Introduction by Martine Postma and Martin Charter

Martine Postma (Repair Café International) and Martin Charter (Centre for Sustainable Design, UK) opened the webinar. Martine talked about developments that Repair Café International has noticed, such as growing interest in repair from public authorities and more projects to promote repair and reuse of products.

Repair Café International sees opportunities for repair activities in places such as shopping centres.

First hour on textile repair

The first hour focused on textile repair, with presentations by Sandy Black (Centre for Sustainable Fashion, UK), Suzie Fromer (Repair Café Hudson Valley, US) and Beth Quinton (University for the Creative Arts, UK).

Suzie Fromer talked about textile repair in the 67 Repair Cafés in the Hudson Valley in New York State, USA.

Second hour on research

The second hour was devoted to research on and around Repair Cafés. Martine Postma gave a short introduction. This was followed by presentations by Peter Counter (University for the Creative Arts, UK) and two groups of students from Dutch educational institutions: students from Leiden University talked about their research into involving more expats in Repair Cafés. Game technology students from Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen talked about the Repair Café game they developed as their graduation project.

Students from Leiden University talked about their research into involving expats in Repair Cafés.

More information

• Watch the webinar on YouTube
• Read more about the programme on the website of the Centre for Sustainable Design

Het bericht Looking back on 5th international Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

The three hour online event was organised by Repair Café International in the Netherlands and the Centre for Sustainable Design at the University for the Creative Arts in the UK. It was recorded in its entirety and can be watched back on YouTube. Please note that during the webinar something went wrong with a video by MEP Anna Cavazzini; this can be watched back separately, see below. In the following article you can read which topic was discussed in which hour.

Introduction by Martine Postma and Martin Charter

In the first hour, Martine Postma of Repair Café International highlighted several developments in society which indicate that repairing is becoming more important across the globe. She mentioned, for example, the continuous growth of the number of Repair Cafés worldwide, as well as the increasing interest for repair activities within education and the growing focus on reparability in product design studies. Martin Charter of the Centre for Sustainable Design talked about a variety of measures that are currently being taken in Europe to promote repair. He also shared ideas for circular design of products.

MEP explains what’s happening in the EU around the right to repair

After that, there was a section on right to repair developments. Anna Cavazzini, a member of the European Parliament who has been working on right to repair legislation for several years, had recorded a video to explain what’s happening in the EU in that area. She said she hopes that the European right to repair will be enshrined in a law before next summer. Watch this video here.

After Anna Cavazzini’s video, Martin Charter commented on the issue from a UK point of view. Marit Quist-Corbett of Repair Café Ottawa talked about right to repair developments in Canada. There, an existing law is being amended to provide for the right to repair electronics, household appliances, and farm equipment.

How to assess the skills of new repairers

The second hour was focused on skills assessment, more specifically on the question how to assess the skills of new repairers when they join the Repair Café. Günter Neubert of Repair Café Überlingen in Germany, talked not only about repair skills that volunteers should have, but also about personal skills, like friendliness and politeness.

Repair Café Überlingen, Germany, focuses not only on repair skills, but also on personal skills

Sébastien Petit of Repair Café Sophia Antipolis in France said that his Repair Café does not follow a specific procedure to assess the skills of new repairers. However, by teaming new volunteers with existing experienced repairers, they are always capable of finding out what a new repairer can and cannot do.

Repair Café Saint-Egrève, also in France, follows a stricter procedure. This Repair Café has written an extensive charter with rules and guidelines for new volunteers. Founder Nicolas Sadoine could not join the webinar in person, but he sent his views on the subject, including the actual charter, to Repair Café International by email. Download this charter here.

John Pearce, of Farnham Repair Café in the UK, took the audience through the recruitment process of his Repair Café, from finding volunteers to ‘on boarding’ them and monitoring their progress.

Recruiting younger repairers

In the third hour, three Repair Cafés shared their views on the recruitment of younger repairers, that is: people under 40. For many Repair Cafés this is a challenge, but not for Repair Café Kyiv, Ukraine. Volodymyr Babii and Olha Ivanchenko explained that they have their Repair Café in a hackerspace which attracts mainly people in their twenties and thirties.

Armin Geluk from Utrecht, the Netherlands, told a similar story: his Repair Café is located on the campus of Utrecht University and works with university employees and students. This makes the Repair Café more attractive for younger people.

Don Fick, of Repair Café North Carolina in the city of Cary, US, stressed the importance of understanding the motives of under 40 volunteers and shared a number of do’s and don’ts when trying to recruit such people. He stressed the importance of meeting them where they are (“less on Facebook, more on Instagram and Reddit”) and providing repair solutions for the kind of things that they use.

Het bericht Lively discussions at 3rd international Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Then join the third international Repair Café webinar on January 26 (from 4 to 7 PM CET), organised by Repair Café International in the Netherlands and the Centre for Sustainable Design at UCA in the UK.

Speakers from various countries

During this three hour online event speakers from Repair Cafés in various countries will share their views. In addition, Anna Cavazzini, member of the European Parliament, will talk about the status of the European right to repair, which will hopefully be enshrined in a law before next summer.

Martine Postma of Repair Café International will update participants on the importance of data collection, as well as the 15-year anniversary of Repair Café in 2024. All Repair Cafés around the world can participate in this celebration.

Martin Charter of the Centre for Sustainable Design will talk about Repair Café repairers’ ideas for circular design of products.

Read more and sign up

The webinar will be conducted in English. More information about the programme is available on the website of The Centre for Sustainable Design. There you can also register.

Het bericht Friday, January 26: international Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Repair Cafe volunteers updated on the right to repair

In the first hour, the conversation was about the right to repair. Ada Preziosi, a lawyer at the European Commission in Brussels, updated volunteers on European plans in this area. Those plans can count on criticism from within the Repair Cafe network (read, among other things, the reaction of Repair Cafe International when the plans were presented in March 2023). Tenor of the reactions was that the plans take too much into account the wishes of product manufacturers and focus too little on the rights of consumers and the need to create less waste.

Engaging young people: first step is to get them in the door

The second hour focused on engaging younger generations. Three Repair Cafes – from the Netherlands, the UK and the US – used inspiring presentations to tell how they approach this. A common thread in them was the advice to ensure an open atmosphere where young people feel welcome. “Once they are inside, the event is the teacher. They move through the event and start to unfold. That’s the magic of Repair Cafe”, said Kathy Galione of Rockland Repair Cafe in the US state of New York. “But first you have to get them in the door.” Kathy and the other speakers gave plenty of tips on how to achieve that.

Organising and growing your initiative

The last hour was dedicated to the question: how do you make sure your Repair Cafe develops successfully over the years? Also in this hour, there were three presentations, from a Dutch Repair Cafe that has been around for more than a decade, a French Repair Cafe that started a few years ago, and a Repair Cafe in the United States that just had its first meeting.

Throughout the webinar, all sorts of questions, tips and experiences were exchanged in the chat. Martin Charter of the Centre for Sustainable Design and Martine Postma of Repair Cafe International were happy with the lively discussions and good atmosphere. They will look into the possibility of organising international Repair Cafe webinars more often.

More information

• Watch the event back on YouTube;
• The full programme, including the names of all speakers and their presentations, can be found on the Centre for Sustainable Design website.

Het bericht International Repair Cafe webinar well-attended verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.