Open Access Journals at Aalborg University
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Can Promoting Fashion Innovativeness Move Traditional Luxury Consumers Toward More Sustainable Fashion Behaviours?
Get PDFExploring Emotional Attachments in Children's Toy Relationships: A Generative Co-Design Approach to Design for Sustainability
Get PDFThe existing production and consumption system is causing significant plastic waste in the toy market. Unfortunately, most toys are discarded within six months of purchase, often due to the limited opportunities for extending the lifespan of toys through repairing, reusing, or recycling. To address this issue, this study explores the potential of emotional durability as a strategy to promote sustainable consumption in the toy industry. Utilizing the Emotional Durability Design Nine Framework as a theoretical foundation, this study emphasizes creating long-lasting emotional connections between children and their toys through various dimensions such as narratives, identity, relationships, and evolvability. A mixed-method approach is employed to engage children aged 10 to 12 in reflecting on their emotional attachments to toys, starting with semi-structured interviews with five children to identify their favorite toys, which they have kept for an extended period, and the factors influencing their attachment. Following that, cultural probes in the form of an activity set are designed to explore the stories associated with these toys and tested with four children. Finally, the refined version of the activity set is conducted in the classroom environment with 30 children. Findings indicate that personal memories, the desire for personalization, and the ability to repair or modify toys significantly influence children's attachment and the longevity of their toys. By integrating emotional durability into toy design, the study highlights its potential to encourage sustainable consumption practices and reduce waste in the toy industry, which may also encourage children to see toys as valuable, long-term companions rather than disposable items
Turning Trash into Treasure is Hard Work! How The Activities of Consumers and Reuse Enablers Extend Product Lifetimes
Get PDFThis paper explores the process of transferring second-hand products from one home to another. It focuses on three key participants: the consumer who is divesting products from their home, the consumer who purchases pre-owned items, and the second-hand and reuse enablers that facilitate this circulation of products. Current literature tends to concentrate solely on one of these groups—either consumers divesting products, second-hand and reuse enablers, or consumers buying pre-used items. This fragmented approach leaves gaps in understanding the complete process of product circulation. To address this knowledge gap, our study examines the entire process, starting from the moment a consumer decides to part with a product until that product finds a new owner. We conducted interviews with 20 consumers who are divesting products, 11 second-hand and reuse enablers, and 20 consumers who purchase pre-owned items. Our research identified three main product circulation processes and eight sub-processes: Donation, Commission Sale, and Sell-It-Yourself. Each circulation process involves a long series of activities carried out by the consumer divesting the product, the reuse enabler, or the consumer buying the item. By comparing these processes, we highlight that successful circular product exchanges require significant effort from all participants. Additionally, we demonstrate how the responsibility for these activities shifts depending on the chosen process, revealing the challenges associated with circular product transactions and how reuse enablers can support recirculation. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the circular economy and its current struggles and opens discussions on how to overcome these challenges
What’s the Problem with Product Obsolescence? Critical Policy Perspectives from Australia's Right to Repair Inquiry
Get PDFExtending product lifetimes is a critical aspect of achieving Circular Economy outcomes, however current policy discussions in Australia do not adequately address product obsolescence (PO). Using a problematisation analysis method, this research aims to uncover how PO is framed within Australia's Right to Repair (R2R) Inquiry and how these problematisations impact the effective transition to a Circular Economy. The document analysis results indicate that Australian regulatory interventions shift responsibility for PO onto consumers, framing the issue as one of consumer choice driving rapid disposal. It was found that despite strong support for design stage interventions in submissions to the Inquiry, the report ultimately recommended against placing PO obligations on producers. Instead, the report suggested introducing labelling requirements, placing the burden of obsolescence on consumers. This framing reflects an ideology of economic rationalism, driven by governmental hesitancy to strongly regulate the private sector. In this representation, the environmental impacts of PO, and the importance of regulation in environmental conservation, are minimised. The Australian approach can be contrasted with the European Union approach which places responsibility on producers to design products in accordance with eco-design requirements and disseminate repairability information, emphasising the role of comprehensive policy mixes in driving positive environmental outcomes. The contrasts between these solutions reflect different understandings of not only what the problem with PO is, but also who is responsible for it. This research posits that without a reconceptualisation of the problem representation of PO in Australia, Circular Economy outcomes will not be achieved.  
Perspectives from agricultural history to the Danish Green Tripartite
No full textArtiklen omhandler dels, hvordan og hvorfor det historiske landbrug i 1600-tallet var tilpasset det naturlige landskab, særligt jordbundsforholdene på en helt anden måde end i dag, og dels diskuteres det, hvordan dette kan være med til at give konkret inspiration til de omlægninger, der i disse år skal gennemføres i forbindelse med Den Grønne Trepart.
Der argumenteres for, at landbrugshistorien kan give brugbar viden om hvor og hvordan, det danske landskab og det danske landbrug kan nytænkes. Målet er ikke et forsøg på en enkelt facitliste, da en sådan pga. den komplekse opgave ikke kan gives. Men det er et forsøg på at give inspiration og forslag på oplagte områder, da der kan tages ved lære af historien. Det gælder særligt i forhold til de punkter, hvor bønderne i 1600-tallet efterstræbte forhold, som vi inden for de sidste årtier også er begyndt at efterstræbe.The article deals with how and why historical agriculture in the 17th century was adapted to the natural landscape, especially soil conditions, in a completely different way than today, and discusses how this can help to provide concrete inspiration for the changes that are to be implemented in these years in connection with the Danish Green Tripartite.
It is argued that agricultural history can provide useful knowledge about where and how the Danish landscape and Danish agriculture can be rethought. The goal is not an attempt at a single answer list, since such a list cannot be given due to the complexity of the task. But it is an attempt to provide inspiration and suggestions in obvious areas, since lessons can be learned from history. This is especially true in relation to the points where farmers in the 17th century sought conditions that we have also begun to pursue in recent decades
Erratum: Eleven på dobbeltarbejde – lærer-elev-interaktion behandlet med den økologiske AAA-model
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Fittedness of home: Sensorial and somatic dynamics in the era of IKEA homes
Get PDFThis study consists of concentric layers that surround, like spheres, the central topic of home. The home is understood as a core reference point for late capitalist consumer lifestyles. The paper argues that its central status is symptomatically manifested and can, therefore, be analyzed through how IKEA engages with everyday life. Discourses drawn from art, consumer culture theories, somaesthetics, and sensory studies are factored in to revolve around this topic. Each discourse is examined individually and in combination to determine how it fits the task of rethinking the home