Despite repair work being essential for sustainability, repair faces undervaluation and challenging economic and working conditions. Through collaborative workshops, stakeholder engagement and interview with repair practitioners, and art-driven innovation reseearch, the project developed a Fair Practice Framework (research project), a Case Study (education purpose) and a Future Repair Labor Imaginaries (vision statement on the 30-minute Repair Society).

In4Art leads the Future Imaginaries workstream, investigating artistic developments related to repair work and labor transitions to help shape new perspectives on the value and future of repair work. We are involved in the co-development of a Fair Repair Code centred around workshops to explore Fair Product, Fair Work, and Fair Repair Culture principles, ultimately to establish frameworks for ethical repair practices. Our contribution resulted in a 30-minute Repair Society vision and input for the research paper.

This essay presents the 30-minute Repair Society, a comprehensive urban framework designed to revitalize repair culture and combat the throwaway mentality that has dominated since the 1960s. Drawing from historical repair traditions and contemporary circular economy principles, we propose a four-node ecosystem that makes repair accessible within a 30-minute timeframe for urban residents.

Research paper based on the research lead by Ilaha Abasli, International Institute of Social Studies (EUR) on valuing labour in repair, understanding the implications of a circular just transitions in Rotterdam. It proposes a Fair Repair Practice framework, consisting of 3 main themes: 

• Fair Product Cycle:  the material aspects of repair, including spare parts accessibility, repair feasibility, required skills, and enabling legislation. Key challenges include the rising costs of spare parts, constraints related to their availability, and technology barriers.
• Fair Work:  repair viability through the profession and supported by education, fair pricing strategies, sustainable business models, and job satisfaction. Critical issues include declining craft education, pricing pressures, and limited recognition of repair as valued professional work.
• Fair Repair Culture: repair’s diverse and community-embedded nature, encompassing customer education, sustainability awareness, and respect for various repair identities across different neighborhoods and cultural contexts.

International Institute of Social Studies, EUR / RSM Case Development Centre, Rotterdam School of Management / TU Delft; Design for Sustainability and Circular Economy group / Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication

October 2024 – July 2025

Commissioned work

This research was conducted as part of The Resilient Delta Kick-Starter grant program, specifically under the project ‘Valuing repair in just labor transitions in the Rijnmond region’.