Theme: Circular economy

SPRINGBOARD: Assembly for creative climate action

Scotland in 2045 will be a net-zero country, confident in a changed climate.

Society, communities, jobs and the economy will look very different in this greener, fairer, more equal country.

How do we create this new Scotland?

The transformation needs imagination, conversations, new ways of working.

SPRINGBOARD: Assembly for creative climate action will take place online from 27 February to 2 March 2023. We invite cultural, environmental and community organisations and individual practitioners, local authorities, businesses, charities, government and public organisations to work together to re imagine this new Scotland and to grasp the opportunities and overcome the challenges of the journey towards it. We want to engender and support collaboration between and across different sectors and different sorts of organisations to achieve the transformational,
systemic and national change required.

This is NOT a conference! Yes, there will be inspiring and informative talks and discussions with experts in climate change, culture and social change. But for most of the four-day assembly you’ll be working in a cross-sectoral ‘cohort’ discussing one of the following three questions and creating bold action plans:

1. How do we accelerate the decarbonisation of the cultural sector?
2. How can we collaborate for resilience?
3. How can culture play its full role in the necessary transformation of society?

Visit Creative Carbon Scotland’s website to find out more, including about the programme and speaker details, freelancer bursaries, exhibition hall submissions.

Join Circular Communities Scotland’s Share and Repair Network for its first ever ‘Share and Repair Gathering’ on March 3^rd 2023.

The Share and Repair Gathering will be the first ever in person gathering of the Share and Repair Network, and will be hosted at the ‘vibrant, curated marketplace revitalising Stirling’s town centre’, Made in Stirling.

Open to all people and organisations interested in share and repair, as well as Circular Communities Scotland and Share and Repair Network members, the Share and Repair Gathering will be an opportunity for attendees to network with others interested in or already involved in share and repair activities across Scotland.

What to expect:

Join us at the Share and Repair Gathering to hear fascinating talks from keynote speakers. We’re looking forward to discussing how share and repair activities are important parts of radical movements to make the world a better place.

Participatory sessions will offer attendees the opportunity to learn from people involved in sharing and repairing activities, to find what the common challenges are, and what solutions we can create as a network.

People and organisations who are new to the world of sharing and repairing can learn from experienced practitioners in sessions dedicated to helping groups get set up.

Stay tuned for our Share and Repair Gathering programme.

Please note: Share and Repair Network members will have 2 free tickets per organisation. To book your ticket just choose “Share and Repair Network Member” at the checkout. To become a member, click here.

Made in Stirling will also host an ‘unbroken.solutions’ photography exhibition to celebrate the Share and Repair Gathering, which will be open to Share and Repair Gathering attendees, and the public, on March 2nd, 4th and 5th 2023. Tickets are not needed for this exhibition.

Adam Price will host the event where we have several short talks on the subject of the circular economy. Speakers:

Terri Vogt, Circular Economy consultant, Aberdeen, will describe the concept of the circular economy and the need to move away from the outdated mine-manufacture-use-and-dispose linear economy used in the past.

Rachel Maurice, ACA communications manager, will describe how the Fairphone mobile phone exemplifies circular-economy principles, and illustrates future product manufacture, repair and refurbishment.

Ellen Delph, project manager of KR BON Reduction, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, will show how her company refurbishes and markets insulated panels for building refurbishment.

Rory Leigh, managing director of Ghillied Ltd Edinburgh, will explain how they reprocess old clothing into new.

Lucy Smith, Splosh Ltd, Wales, talks about their returnable sachets of concentrated cleaning agents, used for refilling their reusable plastic bottle dispensers, reducing waste by about 95%.

Q&A session. Questions and views from the floor will be sought. Of particular interest will be examples of other established and developing circular economy companies and products.

For those who wish to pursue the issue after the 9 pm deadline, the Stag Bar, 100 m down the road in Crown St, is a pleasant venue for further discussion.

Join Advanced Clothing Solutions (ACS) for a site tour of Europe’s Largest circular fashion hub based right here in North Lanarkshire, Scotland! On the tour you will follow the journey of garments fulfilment experiencing the expert technology for extending its life through Rental, Resale and Renewal. Learn from the ACS team how they integrate sustainability to all elements of the facility for people, planet and profit.

ACS are hosting two in-person tours on Thursday 23rd March, with 10 tickets available for each.

This event is organised by Sustainable Fashion Scotland.

If you don’t know what to do with all your spare materials (including fabric), join this talk by CAN (Circular Arts Network) to learn how to use the new online circular economy exchange platform.

CAN will show you how to register and use the online exchange platform to upload freebies and paid listings, as well as how to source art materials. They will also share some examples of the projects they have been involved with supporting.

At the end of the session there will be a Q&A with CAN and an open discussion on sourcing and sharing supplies, skills and equipment, related to sustainable fashion and textiles.

This event is organised by Sustainable Fashion Scotland.

Join Advanced Clothing Solutions (ACS) for a site tour of Europe’s Largest circular fashion hub based right here in North Lanarkshire, Scotland! On the tour you will follow the journey of garments fulfilment experiencing the expert technology for extending its life through Rental, Resale and Renewal. Learn from the ACS team how they integrate sustainability to all elements of the facility for people, planet and profit.

ACS are hosting two in-person tours on Thursday 23rd March, with 10 tickets available for each.

This event is organised by Sustainable Fashion Scotland.

Join SFS Creative Director Mairi Lowe for a talk and Q&A on marketing and communicating sustainability. Bring along your fashion and textile marketing challenges for us to explore and workshop ideas together!

Whether you are looking to maximise profit, raise awareness of sustainability issues or encourage behaviour change, an effective marketing and communications strategy is essential for any organisation. However, many individuals and small businesses working in fashion and textiles in Scotland don’t have the time or capacity to dedicate to marketing.

Are you a small business owner who needs a communications plan that fits into your busy schedule? Perhaps you run sewing workshops and don’t know which newsletter tool is best to use? Are you wondering if TikTok is really worth it? Maybe you are looking for suggestions on who to collaborate with to expand your reach?

If you have a marketing challenge you’d like help with, please join Mairi, a freelance Communications Consultant specialising in sustainable fashion in Scotland, for a short talk sharing her top tips and tools, plus a Q&A session where together we will explore ideas and workshop solutions, learning from one another.

There is a space in the registration form to share any marketing challenges or questions you have in advance.

This event is organised by Sustainable Fashion Scotland.

Come along to Fort William’s Social Gathering event to connect with like-minded people in the community and learn how you can get involved in the sustainable fashion movement.

Jam, founder of The Caledonian Wool Co and Eilidh, founder of Beinn Nibheis, will share how the local community in Fort William is driving change in fashion. Jam will share about the importance of shopping and supporting local. Eilidh will discuss research being done on new environmentally conscious ways of waterproofing garments.

Other activities for you to get stuck into include a mending circle where you can learn tips and tricks from Jan on how to repair your clothing. There will also be a clothes swap to allow you to exchange items in your wardrobe for ones that are new to you. Please bring no more than 3 items of clothing per person to swap.

Drinks and snacks will be provided as part of your ticket! Tickets will also be available on the door.

This event is organised by Sustainable Fashion Scotland.

Creation Mill are excited to be opening their doors (physically and virtually via social media) to SFS Spring Gathering attendees on Friday 24th March with different activities on offer throughout the day:

• 10am-12pm: Mending workshop. Drop in to have a professional look over your garment or textile product and receive advice and demonstrate mending techniques.
• 12-1pm: Tour of the Buccleuch Mill. Our Creation Mill Space is set amongst the Buccleuch Mill and at 12pm we will offering a chance to explore the workspaces of the textile producers that operate on our doorstep. Spaces are limited to 8 people for the tour.
• 1-5pm: Stash busting fabric and haberdashery swapping event. Everyone is welcome to come and swap items to refresh their collection and get inspired for a spring of textile recycling. Each item will be exchanged for a button to be used as a coin. If you don’t have anything to swap don’t worry you are more than welcome to come along as buttons will also be available to purchase for £2.

Booking for the mending workshop and stash busting fabric event is not necessary but if you would like to join for the tour please book a ticket. Spaces are limited to 8 people for the tour.

This event is organised by Sustainable Fashion Scotland.

We run our popular Repair Café in the Hive on the last Saturday of the month from 10am to 1pm.

If you have any queries please get in touch with [email protected].

The Dollar Repair Café is an antidote to a throwaway culture, and following its launch we run the café once a month from The Hive.

Come along and get your things repaired, and maybe learn a thing or two about repairing – no appointment needed!

There is no charge for any advice or repair, but visitors’ donations will help keep the service free at the point of delivery for everyone. Donations are used to cover costs and to help us offer additional workshops for free.

We have volunteers who can help fix:

• Small electricals
• Electronics (laptops/tablets etc)
• Small pieces of furniture
• Musical Instruments
• Clothes/bags/other fabrics
• Bikes

and much more! So bring along your broken items and one of our volunteers will do their best to fix it!

Ben will discuss the value of plastic regarding human health, the environmental cost of their use and how a circular economy can contribute to a more sustainable future.

Ben Durack is the Director of Origin plastics and a Course leader at Gray’s School of Art. As part of Origin plastics, Ben has developed technology to recycle materials and design new products at the source of waste. This has involved working with Camphill community to recycle their used PPE.

For more information about talks being hosted at Aberdeen Medical school follow this link: https://sway.office.com/r8xkzsxn1bjeytsU?ref=Link

For booking follow this link: https://forms.office.com/e/7LFRVQwCC1