINABILITY
TOOLKIT & STRATEGY

23. PROJECTS
22 FUNDED IN OPEN CALL 1
Details on each project can be found in the WEAR
Sustain Network:
https://network.wearsustain.eu

24. Increasing
productivity
and decreasing
stress.
BRAWAS
A smart headphone with a mood-based music recommender.

25. Revolutionising the way
citizens protect themselves
from air pollution.
AIRLIEF
An environmentally friendly mask that provides air purification
in a socially acceptable manner.

26. Raising body awareness
for riders.
RIDEQ
A wearable horseback riding instructor
with interactive real time feedback.

27. A smart and eco-friendly
breathing assistant.
BREATH!
A wearable and smart garments collection, to aid people with
proper breathing during Yoga practice and everyday life.

28. Maximising the circular aspects
of production and recycling.
BRIA
Capsule collection of cellulose-based garments which can be
dissolved in chemical solutions and then recycled into new fibres.

29. Reusing of electronic components
as part of the service model.
CLOSED LOOP
Collection focused on afterlife of electronic garments, potential
recyclability and its business services behind this.

30. Multisensory stimulation
and rehabilitation through
textile pattern making.
CONSTRUCTING
CONNECTIVITY
An engaging, creative, and interactive rehabilitation platform for patients
suffering from stroke and its related physical and mental debilitations.

31. Treating stress
naturally.
IBREVE
A digital health solution to help people to cope with stress in real
time, by detecting prolonged phases of shallow breathing.

32. A fashionable wearable
vision device.
THE EYE
A camera connected wirelessly to the smartphone for blind
and visually impaired people.

33. Ethically manufactured
musical gloves to set standards
in the field.
MI.MU
Mi.mu Gloves are wireless, sensor-enabled gloves for creating
and performing music through movement and gesture.

34. A toolset for monitoring, enhancing and sharing
meditation experiences.
Wearable tools for awareness
with artistic output.
MEDITATION LAB
EXPERIMENTER KIT

35. A fully biodegradable textile.
MYCOTEX
Integrating technology in a fully biodegradable textile, which allows
composting the material after using and collecting the remaining
electronics for recycling.

36. Providing a context for rich
and meaningful experiences
for deaf women.
QUIETUDE
Jewellery and accessories that enhance the
experience of deaf women in a sound-oriented world.

37. Shifting from the notion
of 'cure' to the notion of 'care’.
SENSEWEAR
A collection of garments as sensory therapies to help people
with sensory sensitivity (autism etc.) enjoy life.

38. Changing the process of how
shoes are designed, produced,
consumed, and recycled.
SOLEMAKER
A platform for creating personalised shoes, and at the end of life,
the shoe is sent back for the materials and sensor to be recycled
up to twenty times.

39. A flexible textile made of squares of post-consumer textile
waste, which can move and respond to each other, creating
an expanding & contracting surface. When connected to the
internet, the are robotic textiles part of the internet of things.
A recycled shape changing
textile for robotics.
TEXTILE REFLEXES

40. Using a smart belt in a location-based alternate reality game
to raise awareness about data collection and personal privacy,
as well as the human impact on the environment.
Raising awareness about
human impact on the environment.
THE ANTHROPOCENE
PROJECT

41. A PLA smart
shirt.
WEARFLEX
A smart shirt made from fully recyclable material with a flexible
screen that shows smartphone notifications.

42. Improving intimate sensations
and body-awareness.
WISP
A wearable that collects a woman’s bio-data to help her
understand more about herself and to explore the erogenous
zones on her body and thus improving their intimate
sensations.

43. Comfortable, functional,
fashionable solutions
to support rehabilitation training.
ZISHI PROJECT
A smart garment for shoulder pain prevention and
rehabilitation that supports shoulder motor control and trunk
posture training by monitoring compensatory movements and
synchronously providing feedback.

44. THANKYOU!
Communication &
Dissemination Team:
Camille Baker: Reader, School of
Communication Design, Epsom
University for the Creative Arts
CBaker10@uca.ac.uk
Rachel Lasebikan: Senior Research
& Innovation Manager
Queen Mary University London
r.lasebikan@qmul.ac.uk
info@wearsustain.eu
@WEARsustain
www.wearsustain.eu