Università degli Studi di Firenze, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Politecnico di Torino
ECODeCK aims to build a portfolio of eco-design-driven strategies by collecting, analysing, and testing design approaches, methods, and tools for sustainable and circular transformation. Focusing on the two key sectors of MICS, fashion/textiles and furniture sectors, ECODeCK aims to: 1) building a comprehensive vision on design strategies for promoting a sustainable and circular future of made-in-italy, 2) experimenting with capacity-building projects and pilots to address the different levels of sustainable transformation. As Sterling (2019) discussed, these levels represent the responses to sustainable development adapted from the orders of learning. Indeed, multiple stakeholders might be in different stages of the transformation toward sustainability, from those looking for “ways to do things better” (conformed) to those willing to “do things better” (reformed) and those in the most advanced level, where they can “see things differently” (transformed). Such different organisational or individual levels of transformation underly different levels of competence and therefore require dedicated capacity-building strategies to foster advancement in the transition toward sustainability. Beyond this aim, the ECODeCK project is also intended to be a transversal project of the MICS’s projects in Spoke 2, since they will develop new knowledge regarding eco-design-driven approaches, methods, and tools for capacity-building for a sustainable transition. From one side, ECODeCK will support the development of other projects by building a repository of existing relevant material in the eco-design and circularity fields through literature and contextual review. On the other hand, ECODeCK will be fed by the knowledge produced by the MICS projects in Spoke 2 as it will also collect and systematise their outputs. ECODeCk is intended to be a circular project, able to nurture the other projects in the Spoke at the beginning and harvest the knowledge they will develop.
Therefore, ECODeCK will encompass four main strategic actions to achieve these aims.
i) Mapping state of the art on sustainable and circular transformation
Mapping state of the art in terms of literature and contextual review will enable the collection and systematisation of existing approaches, methods, and tools regarding eco-design-driven strategies. The initial mapping will be an input for the other projects in Spoke 2; further iterations from the projects’ outputs will continuously feed the mapping.
ii) Building a comprehensive vision through aligning other projects’ outputs
This action will create and share the vision for framing and standardising the project’s outputs developed in the Spoke. The impact of the action concerns, on the one hand, the researchers in the different projects, as they will be supported in informing their results through a clear and shared format. At the same time, the action will facilitate the collection and organisation of outputs in a multilayered project such as MICS.
iii) Designing of capacity-building model and toolkits
The action consists of designing and developing capacity-building through a model and a set of toolkits to address the different needs of possible stakeholders. The model will propose an overall strategy to support the development and strengthening of stakeholders’ skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources at different levels of transformation toward sustainability (i.e.,
conformed, reformed, transformed). Toolkits will comprise knowledge units and resources for competence development (i.e., knowledge, skills, attitudes and values) concerning eco-design-driven strategies at all three levels of transformation. This set of toolkits will become ground material to be employed by stakeholders for capacity-building.
iv) Testing through pilots with companies from the fashion/textiles and furniture sectors
The action will start with identifying possible stakeholders from the two key sectors to test the capacity-building model and toolkits. Then, according to stakeholders’ needs, pilots of tailored capacity-building activities will be developed, starting from previous ECODeCK actions, and tested in a different iteration. Therefore, this action will contribute to the validation, adaptation and improvement of the overall outputs of the project.
The ECODeCK project aims to achieve the following objective at the end of the first year of the project: • a repository of state of art, containing resources based on literature and contextual review of existing approaches, methods, and tools regarding eco-design-driven strategies; a collection of case studies and best practices of processes, products/systems, materials and tools for the research strand defined (through i.e. on-site visits, collaborative focus groups, workshops); • a comprehensive vision framing the research trajectories and strategic objectives of Spoke 2 through identifying and visualizing a manifesto and value proposition. It will inspire the scenario design process planned for year two; • a series of publications (i.e. conference papers and scientific articles) to disseminate the results of the research phase of the project in interdisciplinary contexts. The ECODeSK project aims to achieve the following objective at the end of the second year of the project: • a capacity-building model for the eco-design-driven strategies to support the development and strengthening of stakeholders’ skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources at different levels of transformation toward sustainability (i.e., conformed, reformed, transformed) • a set of capacity-building toolkits to be employed as ground resources for competence development concerning eco-design-driven strategies addressed to organisations in the manifacturing context, but also to higher education institutions; • a map of scenarios for the implementation of capacity-building actions based on the pilots and employing the ECODeCK repository, model and toolkits • a series of publications (conference papers, scientific articles and a book) to disseminate the results of the research phase of the project in interdisciplinary contexts.
