ENRICHING COMMUNITIES
How can we enrich the lives of the people producing our materials and products?
In order to go beyond sustainability and become regenerative, we must focus on the social as well as environmental impact of production. Enriching Communities spotlights how materials are being made and by whom, looking to improve livelihoods with better pay, working conditions and future prospects.
REPLENISHING THE LAND
How can we grow and harvest materials in a way that has a positive impact on the land?
Focused on high yields with an over-reliance on pesticides and water, modern industrial farming has had a damaging effect on the land. Regenerative farming works holistically to reverse this, rebuilding organic soil matter and sequestering carbon in soil, wetlands and trees, as well as retaining water and reducing the use of artificial pesticides and fertilisers.
PRESERVING HERITAGE
How can we utilise knowledge from ancient material and textile production, and ensure these skills continue to thrive?
Many indigenous practices are regenerative by nature, working in harmony with the land and local communities. By acknowledging and celebrating the value of cultural heritage and craftsmanship and learning from its ecological wisdom, we can protect valuable skills and knowledge from being lost to technology and globalisation.
RESTORING BIODIVERSITY
How can we revive plant and wildlife ecosystems damaged by modern material supply chains?
Regenerative practices must take a multispecies approach to encouraging biodiversity. Acknowledging the threat of extinction, addressing the causes of loss, and reviving habitats for diverse plants and wildlife aids ecological restoration.
BIOLOGICAL FABRICATION
How can we combine natural materials with high tech synthetic innovation to create alternative material supply chains?
The convergence of science and design offers huge potential for new materials, from living microbial systems to synthesising nature’s regenerative powers. Growing and extracting next-generation materials using innovative, highly-productive processes can create plentiful resources from minimal input.
NATURALLY ABUNDANT
How can we broaden our currently limited palette of materials, considering what is locally and globally abundant?
Highly-productive, resilient raw materials that grow with little human intervention offer naturally high yields, strengthen soils and capture carbon. These abundant, versatile crops could help move the focus away from traditional natural material fibres that require high levels of water, pesticides or fertilisers.
RECLAIMING MATERIAL
How can we tap into existing agricultural and industrial waste streams to create new materials?
Extracting raw materials, making products, then discarding them and their by-products is contributing to the global waste problem. By putting useful waste streams back into production we can better utilise existing resources and avoid the notion of waste altogether.
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY
How can we create traceable global material supply chains that tell the full story of material life cycles?
By using science and technology to create tools and processes that capture and record data along supply chains we can understand the social and environmental impact of the materials we consume. Encrypting materials helps brands track their footprints and life cycles, and communicate this information to customers in a meaningful, trustworthy and accessible way.
CULTIVATING LOCALISM
How can local materials which are harvested and processed in localised areas have a positive impact on people and planet?
By supporting the local sourcing, production and consumption of materials, we can avoid globalised transportation and reduce carbon footprints. Focusing on availability, seasonality and resourcefulness means embracing non-standardisation, and often improving local environments as well as extracting from them.
Originally published in 2024 as part of the Regenerative? Moving Beyond Sustainability exhibition at Heimtextil International Trade Fair
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