Community building through remanufacturing
Collaborative production in cities has the potential to promote a more circular production paradigm, engage communities, and promote urban and community development. The research project Pop-Machina aims to understand the spatial and social consequences of such circular collaborative production in urban areas.
Collaborative production in cities is the collaboration of groups or networks of individuals to design, produce, or distribute goods. Collaborative production is more viable than ever thanks to The Maker Movement, a cultural trend that places value on an individual’s ability to be a creator as well as a consumer of things. However, despite its potential, collaborative production still has many challenges to overcome. There isn’t enough space provided for collaborative production in cities, and these spaces are not inclusive enough. More research is needed to ensure that collaborative production is indeed a sustainable and circular production paradigm. The Pop-Machina project therefore aims to understand the spatial and social consequences of establishing circular collaborative production in urban areas.
Within the research, successful case studies will be learned from to develop a framework for implementing circular collaborative production in urban areas. This framework will be tested in living labs in seven cities: Venlo (The Netherlands), Leuven (Belgium), Kaunas (Lithuania), Santander (Spain), Thessaloniki and Piraeus (Greece), and Istanbul (Turkey). The Horizon2020 project is an intensive international collaboration with partners from academia, government, and practice. The team from BK Bouwkunde includes researchers Tanya Tsui, David Peck, Bob Geldermans, and Layla van Ellen.