ELSE-FUTURA HUB is a creative, artistic, operational network and think-tank that detect social, cultural, ethical and environmental shifts, analyse future attitudes, lifestyles, economy trends and how they are likely to affect future consumer behaviour. We perform research and advocacy concerning transition to circular economy and bio-economy, discussing environmental issues, responsible consumption, eco-friendly Materials, deliver strategic foresight through a number of products and services.
Cross-border/international
Netherlands
Finland
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Germany
EU Region
Mediterranean Region
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As an individual in partnership with other persons
ELSE-FUTURA HUB is a creative, artistic, operational network and think-tank that detect social, cultural, ethical and environmental shifts, analyse future attitudes, lifestyles, economy trends and how they are likely to affect future consumer behaviour. We perform research and advocacy concerning transition to circular economy and bio-economy, discussing environmental issues, responsible consumption, eco-friendly Materials, deliver strategic foresight through a number of products and services. ELSE-FUTURA HUB is a solution framework that aims at creating a systemic change by providing leadership on materials alternatives that can be used in eco-friendly products and create innovation in the industry, providing trend insights to help creative industry stakeholders and manufacturers identify products and services that consumers will be looking to buy, preventing businesses from spending resources on products that may not be successful with their target audience and instead create products that meet consumers' desires and priorities. We follow circular literacy approach which is knowledge based to circular economy combined with practice oriented framework to sustainability. The hub pulling a network of leaders with expertise striving to set sustainability principles, environmental studies at the centre of the conversation on regenerative design, creating the conditions for their large-scale implementation. We Acknowledge eco-friendly design practices through recognitions, workshops, and hackathons, provide information on where companies can buy back your used products, provide awareness on materials alternatives, process of reuse, recycle, refurbish. We provide people with design directions and inspiration to give a trendy look to ex-display, discontinued, share tips and tutorials on how to repairing damaged pieces.
Sustainable Consumption and Production
Innovation
Creative Industry
Circular Economy
Strategic Foresight
A world that is sustainable, inclusive, just and safe, and we believe in the problem-solving power of education and foresight research studies to get us there where sustainability and environmental solutions is the common approach for products, buildings, and communities. To improve the wellbeing of EU and Mediterranean residents and the health of their natural environment through sustainable and conscious practices. We believe that educating the population about the environment and future challenges, and creating public awareness are the cornerstone in the implementation of sustainable development strategies. Promote environmentally conscious practices through environmental education, partnerships, research and advocacy. To create the conditions for a large-scale implementation of sustainability approach by means of:
- Keeping the network (living system) of sustainability recognisable, increasing its widespread diffusion
- Advancing a culture of sustainable design through training and dissemination opportunities, including the sustainability Camp and spreading awareness on eco-friendly materials alternatives in creative industry.
- Exploiting synergies within the network, optimising the match between clean environment services demand and supply.
- Showcasing best practices, also through organising sustainability competition and hackathons of eco-friendly products/ Creative Industry Design Awards.
Risks that the project addresses:
Planet and Environment:
- Wrong practices and harm to environment.
- Climate Change, Climate Justice, Biodiversity Loss, Irresponsible Consumption, Overexploitation & Waste.
- Barriers are currently hindering the implementation of eco-friendly materials in the products and the creative industry sector.
- Environmental considerations in the design process.
- Lack of suitable legislation, lack of knowledge, awareness and lack of suitable tools to use.
- Energy and material consumption, waste generation.
We are promoting environmentally conscious practices through design, environmental education, partnerships, research and advocacy. Through the power of design, we strive to create the conditions for a large-scale implementation of sustainability approach by means of:
- Keeping the network (living system) of sustainability recognisable, increasing its widespread diffusion.
- Advancing a culture of sustainable design through training and dissemination opportunities, including the sustainability Camp and spreading awareness on eco-friendly materials alternatives in creative industry.
- Exploiting synergies within the network, optimising the match between clean environment services demand and supply.
- Showcasing best practices, also through organising sustainability competition and hackathons of eco-friendly products/ Creative Industry Design Awards. ELSE-FUTURA HUB believes through the power of design, manufacturers and companies can drive circular economy transition. Offering a wide range of beautifully designed products in different sectors while considering the environmental aspects, production methods awareness and providing tips on responsible consumption mentioning reuse, repair, recycle, refurbish can lead to fuel the circular economy. Impact will be measured on regular basis (Quarterly). Delivering informational content and Communication through ELSE-FUTURA HUB will be assessed by conducting different campaigns and projects to spot the level of interaction and expected outcomes. Consumer behaviour will be also monitored through the cooperation with manufacturers and brands. Surveys and questionnaires will be designed to gather information on achieving the intended learning outcomes of knowledge, cognitive, practical, and generic skills. ELSE-FUTURA HUB will have a direct impact on changing the consumption culture, as repair and durability are enforced and incentivized, fewer resources need to be extracted and processed, protecting nature.
Sustainability efforts require a strong advocate who can champion relevant practices and embed new practices within the culture and across the entire community from linear to circular. ELSE-FUTURA Society expect future responsible practices that focus on people, profit and planet in unison. ELSE-FUTURA is aiming at creating a visible and tangible future of sustainability change agents, leveraging the collective intelligence of an expanding community of the world’s environmental and foresight experts, fostering a new cadre of diverse and inclusive leaders in environmental focus with a foresight vision who can help create systemic change by integrating the best available eco-friendly applications and technology with the intergenerational knowledge of communities who have been disproportionately harmed by environmental degradation and historically excluded from decision-making because of racism, classism, and other systems of oppression.
The initiative will addresses Lack of knowledge and awareness on sustainable practices.
- Lack of knowledge on strategic foresight significance.
- Societal issues related to sustainability education, culture, consumption habits.
- Harm to human health.
- Resist of complying with environmental duties and obligations.
- Failure of meeting community expectations.
The project vision and mission was designed to serve serve different communities and locations. Since we believe knowledge is power and it has no limitations. ECO-FUTURA HUB project can be a model of a communication towards bigger communities and wider locations. Also engaging experts from all over the world will help in spreading awareness faster with no borders. We dream of a world that is sustainable, inclusive, just and safe, and we believe in the problem-solving power of education and foresight research studies. We are working to achieve our core values to be: Inclusion - Foresight research based design-Advise -Spread Awareness -Empower.
The crisis has made us look at consumer behaviour through a different lens and the value of a circular economy may never before have been so clear. New business models that stem from these developments, like product-as-a-service, provide a solid opportunity to the global community to move from talking to actioning. ELSE-FUTURA HUB will have an impact in the arose in response to growing environmental awareness, environmental legislation, and the requirement for social responsibility and transition to bio-economy.
According to Circularity Gap Report 2022: only 8.6% of the global economy is circular. Developing alternatives and solutions requires collaboration across the value chain and across industries. Circular Economy clearly needs to go beyond only finding recycling solutions for post-consumer products. Design for recycling and manufacturing in ways that allow for later disassembly require collaboration of many partners. ELSE-FUTURA HUB helps draw a dense landscape of market leaders from different sectors and value chain parts with a need for circular solutions. ELSE-FUTURA HUB will focus on material and production topics, ensuring easy access to the latest research and innovation. Hubs like these, pulling leaders with a range of expertise and ideas, will be critical to harnessing capabilities from across sectors. The hub activities will have an impact on the increase of public awareness and comprehension of CE promotion performance.
Manufacturers and companies have to drive circular economy transition and root the culture of responsible consumption. Repair will become easier and cheaper as more providers enter the market. Self-repair should also become easier for a range of products, as repairability, availability of spare parts and documentation / instructions increase, while repair cafes will continue to demystify repair and provide consumers with a more affordable way of extending the lifespans of their gadgets and appliances.
Since our initiative is based on forecasting trends, detecting environmental, social, cultural and economic shifts, we believe collaboration is all times trend. We believe change can only happen through collaboration. It definitely leads to more innovation, efficient processes, increased success, and improved communication. ELSE-FUTURA Society is a network (a living system) of sustainability advocates, futurists, strategic foresight consultants, experts, researchers, professionals aiming and working to set sustainability principles and environmental future studies at the centre of the conversation on regenerative design, creating the conditions for their large-scale implementation. We focus on building youth capacities in green skills across different region. We help entrepreneurs and decision makers engage with their future consumers, deliver thought-leadership on materials alternatives that can be used in eco-friendly products and furniture, build and future-proof brands, and create innovation in their industry or category.
Target Groups:
- University Students
- Conscious Business and brand entities
- Local/ International Designers
- Creative Industry stakeholders
- Craftsmen
We are open to create a team of professionals from all around the world to achieve our common goals. We are looking forward to achieve a team alignment. We strive to fight the lack of coordination between stakeholders and players in the circular economy sector at the national and the international level.
We believe change can only happen through collaboration. It definitely leads to more innovation, efficient processes, increased success, and improved communication. We are working on engaging a group of experts and consultants in different disciplines to apply a transdisciplinary model. ELSE-FUTURA HUB is targeting a teamwork of designers, sustainability advocates, futurists, strategic foresight consultants, experts, researchers, professionals aiming and working to set sustainability principles and environmental future studies at the centre of the conversation on regenerative design, creating the conditions for their large-scale implementation. We help entrepreneurs and decision makers engage with their future consumers, deliver thought-leadership on materials alternatives that can be used in eco-friendly products and furniture, build and future-proof brands, and create innovation in their industry or category. We are looking forward to create a team of passionate people who care to serve people who care about their environment. We are open to create a team of professionals from all around the world to achieve our common goals. We are looking forward to achieve a team alignment. We strive to fight the lack of coordination between stakeholders and players in the circular economy sector at the national and the international level.
ELSE-FUTURA HUB Innovative Approaches:
- Solving Problem Creatively based on a strategic foresight vision and implement sustainable practices, provide a healthy workspace
- Teams are trained to think outside the box and use creative methods to brainstorm and develop ideas. They have a knack for envisioning solutions that • lead with empathy and disrupt the more common top-down approach.
- Collaborating with others
- Teams are continuously thrown into multidisciplinary situations where they need to collaborate and co-create with people different from themselves. Coming up with uncanny connections is second nature to the discipline.
- Trying out innovative ideas and support the use of eco-friendly materials
- Teams are not afraid of prototyping. They have been taught to test out their ideas from conception to final product, making iterative changes along the way. Learning to do this without fear of failure is what makes them bold innovators.
- Influencing people experiences & Creating Positive change
Teams shape an incredible amount of people’s everyday experiences, create meaningful change by choosing to put people and the planet at the centre of their work. They also have a role to play in facilitating fresh, provocative visions of the future. By making a circular world easier to imagine, they make it possible to build.
We believe that educating the population about the environment and future challenges, and creating public awareness are the cornerstone in the implementation of sustainable development strategies. The methodology model, processes and learnings can be replicated and transferred as a model of success for initiatives and projects that tackle future consumer behavior, performs research and advocacy concerning topics related to environmental issues, responsible consumption, and eco-friendly Materials, and deliver strategic foresight through a number of products and services. It can be a road map for others. The project can be a model of a communication towards bigger communities and wider locations. Also engaging experts from all over the world will help in spreading awareness faster with no borders. It can continue to evolve from their initial conception and throughout their repeated application.
Methodology/ Activities and Delivery Methods:
- Operation from a central office.
- Creating Reports and surveys.
- Publishing innovative practices and inspirations (Digital Blogs)
- Offering tailor-made materials alternatives/ consultancy for brands and manufacturers.
Marketing Strategy:
- Relationship Marketing
- Seasonal Marketing
- Word of Mouth Marketing
- Events
Channels:
- Awareness Sessions
- Social Media
- Advertising
- Website
- Digital Advertising
- Public Relations (Academia/ Corporates/ Government...etc.)
- Branding
- Word of Mouth
- Delivering sessions, seminars, workshops in university and schools campus.
- Delivering sessions and training programs in corporates and business entities.
-Creating Awareness events, hackathons (Physical/virtual)
- Bootcamps for school students (providing a sustainability toolkit for young students to understand sustainability principles.
In the face of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) and environmental crises, Art and Design practitioners, academics and environmentalists have been pushed to envision a world in which looking backwards feels like the only option to go forward. When we think about the climate, we tend to paint a bleak picture of the future: massive storms, crop failures, and heat waves loom over us, suggesting that the issue is too big and complex for us to handle. Some people find that story to be captivating, while others find it to be depressing and gloomy. Even the most fervent supporters of decarbonization occasionally place more emphasis on raising the alarm than on conceptualising and outlining what success would entail. The problem is, it’s much more difficult to inspire widespread efforts for change in the present without optimistic climate futures, ideas of adaptation and resilience that we can work toward. This is where the field of futures studies can make a difference, revealing the value of affirmative speculation in climate change education. Futurists seek to narratives about what positive climate futures might look like for communities around the world. Their goal is to curate and share convincing stories about what success might look like, and to encourage individuals to imagine their own climate futures.
Future visions should honour local particularities and insist upon equity and justice, and envision actions that could be scaled up for global change. Writers of climate fiction could concentrate on imagining drastically different post-fossil societies and the cultural changes that could take us there. They could demonstrate how climate research might be applied to this kind of imaginative thinking, adding detail and rigour. Through the stories they tell, they could aid in previewing the steps required to turn imagination into reality. It may also be necessary to further adapt how civilizations create and use tools to predict future.
Awareness is key but, subsequent consumer behaviour influenced by the knowledge they have is crucial to making the circular economy a reality. Knowledge is that will inspire consumer action to engage in recycling or take-back efforts or try out innovative circular products or services.
Educational/ Awarness Strategy:
(Each program will be designed to match the level of knowledge, age, expertise of recipients)
- Sessions, workshops, hackathons.
- Watching videos and online activities, directed reading and researches, guided exploration.
- Individual/group projects, and discussions.
- Cooperative learning, brainstorming and group discussions.
- Group Practices, focused exploration.
- Bootcamp practical activities.
-Podcast.
- Mentorship.
Intended Learning Objectives:
(Each program will be designed to match the level of knowledge, age, expertise of recipients)
- Knowledge and Understanding
- Cognitive Skills
- Practical Skills
- Generic Skills
- Development Plan:
Program schedule/ Strategic Plan
- Phase One
Start Date 15/3
Week 1,2 Resources Allocating, Staff Hiring.
Week 3,4 Task Assignments, Marketing & Advertising.
Week 5,6 Implementation, Operation, Cooperative learning, brainstorming.
Week 7,8 Consultancy, University/ Schools Seminars & Events.
Week 9,10 Progress Review
Week 11,12 Evaluation (Quarter Report)
We follow circular literacy approach which is knowledge based to circular economy combined with practice oriented framework to sustainability. The hub pulling a network of leaders with expertise striving to set sustainability principles, environmental studies at the centre of the conversation on regenerative design, creating the conditions for their large-scale implementation. We Acknowledge eco-friendly design practices through recognitions, workshops, and hackathons, provide information on where companies can buy back your used products, provide awareness on materials alternatives, process of reuse, recycle, refurbish. We provide people with design directions and inspiration to give a trendy look to ex-display, discontinued, share tips and tutorials on how to repairing damaged pieces.
