State-of-the-Art Upcycling Research and Practice

Dr. Kyungeun Sung is Lecturer in the School of Art, Design and Architecture at De Montfort University in the UK. Dr Sung’s research broadly deals with design and sustainability focusing on upcycling. Her research investigates various aspects of upcycling in the context of sustainable art, craft, design, manufacturing, production, businesses, supply chain management, consumption, behaviour and lifestyles since 2013. She has published nineteen peer-reviewed papers and book chapters (seventeen first-authored) on upcycling in high-impact journals and with high-quality publishers. She has been invited to deliver presentations on her upcycling research in several national and international conferences and to review numerous academic papers for journals and conferences in the area of upcycling and other related fields. She has been endorsed by the Royal Academy of Engineering for exceptional promise as a potential world leader in her field of research.  Dr. Jagdeep Singh is Researcher in Environmental Science at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC) at Lund University. Dr Singh’s research investigates a range of aspects associated with sustainable resource management, e.g. circular economy, upcycling, sharing economy and sustainable business models. His research employs a systems perspective to production and consumption and evaluates the social, economic and environmental impacts of socio-economic activities. He has published 30 peer-reviewed publications, including journal articles, book chapters and conference papers. He serves as a reviewer for journals and conferences in the area of sustainable consumption and production. He has won several scholarships and awards, including the prestigious ISWA Publication Award 2015 by International Solid Waste Association for his exceptional research contribution on global waste management. Dr. Ben Bridgens is Lecturer in Architectural Technology in the School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape at Newcastle University. His research focuses on the role of materials in design, making and experience. Collaborations with product designers, artists and architects have enabled him to apply technical expertise in material testing, modelling and characterisation, material ageing and responsive materials to broader questions of sustainable design, consumption and the circular economy. A particular research focus is understanding the interactions of people and materials, which is fundamental for the successful implementation of sustainable design strategies including design for longevity and design for reuse. Upcycling sits at the intersection of materials, design, sustainability and creativity and is a natural focus for this work, exemplified by Dr. Bridgens’ publication: “Creative upcycling: Reconnecting people, materials and place through making” (Journal of Cleaner Production, 189, 145-154).

• Introduction.- Part I: Design, Engineering and the Upcycled.- Object-Oriented-Upcycling: An Object-Based Approach to the Circular Economy.- Designing for Second Life: Systemic Design for Sustainable Packaging in Appliance Manufacturing Industry.- Upcycling of Silicon Solar Cells: What are the Options?.- Scapegoat or Saviour: The Role of Design in Upcycling Research.- Discourses in and around Upcycled Artefacts: A Social Semiotic Perspective.- The Interplay of User, Context and Product in Everyday Design Behaviour.- After Life: Lessons on Product Longevity form the Informal Economy.- Upcycling, Jugaad and Repair Cafes for Presumption.- Part II: Upcycling in Fashion & Textiles Education.- Material Inventories for Responsive Design in Fashion Practice.- Soul Shopping: Autoethnography, Upcycling and Post-Growth Fashion.- Recontextualising and Appropriating Second-Hand Western Fashion Items in Non-Western Contexts.- Future Pathways of Upcycled Textiles.- Scaling Up Upcycling: Studying Challenges and Suggesting Solutions for Its Integration in the Existing Supply Chain.- Disrupting the Linear Textile Model at the Community Scale.- Commoning Situated Knowledge: Co-Teaching-and- Learning the ‘Design-Led Upcycling’ of Waste Clothing.- Exploring Upcycling as a Design Process through Fashion Education.- Upcycling  Advocate: Fostering Engagement and Empowerment Through An Upcycle Guidebook in Undergraduate Courses.- Part III: Upcycling as Concepts and Practices.- Systems Approach to Scaling Up Global Upcycling: Framework for Empirical Research.- Repair and Upcycling: How Do We Know Which Repair is Considered as Upcycling?.- Upcycling the World of Interiors.- Understanding Quality in Upcycled Products.- Practice and Ethos.- Understanding and Measuring Value and Quality of Upcycling with Fuzzy Linguistic Approach.- My Life Journey and Reflections as an Upcycler.- Designing for Positive Upcycling Experiences With People’s Well-Being in Mind.