service design for the future of textile artisans communities: an enabling ecosystem towards...

service design for the futureof textile artisans’ communities:an enabling ecosystem towardssustainability & social innovation

Loughborough Design School | AHRC Design Starsupervisors: Dr MC Escobar-Tello, Dr VA Mitchell

Francesco Mazzarella, PhD researcher

research problem

the global crisis is leading to theend of a linear economy, whilesetting the ground for redistributedmicroproductions, based on new ethics of sustainability

the craft discourse is mainlybased on individual makingpractices, overlooking theirhuman and social dimension

it is missing a strategicagenda, which could createsustainable interconnectionswithin this pacthy landscape

to explore how service designcan contribute to encouragetextile artisans’ communitiestowards a sustainable future

research aim

research focus

material

by handsmachinerydigital tools

qualityskilled control

personal identitymaterial culture

local fibres:vegetableanimaldiscarded

artisancommunity

small scalelocaliseddiversifiedflexible

tool making

textiles

utilitarianculturally meaningful

aesthetic

large availability of fibreshigh employmentwide applicationsrising consumer trends

why?

textile artisans’ communitiesare bottom-up, human-centredaggregations, using local fibres,managing the process of makingculturally significant apparel,by hands or through digital tools

service design can facilitatethis holistic process:

1. artisans’ communities2. collaborative services3. enabling ecosystem

reflectset a strategic agendafor encouraging TACtowards a sustainablefuture

1C

prelim

inar

y st

ud

y

planselect TACto involvein co-design

2A 2C

to co-designcollaborativeservices forsustainable

TAC

planmap textileartisanallandscape

1A

planplaninterconnectionsamong TAC

reflectsynthesize servicedesign processinto a theoreticalframework

3A 3C

evaluatio

n

to outlinean enablingecosystem ofsustainable

TAC

act & observeexplore sustainablefuture trendsfor TAC

co-designcollaborativeservices

act & observe

1B

act & observeoutline anenabling ecosystemof services

3B2B

PS: TAC: Textile Artisans’ Communities

to developtheoretical

framework forsustainablefuture for

TAC

mai

n s

tud

y

reflectevaluate whereasservice designhas met thetheoretical framework

methodology

discover define

develop deliver

experts’focus groupshadowing

contextualinterviewsco-creation

serviceblueprint

serviceecosystemmap

encourage sustainable development

trigger creative economiesNew York (USA)

rescue craft heritage

Nottingham (UK)

participatoryaction

research

Cape Town (South Africa)

to explore the wide scope of application of service designand develop a flexible service model to be tailored on di�erent contexts

participatoryaction

research

textile artisans’ communitiescan contribute to sustainabledevelopment as they...rescue cultural heritage provide social engagement

boost creative economy enhance resource stewardship

FUTURETRENDS

1.new marketmodels

alternative economies

Openwear, “CollaborativeCollection”, 2010, EU

global economic shifts grassroots innovations sharing economy collaborative consumption

1a.alternative economies

Patagonia, “CommonThreads”, 2015, USA

2.new business models

redistributed manufacturing

UKTF, Let’s Makeit Here, 2012, UK

relocalised manufacturing micro-factories network of fablabs changing workforce

2a.redistributed manufacturing

Repair Café

Alabama Chanin,Stichting, USA3.new production

models

flexible production

long tail digital fabrication mass customisation on demand

3a.flexible production

Knyttan, UK

4.new design processes

circular economy

Ananas Anam, “Piñatex”,2014, Uk & Spain

open, collaborative, free communities of practice collaborations & short chains cradle to cradle

Neha Lad, “Beauty in thediscarded”, 2014, India4a.circular

economy

5.new product types

advanced artisanship

Yen Chen Chang,“Knitted Sensors”, 2014, UK

from fast to slow fashion long sellers interactive, complex, immaterial product-service-system

Timo Rissanen, Zero-WasteDenim, 2010, USA5a.advanced

artisanship

6.new designer’s roles

designer entrepreneur

Mary Portas, Headen &Quarmby, 2013, UK

mass profession of prosumers multidisciplinary communities tinkering & self-production complex designer’s palette

6a.designer entrepreneur

Wool and the Gang, UK

FireUp, 2103, UK7.new relationships

enabling ecosystem

top-down vs bottom-up distributed P2P networks systemic thinking strategic agenda

7a.enabling ecosystem

TED, The TEN,2014, UK

HOWTO GET THERE?

barriers enablers

Dominance of financial structures based

on profits;

Lack of time & e�orts to develop

alternative models;

Lack of skills;

Export of machinery and outsource of

production;

Lack of interest for young people in craft

production;

Endangered craft heritage;

Consumers’ misperception of quality;

Over-consumption;

Lack of information on textiles, artisans

and sustainability challenges;

Lack of sustainability uptake;

Lack of training in strategies/management/

entrepreneurship in design curricula.

Change of mindset (systemic thinking);

Interconnected

design-artisanship-academia

-policy-consumers;

Cultural empathy with artisans;

Metatools, flexible, collaborative, reflective;

Storytelling to elicit and convey engaging

meanings;

Empowerment models: access to

information, awareness, ability,

independency;

Development of sustainable business

models;

Technological advancements.

a sustainable manifestofor textile artisans’ communities

Shift the focus from aesthetics to ethics, from style to quality meanings;

Ethical labour and rights must be set: less bad is not good;

Textile artisanship stands as a slow reaction to fast fashion;

Textiles are interconnected to their wholeness: materials, processes,

people, places;

Being vs. having, learning from nature and acknowledging the unpredictable;

Manage connectivity within local communities, as collective wisdom and

social act of collaboration;

Design as political agent, embracing diversity as resource, weaving

synergies among di�erent assets;

Scale up open initiatives within peer-to-peer networks at a glocal scale;

Understand the root system and trigger holistic and systemic change,

from micro to macro scales;

Build an enabling ecosystem: complex, adaptive infrastructure supported

by polycentric governance.

f.mazzarella@lboro.ac.uk francesco.mazzarella10

Francesco Mazzarella

thank you !