Recognizing the significance of design, ‘’ The New European Bauhaus’’, launched by the European Commission in January 2021, aims to merge design,sustainability,accessibility, affordability, and investment to support the realization of the European Green DEal. The circular economy action plan in the Green Deal highlights the importance of sustainable products and their design. In addition to promoting sustainable design practices during production, the plan emphasizes the importance of sustainable consumption and the creation of an informed community of conscious consumers.
The objective of the Crea-Up project is to install the habits of reusing, repairing and repurposing products within society. By doing so, both consumers and designers will actively contribute to ecological transformation and climate change mitigation. Art and design possess a distinctive capability to generate green employment opportunities, raise awareness, challenge societal habits, and facilitate behavioral changes, including our overall attitude towards nature. Building upon this idea, the Crea-Up project was devised to achieve the following objectives directly aligned with the scope, priorities, and goals of the call, as well as the Green Deal and European New Bauhaus initiatives referenced within the call:
Establishing a creative community dedicated to reuse, repurposing and upcycling of waste of dysfunctional products, thereby promoting sustainable design,art and sustainable economy
Innovation of the Program through the following purposes and activities: Development of skills and capacity: The project will design training programs and work in labs focused on upcycled materials in art and design. By offering new functions to materials and products through repurposing, it will contribute to both sustainable economy and environmental priorities.
The primary target group of the Crea-Up project consists of the creative and artistic community, encompassing various professions such as fashion designers (textiles,shoes-bags), tailors, craftspeople, and interior and furniture designers. The founding members of the creative community, comprising a priority target group of seven individuals selected from the project partner countries, will have their skills and capacities developed through the 10-day Crea-Up Woking Lab program and actively participate in all project activities. They will also guide and mentor new individuals who are planning to join the community. Furthermore, the upcycled products created by this group during the project will be exhibited at the Local Crea-Up Exhibition Series.
The second target group comprises fashion designers, tailors, craftspeople, and furniture designers who will partake in the Creative Upcycling Workshop Series. In addition to the aforementioned target groups, consumers also form a part of the Crea-Up project’s secondary target group. Consumers will participate in the Creative Upcycling Conference and Local Crea-Up Exhibition Series.
The achievement of specific objectives will be accomplished with the following outcomes;