The two hour webinar is in English, from 4 to 6 PM CEST (3 to 5 PM BST). It is organised by Repair Café International in Amsterdam and the Centre for Sustainable Design in Farnham, UK.

Clothing repair central topic in first hour, research in second hour

The first hour will focus on clothing repair. Why is that necessary and what is already happening in this field in Repair Cafés?

The second hour is about research. The Centre for Sustainable Design has been researching Repair Cafés for years: how are they doing, how are they organised and how can they increase their impact? Students from Leiden University will talk about their research to involve expats in Repair Cafés. Students from Hanze University Groningen will present their graduation project: they are developing a Repair Café game for their studies Creative Media and Game Technologies.

Martine Postma of Repair Café International and Martin Charter of the Centre for Sustainable Design will give opening speeches.

Read more and sign up

More information about the programme is available on the website of The Centre for Sustainable Design. You can also register there.

Het bericht Friday, April 25: 5th international Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Introduction by Martine Postma and Martin Charter

Hosts Martine Postma (Repair Café International Foundation, Netherlands) and Martin Charter (Centre for Sustainable Design, UK) opened the session by outlining several developments. Martine, for instance, signalled that the right to repair directive which the EU adopted earlier this year, is already beginning to change the minds of product manufacturers. “They are beginning to really think about repairability of their products, and several of them have contacted us to identify ways to collaborate”, Martine said.

Martin Charter shared key learnings from a recent Repair Café conference that he organised in the UK. He noted, for instance, that several Repair Cafés are experimenting with online booking versus pure drop in for their events. He also said that Repair Cafés are wondering how they can measure the social value of their activities.

Repair Café perspectives from Australia and New Zealand

After these introductions, the focus shifted to Repair Café developments in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Leanne Wiseman, of the Australian Repair Network, talked about the diversity of repair activities in her country. “Our Repair Cafés take many different forms and play many different roles”, she said. Leanne also stressed the importance of repair data collection to show the impact of Repair Cafés to the local, state and federal governments in Australia.

Brigitte Sistig talked about the development of the Repair Network Aotearoa New Zealand, starting in 2020. She explained how repair appeared to be very likeable and how people are so passionate about it that there are now over 75 Repair Cafés in the country.

Data collection at Repair Cafés: how to do this and why is it important?  

Subsequently, the webinar focused on data collection at repair events. Martine Postma explained how the RepairMonitor works, the online tool which Repair Café International developed for this goal. Participants from the Netherlands, Germany and the UK shared their experience using the monitor.

The broader perspective: combining datasets for campaigning activities

Ugo Vallauri of the Open Repair Alliance shared how the RepairMonitor dataset and other similar datasets are being combined into one large dataset which is used in campaigning activities for the right to repair. He also explained that the combined dataset is being downloaded and used by policy makers, companies, journalists and many more people and parties.

Finally, Peter Mui of Fixit Clinics – another community repair initiative – provided repair perspectives from the United States. He said that close to a quarter of the American population is now covered under some sort of right to repair legislation. And that in the last couple of years also at a federal level the idea has developed that repair is critical to a resilient economy. Fixit Clinics also share data with the Open Repair Alliance.

More information

• View the entire webinar on YouTube
• read more about the programma on the website of The Centre for Sustainable Design

Het bericht Volunteers from 25 countries join 4th international Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Then join the fourth international Repair Café webinar on Friday, July 12 (from 4 to 6 PM CEST), organised by Repair Café International in Amsterdam and the Centre for Sustainable Design in Farnham, UK.

Speakers from Europe, the US, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

During this two-hour online event, we will cover various topics. For example, we will hear more about the Repair Café movement in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. We will also focus on data collection at Repair Cafés: why is this important, and how are the data being used? Speakers from several countries will share their views.

Martine Postma of Repair Café International will, among other things, update participants on Repair Café’s 15th anniversary in October. She will also show a selection of the anniversary bunting flags that Repair Cafés from around the world have already sent to Amsterdam.

Martin Charter will talk about Repair Café research at the Centre for Sustainable Design.

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, July 12: 4th international Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Then join the international Repair Café webinar on July 7 (from 4 to 7 PM CEST), organised by
The Centre for Sustainable Design at UCA in the UK and Repair Café International Foundation in the Netherlands.

During this three hour online event speakers from Repair Cafés in various countries will share their views. Also, a legal officer of the European Commission will talk about the implications of the proposed repair directive for Repair Cafés. All participants can join in the discussion.

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, July 7: international Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Het bericht June 30: European Repair Café webinar verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.