Collaborative Circular Design. Incorporating Life Cycle Thinking into an Interdisciplinary Design Process

Abstract

To evolve fashion and textiles within the circular economy an interdisciplinary approach encompassing a range of life cycle perspectives is required, facilitating this collaboration requires new thinking and tools. The research presented in this paper was explored through a European Union Horizon 2020 funded project, Trash 2 Cash (T2C), where collaborative 'life cycle thinking' (LCT) tools were developed to integrate multiple expert perspectives within the design process. The research positioned material scientists, industry stakeholders, consumer behaviour and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) researchers into the heart of an iterative design process, tools were developed between and tested through consortium workshops over a 21-month period. Several key findings proved the value in the use of these interdisciplinary LCT methods, alongside new insights into barriers and opportunities for future circular material developments. Designing tools for collaborative research and the sharing of knowledge in this context was instrumental in helping to promote social exchange and the building of communities within the project and beyond. This work provides an important basis for understanding how to bring the theory of circularity into a networked industry practice.

How fashion can achieve sustainable development through a circular economy and stakeholder engagement: A systematic literature review

“…• Closing resource loops: this cluster includes CF practices implemented with an aim to keep materials in the economy, Closed-loop recycling, a process where unwanted resources and products are collected, recycled, and then used again to make the same product it came from, and thus to create a circular flow of resources • Recycling for manufacturing a same product type (e.g., recycling polyester fabrics to polyester yarn for the same fashion item production) 42 (44.7%) Al Faruque et al, 2019;Bloomfield & Borstrock, 2018;Bocken et al, 2017;Bukhari et al, 2018;Cattermole, 2018;Corvellec & Stål, 2019;Daddi et al, 2019;do Amaral et al, 2018;Earley, 2017;Earley, 2019;Fischer & Pascucci, 2017;Franco, 2017;Goldsworthy & Ellams, 2019;Haslinger et al, 2019;Holtström et al, 2019;Hu et al, 2018;Hussain, 2018;Hvass & Pedersen, 2019;Karell & Niinimäki, 2019;Koszewska, 2018;Leal Filho et al, 2019;Määttänen et al, 2019;…”

“…• Lack of knowledgeable designers to balance sustainability, aesthetics, functionality, and production cost in fashion product design 19 (17.4%) Bocken et al, 2017;Fischer & Pascucci, 2017;Goldsworthy & Ellams, 2019;Han et al, 2017;Hussain, 2018;Karell & Niinimäki, 2019;Kjaer et al, 2019;Koszewska, 2018;Leal Filho et al, 2019;Moorhouse & Moorhouse, 2017;Norris, 2019a;Pedersen et al, 2019;Peirson-Smith & Evans, 2017;Sandin & Peters, 2018;Shaw & Williams, 2018;Stål & Corvellec, 2018;Todeschini et al, 2017; (Continues) Bocken et al, 2017;Camacho-Otero et al, 2019;Daddi et al, 2019;Diddi & Yan, 2019;Holtström et al, 2019;Hussain, 2018;…”

“…Enablers that can support fashion stakeholders to further promote CF Chadegani et al, 2013;Bocken et al, 2017;do Amaral et al, 2018;Earley, 2017;Earley, 2019;Franco, 2017;Goldsworthy & Ellams, 2019;Hall & Velez-Colby, 2018;Holtström et al, 2019;Hvass & Pedersen, 2019;Kjaer et al, 2019;Leal Filho et al, 2019;Määttänen et al, 2019;Norris, 2019a;Pal et al, 2019;Pedersen et al, 2019;Raebild & Bang, 2017;Sandvik & Stubbs, 2019;Smith et al, 2017;Stål & Corvellec, 2018;Valentine et al, 2017;Vehmas et al, 2018; Knowledge support…”

“…• Obtain more knowledge on evaluating economic and/or environmental impacts of design plans 16 (16.2%) Bocken et al, 2017;Earley, 2019;Goldsworthy & Ellams, 2019;Hall & Velez-Colby, 2018;Han et al, 2017;Holtström et al, 2019;Hussain, 2018;Karell & Niinimäki, 2019;Moorhouse & Moorhouse, 2017;Pal et al, 2019;Pedersen et al, 2019;Popescu, 2018;Raebild & Bang, 2017;Staicu & Pop, 2018;Stål & Corvellec, 2018; Both internal and external (33, 33.3%)…”

Circular Economy in Industrial Design Research: A Review

“…Watson and colleagues mainly focused on the capabilities needed to foster multistakeholder collaboration in environmental innovation, including circular models: specific operational capabilities (e.g., scientific expertise, design, manufacturing, technological, and marketing capabilities); first-order dynamic capabilities to manage the engagement; and second-order dynamic capabilities "to make use of contrasting ways of seeing the world to reframe problems, combine competencies in new ways, and co-create innovative solutions (value framing), and to learn from stakeholder engagement activities (systematized learning)" [76]. Others use inspiration from "systemic design" to foster strategies and approaches for the circular economy [77], develop tools and methods for sustainability-oriented decision-making [78], and facilitate collaboration in challenges related to the circular economy, which are of a connected nature by default [79].…”