The Centre for Sustainable Design, Falkner Road, Farnham (2026)

22/07/2022

SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION 2023
Accelerating Sustainability in the Creative Economy and Creative Industries
Online: 24th International Conference
20th – 26th March 2023
Business School for the Creative Industries
University for the Creative Arts
Epsom, UK
Call for Papers
** Deadline 1st August 2022 **
Concept
Sustainable Innovation 2023 will provide a platform to discuss how sustainability does and will impact on business models, products, services, technologies, innovation within the Creative Economy and Creative Industries. Sustainable Innovation 2023 will include invited and refereed papers from academics, consultants, entrepreneurs, technology providers, designers, and innovation and sustainability directors. Creative Sustainable Ventures Lab will be showcased where start-ups will be invited to pitch new concepts. The international conference will create a unique space for learning, networking, and thinking. Delegates will come globally from large companies, SMEs, and start-ups, as well as academia, government, and non-governmental organisations. Sustainable Innovation 2023 is supported by a high level, expert Advisory Board and is the 24th in a series of international conferences related to innovation and sustainability that have been organised since mid-nineties.
Creative Economy and Creative Industries
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Creative Economy Programme has defined the creative economy as an evolving concept that relies on ‘knowledge-based economic activities’ upon which the Creative Industries are situated. In this context, the Creative Industries are defined by the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) as ‘those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have the potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.’ There are thirteen sub-sectors under the term ‘Creative Industries’ which include: advertising; architecture; crafts; design; fashion; film and video; Createch; music; the performing arts; publishing; software and computer games; and television and radio. The growth of the sector has been significant over recent years despite Covid-19. In the UK, for example, the Creative Industries were predicted to grow much faster than the rest of the UK economy, with an expected Gross Value Add (GVA) of around £300bn, with exports expected to exceed £100bn by 2030.
Sustainability
• In 2021, UNCTAD declared the International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, which formally recognised the importance of the Creative Economy and Creative Industries as an ‘important tool for building a sustainable, inclusive, and equitable future’.
• Creative Industries are initiating programmes to address environmental concerns driven by Net Zero 2050 and Circular Economy, but they are often fragmented. Fashion, design, and architecture are taking the lead. However, there needs to be broader and more integrated discussions around sustainability within other sub-sectors.
• The sector is starting to mobilise positive action with examples such as: the emergence of toolkits and methodologies for sustainability practices including roadmaps for reducing carbon emissions associated with the production of film and TV, music and the performing arts; new approaches being taken to integrate sustainability into design, fashion and architecture; the adoption of new business models across all sub-sectors; the development of innovative manufacturing technologies and materials; and the rise in repair cultures
• These initiatives have also shed light on the environmental impacts associated with shifts in practice, production, and consumption. For example, heightened by Covid-19, as the world transitioned towards the intensification of digitisation of processes and streaming, there has been increased discussion over the energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with the online delivery and consumption of content. Furthermore, the increased use and integration of new technologies – AR, VR, AI, NFTs, 3D printing, blockchain et al – into the Creative Industries is driving an increase in electronic waste
• Analysis reveals that whilst sustainability is increasingly being addressed by the Creative Industries, some of the solutions presented may result in wider environmental and social impacts. That raises questions regarding the environmental and social effects of innovation. For example, how will the trend towards digital fashion affect the environment? what are the implications of increased data processing, energy use and CO2 emissions associated with online production and delivery? Is there equality of access to digital products in the North and South?
Questions
• How should the Creative Economy and Creative Industries tackle the challenge of climate change?
• What does Net Zero mean for the Creative Economy and Creative Industries?
• How should the Creative Economy and Creative Industries deal with the environmental and social consequences of new technologies throughout the lifecycle e.g. rise in streaming, digital fashion, etc?
• How will the EC’s Sustainable Product Initiative and other environmental policies impact on the Creative Economy and Creative Industries, directly or indirectly?
• How can approaches like circular design provide a way forward for design, fashion, and architecture?
Time for Acceleration?
To accelerate sustainability in the Creative Economy and the Creative Industries there is a need for:
• A systemic view of the Creative Economy and Creative Industries to understand sustainability impacts, identify opportunities and achieve an integrated cross-sector dialogue e.g. “breaking out of the silos”
• Creative Industries to recognise the potential pivotal role they can play in communicating sustainability and change
• The emergence and scaling of new disruptive eco-innovators – Createch, fashion, design, architecture et al – and across Creative Industries
• Scaling up research into sustainability challenges and opportunities across all Creative Economy and Creative Industry sub-sectors
• Learning from other sectors who have created positive sustainability change
Conference topics
Sustainable Innovation 2023 welcomes conceptual and research-based papers focused on how sustainability does and will impact on business models, innovation, and the Creative Economy and Creative Industries. This can include specific papers related to sustainable innovation in: advertising; architecture; crafts; design; fashion; film and video; television; music; performing arts; theatres; publishing; computer games; Createch; and television and radio. Papers should cover sustainability, business models, products, services and/or technology design and development, and commercialisation related to the following:
• Foresight, futures, and forecasting
• Product policy and legislation
• Sustainable consumption and production
• Social transformation
• Consumer behaviour
• Circular Economy, product durability and life extension
• Re-use, repair, and remanufacturing
• Sustainable business models
• Hidden environment costs of practice, production, and consumption (e.g. cost of streaming)
• Cultural adaptations in the context of climate change
• Metaverses
• Communicating sustainability
• Marketing, advertising, and sustainability
• Industry 4.0
• Innovation
• Design and development
• Development of tools, toolkits, and methodologies
• Craft, locality and recovering local traditions
• Createch
• Smart manufacturing
• Supply chains and networks
• Materials innovation
• Ethical production
• Digital ethics
• Sustainability in education
• Case studies
Benefits
Sustainable Innovation 2023 will provide a range of benefits to speakers and delegates:
• Unique
• Leading-edge
• Content
• Networking
• Track-record
Forum for new thinking, ideas, and concepts
Presentations from key international researchers, practitioners, and policymakers
New research, results and thinking
Opportunities to meet leaders from business, government, and academia
Over 3500 delegates from over 50 countries have attended previous events
Creative Sustainable Ventures Lab
Entrepreneurs with new concepts for sustainable businesses in the creative industries are invited to submit 60 second video pitches. The top 3 concepts will be invited to complete a Pecha Kucha style presentation and the winner be selected based on the votes from the audience.
Submission details
Abstracts: Email 500-word abstracts to [email protected] describing your proposed paper by 1st August 2022. The abstract will then be reviewed by the Advisory Board and authors will receive feedback. The highest ranked papers will be invited to present at the conference. Conference proceedings will have an ISBN and an edited book will be produced. Please only submit abstracts if you have budgets to attend the conference.
Creative Sustainable Ventures Lab: Email a 60 second video to [email protected] by 1st August 2022 describing the background to the concept, what it is and why it is sustainable. The video will then be reviewed by the Advisory Board and the 3 highest ranked concepts will be invited to present at the conference, where a winner will be selected.

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04/01/2021

Be an Early Bird for Sustainability in Fashion and Clothing Conference

Take advantage of our Early Bird discount for “Sustainable Innovation 2021: Accelerating sustainability in fashion, clothing, sportswear & accessories” international online conference.

Running for seven days in Q1 2021 (March 15-21), the knowledge-rich event will feature 50 leading-edge speakers bringing visionary perspectives, latest research, case studies, practical examples and engaging panel discussions.

View Programme https://cfsd.org.uk/events/sustainable-innovation-2021/programme

There will be opportunities for speed networking among the speakers (and delegates) including pioneers, innovators, thought-leaders and change-makers from academia, brands, businesses and industries across fashion, clothing, textiles, sportswear, accessories, retail, and technology sectors.

Networking sessions will be via SpeedNet, which adds the social element that is typically missing from online events.

Aligned with UNCTAD’s International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, 2021, the conference will provide an insightful and critical platform where issues around accelerating sustainability in fashion and clothing will be explained and discussed.

To claim your 10% Early Bird discount book by the 18th January 2021
https://cfsd.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Registration_form_SI2021_V5.pdf

Rocked by the fourth wave of green consumerism - driven heavily, but not exclusively, by the young - the industry is under pressure like never before for greater transparency and change.

Greener consumers, NGOs, media, policy-makers, academics and entrepreneurs – and celebrities – are pushing back against fast fashion’s “buy today, throw away tomorrow” culture with its associated water pollution, over-use of resources, and sweatshop-style poor working conditions and pay. These facts are still, often, hidden truths behind big brand names and their outsourced manufacturing, and supply chains, in the “third world”.

Change often translates into opportunities.

Benefits of attending include

· Access to leading thinking and ideas via the speakers’ unique insights

· Access to leading research: 30 research papers

· Access to lessons learnt: two days of case studies of real-life experience

· Networking with different stakeholder groups worldwide

· Getting up to speed with, and ahead of, impactful trends

· Gaining knowledge-rich information to accelerate personal learning & development

· Resource for curriculum development or business development or start-ups.

Leading speakers include

· Isabelle Durant, Deputy Secretary General, UNCTAD, Switzerland

· Roberta Annan, Founding Partner, Annan Capital Partners, US

· Michael Stanley Jones, Co Secretary, UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, Switzerland

· Andrew Martin, Director, Global Stakeholder Engagement and Business Development, Sustainable Apparel Coalition, UK

· Helena Leurent, Director General, Consumers International, Switzerland

· Arthur Huang, Founder & CEO, Miniwiz, Taiwan

· Professor Dr Jacqueline Cramer, Chairman, Dutch Circular Textile Valley, Netherlands

· Bert van Son, Founder & CEO, Mud Jeans international BV, Netherlands

· Rogier van Mazijk, Investment Director, Fashion for Good, Netherlands

Why pay in this age of free seminars and give-aways? The conference will provide an unrivalled, broad and deep range of information “under one digital roof”. The sheer amount of high-quality content in one place over a single, seven-day time span will provide a great opportunity for delegates to get up to speed on the subjects covered, or enhance their knowledge of them, and judge how they can make change happen while benefiting from the knowledge, ideas and interaction.

We look forward to meeting you – virtually – at Sustainable Innovation 2021. As a delegate, you will have access to some of the best thinking in sustainability in the world of fashion and clothing.

More than 3000 delegates from 50 countries have attended the Sustainable Innovation series. Past delegates include businesses, global institutions and universities. Examples: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imperial College London, Apple, Procter & Gamble, Novartis, World Resources Forum, Nokia, Philips, Intel Corporation and Intel Labs Europe, Novozymes A/S, Textiles for Life, London College of Fashion, VDI Zentrum Ressourcen Effizienz und Klimaschutz, Cambridge University, Delft University, Renmin University of China, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Royal College of Art, De Montfort University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Imperial College, Montreal University, Institute of Ecological Economy Research, Pôle Eco-conception, University of Scranton, University of South Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth University, Utrecht University.

We look forward to welcoming you to the conference that has set its sights on accelerating sustainable change where it is urgently needed in the fashion and clothing industry.

14/07/2020

The podcast from the Repair Cafe Conference held at UCA Farnham on the 12th March 2020 is now available.

Episode 8 - The Repair Cafe Conference Welcome to the Repair Cafe Conference podcast which is made as part of the Surrey's Greener Future initiative. The University for the Creative Arts in Farnham hosted the Repair Cafe Conference on 12th March 2020. You can see the large number of delegates in the...

23/04/2020

Free-to-use “Repair Café Carbon Calculator” launched by Farnham Repair Café through a collaboration with the University for the Creative Arts

April 20TH 2020, Farnham, Surrey, UK. Farnham Repair Café [FRC] today launches its in-house designed Repair Café Carbon Calculator, a free and easy-to-use online platform aimed at repair cafés - and other repair organisations - in the UK and internationally.

Available in two versions, Quick and Standard, the calculator is believed to be the first online tool that reports CO2 emission savings resulting from product repairs.

Quick - https://frc.cfsd.org.uk/index.php/rc-carbon-calculator-quick - calculates emission savings by using weight or number of repairs across all product types. Standard - https://frc.cfsd.org.uk/index.php/rc-carbon-calculator-standard - can be used by repair cafés that keep individual product repair records and group their successful repairs, by weight or number into categories e.g. bicycles, computing, electricals, mechanicals, clothing, jewellery etc – thereby giving a more precise estimate of carbon emissions and landfill savings.

“Many repair cafés have traditionally used simple paper-based ‘measure by weight’ methods”, says Professor Martin Charter, Director, The Centre for Sustainable Design [CfSD], University for the Creative Arts (UCA), and Chair of the Board of Trustees of FRC. “Our carbon calculator enables users to quickly estimate emission savings by weight or even just the number of successful repairs alone, or in greater detail by product repair category.”

The Standard version can also show where repair cafés are having the most success in carbon emission savings, by product type - not just by weight. “Repair is particularly beneficial in electrical products such as smartphones, tablets and computers, because they contain a very high level of embedded carbon emissions due to the global supply chains,” adds Professor Charter.

Collaboration

The Repair Café Carbon Calculator is the result of three months-long collaboration between FRC trustee Steve Privett and Professor Charter. Funding came from UCA, following an award from the Strategic Priorities Fund from Research England.

At the heart of the calculator is a methodology based on data and information from FRC - and other repair cafés in the UK - that was used by Privett in his dissertation on “Potential impact of UK Repair Cafés on the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.” The dissertation was completed for his master’s degree in sustainable development.

Privett comments, “The research indicates that the majority of people whose products are repaired at the UK’s repair cafés continue to use them instead of buying newly manufactured replacements. This reduction in product consumption helps to preserve finite resources and lower carbon emissions and is particularly effective when products with a short usable life cycle, of which there are many, are given a new lease of life through repair.

“We hope the calculator will help to further inform and motivate communities towards a culture of repair rather than replace.”

The calculator takes a number of variables into consideration in its calculations. Included are average transport emissions to and from the repair café, spare parts use, rebound consumption and savings made by reducing the total sum of greenhouses gases that would have been released by manufacturing new products if the products had not been repaired by a repair café.

Research on impacts

Says Professor Charter, “Very little hard data about repair cafés’ potential ability to mitigate CO2 emissions has been published to date. Our calculator is the first tool to give repair cafés the opportunity to change that, by using more accurate evidence-based estimations of CO2 savings from product repairs.

“Making our calculator free-to-use by repair cafes and other repair organisations worldwide will, we anticipate, help policy makers, manufacturers, repairers and customers make the connection between the circular economy and climate change.

“Historically, broader environmental benefits of repair cafés have been highlighted in the media and social media. The calculator enables more specific evidence-based estimates of CO2 emissions, showing the real impact that repair cafes can make.

“Social and community are also an important aspect of repair cafés. We are seeing increased community interest and, when covid-19 lockdown and social distancing are lifted, repair cafés can expect to see a further strengthening of their relationship with their local communities.”

More about the calculator: https://frc.cfsd.org.uk/index.php/about/

FRC is open on every second Saturday of the month between 10am – 12.30pm and offers advice and repairs on all kinds of products, from vacuum cleaners, headphones and lights, to hats, jackets, pushchairs and bicycles. Address: FRC, The Spire Church, South Street, Farnham, GU9 7QU.

Founded in 2015, FRC, a UK-registered repair café charity, is a collaborative project between UCA, CfSD at UCA, Farnham Town Council and The Spire Church in Farnham UK. It is part of the global Repair Café movement of nearly 2100, led by The Repair Café International Foundation - founded in the Netherlands in 2011; the number of repair cafés in the UK has doubled over the last year to more than 125.

Says Professor Charter, “Our repairers are highly skilled and do a brilliant job. To date we have organised 58 sessions and had 3,000 visitors to Farnham Repair Café since launch. There have been almost 1300 repairs at a 65 percent repair rate with over 3.7 tonnes being diverted from landfill, and we have reduced CO2 by 34.5 tonnes, and seen over £91,000 saved by repairing instead of buying new.”

More about FRC https://frc.cfsd.org.uk

NEW Repair Café Carbon Calculator How to use Video overview Methodology used Quick Carbon Calculator Input - Weight of Repairs Input - Number of Repairs Weight of successful repairs (kg) Check for results e-mail. Calculate Repair Savings NOW ...results coming... Landfill/recyclables saving (kg) Emi...

13/08/2019

Latest statistics from the Farnham Repair Cafe
52 Sessions: 98% satisfaction; 2501 Visitors; 1045 Repairs; 66% Repair Rate; 3 Tonnes Landfill Diversion; 27 Tonnes CO2 Reduction.
Some images from the Repair Cafe showing our volunteers hard at work and loving every minute.

08/08/2019

At the August Repair Café, we will be presenting the 1000th repair owner and the Farnham Repair Survey winner with their prizes between 11.15 and 11.45. The Farnham Herald will be there to record this momentous occasion.

17/06/2019

03/04/2019

Good Morning
There is going to be another webinar and you are welcome to join.
Please could you let me know if you are able to participate? [email protected]

The sign in details for the webinar is as follows.

Topic: Designing for the Circular Economy
Time: Apr 8, 2019 6:00 PM London

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