Anniversary documentary on global impact of Repair Café

The afternoon started with the first screening of an anniversary documentary on 15 years of Repair Café (this documentary will soon be available with subtitles in English). After the launch of this film, presenter Andrea van Pol continued the conversation with numerous guests about the topics covered in the video.

Like repairing with children. TV producer Harro van Staverden talked about the second season of the children’s series Saïd & Anna, which is all about repair and second chances. He said that over the past year, almost half a million primary school pupils have already worked with the teaching material that accompanies this series.

TV producer Harro van Staverden talked about the children’s series Saïd & Anna, which is all about repairing

Rodin Bruinsma, product architect at Versuni (the former coffee and vacuum cleaner division of Philips) was also a guest on the talk show. He told how his team incorporates the new European reparability requirements into the design of new products.

Opening of Repair Café XL by mayor Jan van Zanen

Last guest in the talk show was the mayor of The Hague, mr. Jan van Zanen. He spoke highly of both the environmental and social aspects of Repair Café and urged those present to continue for a very long time. He then opened Repair Café XL by tying the bunting flag of Repair Café The Hague to the international bunting line that Repair Café volunteers from all over the world had made for the occasion.

Together with Martine Postma, mayor Van Zanen tied the bunting flag of Repair Café The Hague to the international bunting line. On the right, presenter Andrea van Pol

The mayor had also brought a repair himself: a pair of socks with a hole in them. The textile repairers immediately set to work on it.

First repair of Repair Café XL: the socks of mayor Jan van Zanen

Between 2 and 5 pm, a lot more was repaired. Hundreds of people had reserved a time slot with one of the hundred repairers in advance. On the table were vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, clocks, irons, toasters, torches, trousers, bags and much more. Many of the repairs were successful, as usual at the Repair Café.

Member of Parliament Geert Gabriëls learns to tie a button

Member of Parliament Geert Gabriëls (GroenLinks-PvdA) visited textile repairers of Repair Café The Hague, where he learned how to put a loose button back on his shirt. He also met Repair Café volunteers from his hometown Weert.

‘A vacuum cleaner filter needs to be replaced in time.’ Repairers from Weert inform MP Geert Gabriëls (left) on important aspects of maintenance and repair

Besides repairing, there was more to do in the afternoon. At the information market, visitors could learn how a multimeter works. Repair Café volunteers from Utrecht and Amsterdam had prepared all kinds of practice materials, and students from TU Eindhoven presented their ‘giant multimeter’ project, giving a step-by-step explanation of how this device works.

Information market with (from top left clockwise) among others WD-40, iFixit, TU Eindhoven students with their ‘giant multimeter’ and Bison

Various Repair Café International partners also presented themselves at the information market: iFixit, WD-40, Bison and FixPart provided information and handed out free products. Duurzaam Den Haag and Magazine Genoeg were also at the market. At Den Haag Street Art, visitors could pimp a (repaired) object. There was a festive cake for everyone.

A photo with your repaired object

After the repair, every visitor received a small gift: a bag of citric acid, including a manual on how to use it to descale your coffee machine or kettle. People could also have their photo taken with their repaired item.

Photos: Martin Waalboer / Repair Café International

Het bericht 15 years of Repair Café exuberantly celebrated in The Hague verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

In the documentary, by video maker Johan Zwaan, Repair Café creator Martine Postma, among others, looks back on the start and development of the Repair Café movement, and the many positive results this international movement has achieved in the meantime. Martine also looks ahead: ‘In the coming years, we want to achieve structural changes in education so that more attention is paid to teaching repair skills, because only in this way can we shape a circular economy.’

Repair lessons in primary schools and higher education

The documentary highlights several initiatives that already anticipate this: from a structural Repair Kids Class in Oegstgeest, to courses on repairable design at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and Delft University of Technology, to the appearance of more repairable products on the market.

Watch the documentary here (you can activate English subtitles via settings):

Het bericht Anniversary documentary on 15 years of Repair Café verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Repair Café turns 15: make a flag and share the news on social media

Het bericht Celebrate repair this autumn verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Joint bunting line makes global movement visible

During the Repair Café XL, we also want to emphasise that Repair Café is a global movement, with supporters in more than 40 countries across six continents. Therefore, we invite all Repair Cafés to make a textile flag to hang on a common bunting line. Repair Café International offers a pattern and instructions on how to make it.

Create your own flag and send it to Repair Café International

Want your Repair Café to participate, too? Then, download the pattern and instructions and get creative. Send the result to Repair Café International in Amsterdam (our address is in the instructions). Using all contributions, we will make a – hopefully very long – bunting line that we can use to decorate the Repair Café XL party location on 18 October. This way, all Repair Cafés will be joined in celebration.

More information

• Download the pattern and instructions to make your flag

Het bericht Repair Café turns 15 – celebrate this anniversary with us! verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Fons Weijts started the Repair Café in his neighbourhood of Woensel in March 2013. The former Philips employee and technology teacher discovered his hometown did not have a Repair Café yet. That needed to be corrected, Fons thought. So, he called the office of the Repair Café Foundation in Amsterdam and announced that he would set one up himself. Repair Café creator Martine Postma recalls the incident in her book “Weggooien? Mooi niet!” (“Toss it? No way!”) published in March 2015 to mark the foundation’s fifth anniversary.

Meanwhile, Eindhoven has eight Repair Cafés, which means residents can always go for a repair at short notice and in their neighbourhood. For example, in the elderly club Andromeda, home of Repair Café Eindhoven-Woensel, visitors are welcome every Friday afternoon with broken items.

Volunteers have faithfully come every week for ten years

What does Fons remember most from ten years of Repair Café Eindhoven-Woensel? He immediately knows the answer: “The intrinsic motivation of the volunteers. They have been coming here faithfully every week for ten years. Most of our team has been involved in this Repair Café from the very start. I’m proud of that.”

Fons, therefore, tries hard to make everyone feel comfortable. “I think it’s important to give everyone attention, pay them a compliment now and then…” He also regularly organises something fun for the volunteers. “And I try to make sure we get publicity. An article in the newspaper is always nice; it brings in new visitors, and for the volunteers it’s a token of recognition to be in the newspaper.”

A large picture of the 12-member Repair Café team has hung in club Andromeda in Eindhoven since March 3

Repair skills of repairers have greatly improved in ten years

Has Fons seen any changes in the past decade in terms of repairability of products? “In product design, unfortunately, I haven’t seen any improvements,” he says. “In our team, I do see development. We now have a lot of experience repairing various objects, and I dare say: we can open anything. We can also trace back a lot in the RepairMonitor, where Repair Cafés worldwide keep track of their repair data.”

How does Fons see the future of Repair Café Eindhoven-Woensel? “That one is uncertain; we hardly see any young people here. But for now, our team isn’t going anywhere!”

More Repair Cafés have existed for ten years

In recent years, more Repair Cafés in the Netherlands have celebrated their tenth anniversary, such as the Repair Cafés in Delft, Houten, Groningen, Utrecht, Bilthoven and dozens of other places. Abroad, too, several Repair Cafés have been around for that long, such as Repair Café Klein-Brabant in Belgium, Cologne and Celle in Germany, and Palo Alto in the United States.

Het bericht More and more Repair Cafés celebrate tenth anniversary verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.