Challenge / Goal
The city identified a need to raise awareness about production and consumption habits in our current linear system. A series of Furniture Recycling Workshops were developed as a practical way to both raise awareness amongst citizens of the circular economy and to promote their active participation in a circular initiative locally.
The city’s environment department, together with the department for employment, training & economic development (IMPEFE) wanted to test these workshops as part of their intention to:
• Develop an urban resource centre, promoting the circular economy at local level through a comprehensive and participatory approach. • Use the circular economy to achieve an efficient use of resources, facilitating waste reduction
• Awaken the ecological awareness of citizens by encouraging recycling and reuse of waste
The Furniture Recycling Workshop aimed:
• To develop sustainable training activities in line with environmental values
• To promote the use of spaces for meeting, debate and knowledge development
• To encourage the promotion of citizen participation in the city
Solution
The action also hoped to inspire other alternative initiatives to optimize local resources in an economically sustainable way. The workshop was designed to promote citizen participation in the repair, recycling and reuse of furniture collected from the city’s Green Point and elsewhere.
Citizens, companies and various local and European public bodies collaborated in the implementation of the workshops - promoting transversality and a culture of citizen participation with the administration.
14 people from diverse backgrounds participated in the series of workshops. Due to the pandemic restrictions, the workshops were organised in two groups, with 7 participants per group. Part of the activities were carried out jointly including visits to the Green Point recycling centre, a local mattress factory and to the “Elisa Cendrero House Municipal Museum” at the end of the workshop.
The participants consisted of 13 women and one man, aged between 39 and 70 years old. Participants had diverse educational backgrounds from primary level to university graduates. Half of them were working, the other half were unemployed, on leave of absence or retired. The diverse profiles of the participants contributed to the richness of discussions and interactions and there was great cohesion within the group.
Citizen participation
Citizen Participation was the main goal of the project, to show the benefits of reusing and recycling, in this case furniture, and how it can play a role in the wider circular economy.
Want to learn more about the lessons learned, financial details and results?
Log in