The interns for the first Circular Design Internship Programme, which is conducted as a part of Learning for Innovative Design for Sustainability Erasmus+ research project, started on September 1st, 2017 with 11 interns. On the first day, the research project was introduced by the UL team Dr. Muireann McMahon, Dr. Yekta Bakırlıoğlu and Manon Rio.
During the first day, a context mapping exercise was conducted in which the interns identified their skills and capabilities in order to understand their team members’ capabilities. Consequently, the groups of interns made pitches on which project brief they want to work on. The groups of interns and their clients are as below:
Theme 1. Retrofit: High-end office furniture is a challenging area with no prediction on how long products are going to be used and how they are going to be disposed of. These bespoke products are designed and produced for specific clients in mind, hence they all have unique forms, features, materials, and so on. Throughout this internship, participants will be collaborating with OneOff Design – a design consultancy firm dealing with the design and production of these bespoke products – and design a take back system and reusable products/parts/materials.
Client: One Off, Dublin
Designing bespoke office furniture with a take-back system and reusable products/parts/materials
Interns: Marie Salova, UL, Laura O’Connor, UL, Kristina Ivanova, UPC, Wijnand Lusthof, NHL.
Theme 2. Material Innovations: Material Innovations: With continuously changing trends, fashion industry is massive and mostly unsustainable. The new colours, styles, fabrics, etc. of each year, this industry promotes a rapid and continuous cycle of mass-production and mass-consumption. Challenging this industry is no small feat, especially for SMEs with limited resources. Mamukko is one of the challengers, reusing ocean race sails and reclaimed life rafts and mixing them with leather and craftsmanship to upcycle them into one-off, durable products. Right now, they are looking for a way to introduce another reclaimed material – fishing nets – into their production. Throughout this internship, participants are expected to explore the potentials of this reclaimed material and come up with innovative solutions on reusing it within the existing and potential capabilities of Mamukko.
Client: Mamukko, Kinsale
Exploring the potentials of a reclaimed material – used fishing nets – and developing innovative solutions on reusing it along with leathercraft.
Interns: Lisa Murphy, UL, Ainur Ulan, UPC, Anton Idema, NHL, Joachim Neguembor, LiU.
Theme 3. Preventing / Reusing Food Waste: Food Waste: Waste is wealth! Although waste is a globally discussed issue from its hazardous effects on nature to loss of valuable resources, it requires locally specific solutions on the city or regional scale to uncover its potentials to be repurposed in a locally meaningful way. Food waste is one of the main concerns with this regard; it needs to be understood from both individual-consumer micro-level perspective as well as community-local opportunities at macro-level perspectives. Throughout this internship, participants will work with Southern Region Waste Management Office (SRWMO) as your main stakeholder. The interns are expected to reimagine the food waste management in Limerick City and explore ways of preventing, repurposing and/or upcycling the locally produced waste in a locally beneficial way.
Client: Southern Region Waste Management Office (SRWMO), Limerick
Reimagine the food waste management in/around Limerick City, and develop solutions for prevention and reuse of food waste.
Interns: Evan O’Reilly, UL, Berber Visser, NHL, Diana Saleh, LiU.
