Circular Cultures is the European arm of Making Matters , the British Council’s global programme aiming to foster dialogue around circular design, covering topics such as climate change, material waste and making cultures.
Circular Cultures creates new networks across the UK and Europe for creative professionals who are passionate about sustainability and circularity, and generates a more critical dialogue around these themes, supporting skills development, knowledge sharing and the development of leaders.
The programme has been operating across six countries, in addition to the UK: , Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and there is interest in more EU countries to join. Partners include the Onassis Foundation, Re-Barcelona, MODA-FAD, City of Warsaw, Romania Design Week, BASE Milan, University of the Arts London and Design Manchester.
The programme is structured around three pillars:
● Convening and audience awareness including the annual Circular Cultures Conference (Greece), Creative Mikser – policy Dialogue (Poland) and Sustainable Makers Assembly for practitioners (Spain)
● Participatory learnings and trainings such as the Worth Partnership Project Award (all EU), Circular Cultures Open Studios (all EU), Sustainable Makers Assembly Workshop (Spain), Circular Cultures Design School (Greece)
● Co-creation and networking including residency programmes (Italy and Greece), Sustainable Challenge Barcelona-Manchester (Spain)
Highlighted Programmes
Greece
Circular Cultures Design School
The CC Design School aimed to serve as a platform for peer learning, a collaborative workspace, and a hub for creative minds to converge. With a primary focus on raising awareness of sustainable design and circularity, it fostered critical discussions and empowered creative leaders with enhanced skills and knowledge. Strand A emphasised materiality, focusing on the tangible materials that make up public space led by POoR Collective, while Strand B explored immateriality, delving into the limitless possibilities of digital space and cutting-edge technologies led by Ploipailin Flynn (AIxDesign). Read more HERE
Circular Cultures: Periphery at the Centre
A two-day hybrid conference in Athens featured UK, EU, and other international speakers who shared case studies and hosted masterclasses and workshops. Circular Cultures aimed to trigger a new way of thinking about architecture, design, crafts, and technology, both within urban and rural environments and from a local and global perspective. Detailed programme HERE
Tilos Artist Residency, Circular Cultures x PCAI
An innovative artist-in-residence initiative on the island of Tilos in Greece, a collaboration between the British Council and PCAI that aimed to unlock creativity, collaboration, and regenerative thinking by immersing diverse artists in a multidisciplinary environment. Focusing on the principles of the circular economy, the residency explored new approaches to architecture, design crafts, materials, and urban design, emphasising sustainability and waste management within the context of Tilos and its community. For the 2023 edition of the Tilos Artist Residency, we hosted the British artists' RESOLVE Collective, an interdisciplinary design collective that combines architecture, engineering, technology, and art to address social challenges. Stay tuned for the 2024 edition and the next UK artists involved.
Italy
Temporary Home Residency
The latest activity, during Milan Design Week in April 2024, was ‘Temporary Home’ , a design residency in partnership with cultural centre, BASE Milano. Forming a home within the BASE building across five areas, the residency provided a vibrant space for experimentation, public participation and showcasing, between five designers from across Europe. Five designers from France, Germany, England, and the Netherlands occupied the guesthouse of Base Milano throughout the design week, transforming the space into a home and workspace.
Representing the UK in 2024, new studio Computer RoomCirCC, founded by Andu Masebo, Charlie Humble-Thomas & Jesse Butterfield, were commissioned to develop their iterative design project, ‘Found in Translation’. In 2023, the UK was represented by designer and researcher Sanne Visser presenting Locally Grown and in 2022 food anthropologist Eleni Michael and multidisciplinary designer Kaajal Modi invited us to explore circular food cultures in the kitchen.
Romania
Circular Catalyst
In partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute, the British Council has launched Circular Catalysts, a programme aimed at generating new collaborations between Romanian and UK designers, artists and craftspeople and facilitating fertile conversations around sustainable production practices and processes.
Based on the idea that a pragmatic relationship between people and natural resources in rural Romania can provide a fertile ground for local resilience and sustainability, five UK designers and artists were invited to collaborate with organisations working in rural Romania to explore the intersections between rural and urban, and the role and migration of local materials and crafts in social, economic and environmental sustainability.
Circular Catalysts aims to provide both local and UK models of good practice and develop a European network of people and initiatives that share a set of values aligned to the principles of the circular economy. Explore further HERE
Spain
Circular Open Studios
The second edition of our Circular Open Studios consisted of a series of online events focusing on sustainable design that took place in January and February 2023.
The series gathered together experts and designers from across Europe who are connected through their practices, under the overarching theme of ‘Design with Care’. The sessions explored how history, innovation, cultural practices and ethics can connect and inform us to develop a more sustainable design future. You can now watch video recordings of the sessions HERE
Tags:
- Art Form: Architecture Design Fashion
- Region: Europe