Reusing natural stone for creative learning by co-creation and ecodesign
As natural stone waste grows, kids’ illiteracy increases. Every year, tones of natural stone rarities, mainly from the luxurious market industries, estimated in more than one fifth,are lost in the chain of the Circular Economy. By another hand, at our schools, kids are losing the sensitive contact with the ground. We believe teaching must be innovative, dynamic, and creative. So, our goal it’s make these rarities to be touched and kept alive, in the Circular Economy,in unique geo-didatic panels
National
Portugal
Braga, Póvoa de Lanhoso, Bragança, Vimioso
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: Maria Madalena Last name: Torres Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Junta de Freguesia da União das Freguesias de Santa Lucrécia de Algeriz e Navarra Nationality: Portugal Function: Atelier “Ciência e Drama” promotor Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Av. Sta Lucrécia, 87 Town: Braga Postal code: 4710-745 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 933 498 173 E-mail:madalmouta@gmail.com
First name: Raquel Last name: Alves Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Mercado da Pedra, empresa comercial e industrial de Pedras naturais Nationality: Portugal Function: R&D Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rua Tourido, 42 Town: Braga Postal code: 4700-298 Real Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 915 394 098 E-mail:raquelalves@mercadodapedra.com Website:https://mercadodapedra.com/
First name: David Last name: Oliveira Gender: Male Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: do ARCHITECTURE studio is architectural practice working from scale to detail, providing design services, estate info, paperwork and turnkey contracts. Nationality: Portugal Function: Chief Architect Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rua Sá da Bandeira, 784 Town: Porto Postal code: 4000-432 Porto Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 961 855 545 E-mail:info@doarchitecture.net Website:http://doarchitecture.net/
First name: Wanderson Last name: Oliveira Gender: Male Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Construções Castro LDA Nationality: Portugal Function: Volunteer partner Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rua do moinho galego, 8 Town: Póvoa de Lanhoso Postal code: 4830-067 Calvos Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 924 006 453 E-mail:Wtmarmoraria201@gmail.com
First name: Teresa Last name: Vilaça Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança
(Research Centre on Child Studies) - University of Minho
Nationality: Portugal Function: Assistant Professor Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: campus Gualtar Town: Braga Postal code: 4710-057 Gualtar Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 253 601 212 E-mail:tvilaca@ie.uminho.pt Website:http://www.ciec-uminho.org/index.html
First name: Bruno Last name: Figueiredo Gender: Male Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Escola de Arquitetura, Arte e Design Studies - University of Minho Nationality: Portugal Function: Assistant Professor Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Campus de Azurem Town: Guimarães Postal code: 4800–058 Azurem Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 253 510 500 E-mail:bfigueiredo@eaad.uminho.pt Website:https://www.arquitetura.uminho.pt/pt
We propose a highly differentiating teaching-learning experience, which challenges both the child and the educators to interact with unique and unrepeatable materials, rare and exceptional, as beautiful as fascinating, which are Natural Stones.
Connecting concepts, techniques, and methodologies of eco-design, co-creation, circular economy, additive manufacturing, and action research, we develop a geo-didactic prototype that, in this first phase, we are testing in preschool classrooms.
We believe that we are bridging a huge gap in knowledge of geosciences (regional and global) and environmental education. In a single panel, we gather stones from almost all continents and cultures, tastes, and trends! Natural stones as classic as the Carrara marble, from NW Italy, the Estremoz marble, from Portuguese Alentejo region, tough as the travertine from the Roman Coliseum, intense and colorful as the limestone from temples in South Spain, or as exotic as the pegmatites of Minas Gerais, SE Brazil, very close to precious stones deposits, or as the serpentinites of India, like a dense tropical forest, after all, so similar to the serpentines from Bragança, NW Portugal!
This is only possible because some Natural Stone companies, whose catalogs have hundreds of national and global references, agreed to join the project from a circular economy perspective. They gave us their waste, which is our raw material!
And then we assembled a team, with different tastes and backgrounds - teachers, geologists, stonemasons, and architects - and we create the ReStone4Kids, more than a product, we believe it is a new, enriching, and creative experience. It provides a lot of learning and dynamics in the classroom, which has incremented the literacy of the Communities. Also, each interaction improves our proposal, making it more complete and more inclusive, integrating the contribution of each student, teacher, school, village, or municipality.
Natural Stone Circular Economy
Eco-design 3D printing techniques
Action research methodologies
Multidisciplinary co-creation
Preschool geo-didactics’ environmental engagement
Tradition and Circularity
Portugal is one of the top 10 countries in the world with the highest volume of natural stone exports (2,2M tons), a position it has held for decades and shows the economic importance and tradition of this sector (https://www.worldstonereport.com/). One of the biggest problems recognized in the sector – the massive world production of waste (out of 154,5 M tons of gross production, 63,35M tons are waste production, so the waste rate is 41%) and its poor reinsertion into the value chain. Specifically in the transformation industries aimed at the higher and luxury market segments, as the main partner entity of this initiative, Mercado da Pedra (MP), the waste rate reaches 35% of the total stone processed. It means that in a 6 sq.mt stone slab (on average) 2-3 sq.mt end up in landfills. Most of the unit value of these stones is very high, above double digits per sq.mt. We propose to start two new circles in the circularity of the natural stone industry: -identification, selection, and use of fragments of the polished stone, waste from the production process, valued as elements of the geo-didactic support, on the surface of a panel. -characterization, treatment, and integration of mineral waste in 3D printing matrices valued to create the base where the stone elements settle and adhere.
Logistics and access: In addition to being expensive natural stones, they also come from faraway regions.
Taking advantage of the long-distance transport of many materials, we propose to reduce the logistical impact of imported raw natural stones, through: -identification and use of waste and remnants of imported natural stones,-highlighting and enhancing national and local natural stones, placing them side by side, with their identification and genetic origin. Being in the same geo-didactic support, national, regional, and even local resources, which normally are only known because of the impact of the quarries on the landscape, can be recognized and valued.
Beauty and charm of Natural Stones - Classic and Exotic
There are some natural stones, such as marble or breccia, that have fascinated man and communities, from ancient times. Stones are the most timeless aesthetic features of human communities. We distinguish the classic stones from the exotic. Classics are those that integrate this global imaginary of belonging, the decorative and structural currents, founders of empires. Exotic stones are those that recently have entered the market, with characteristics close to precious stones, exuberant colors and textures, brightness and transparency, similar to gems and jewels, presented in square mats of luxury and exoticism.
The natural stone pieces chosen to integrate the geo-didactic panel are themselves small pieces of art, also classics and exotics. They appeal to cultural and historical aspects that are present in the main monuments of the world and present in all regions, and remain in fashion today. That is why the "Global Heritage Stone Resource" (GHSR) designation exists, created by IUGS-UNESCO in 2013.
Pride in regional and national resources
The GHSR designation, a international recognition of natural stone resources that have achieved widespread use in human culture, is an inspiration for our initiative. Our goal is also to promote national natural stones (approved, or not, as GHSR) alongside other more obvious sources, such as classic Carrara marble, monumental Roman travertine, and Spanish colorful mosaics in limestone. It is intended to bring out this national pride, in a perspective of learning and building something new and beautiful, gathering rare natural stones, always present as a symbol of empires and power, now available to be better known and explored by all the senses.
From high end luxury stones to Ecological products for all
Some premium natural stones are very expensive and rare, given their less accessible international provenances, and their scarcity and low entrapment of mineral deposits (small quarries in rare occurrences), but also due to the demanding production and processing techniques. One of our goals is to make these premium natural stones available to the local audiences who, by circularity, will have access in the form of by-products, bringing this precious and rare beauty into the hands of as many children and communities as possible.
Additive manufacturing for the 5 senses
In pedagogical approaches more directed to sensory perception, as is the case of blind students, some researchers making use of geo-didactic resources and models built by additive manufacturing proved to be very efficient in teaching and promoting specific learning of the geosciences and the environment education (Lei Shi, et al., 2019 and Koehler, et al., 2018).
Inclusion in social and collective infrastructures
The physical component of our initiative is made available to educational communities with the possibility of reorganizing the stone pieces that form e.g. the image of a city, or the image of a mountain, and it is the educational community that decides its configuration. On the other hand, the installation of the geo-panel can and should be a local decision, considering the pre-existing infrastructures, as well as the need to explore the geo-didactic support, horizontally or vertically, fixed inside the room classroom or outside. The geo-panel is highly adaptable to the local characteristics of each implementation context.
Inspired by the benefits of our initiative, we start precisely involving one little local community for whom we designed this project and with whom we quickly saw that it could be applied and benefit many other school communities in urban areas, but also in rural ones, in age groups from children to teenagers and even adults or the elderly. We also believe that this is an initiative that has a high rate of implementation success, due to contacts and partnerships with municipalities and schools in populations with greater demographic density. In the case of Portugal, coastal populations have the higher demographic density, and the interior of the country has the low demographic density. Although these interior populations have more affinity for the exploitation of mineral resources, such as natural stones, knowing much less about other imported lithologies, thus benefiting from the implementation of this initiative.
The set of beneficiaries are the children, the school community, the local community, and the natural stone industry, particularly, foreseeing very positive impacts on these aspects:
Children (preschool):
•Color Discrimination
•Tactile sensitivity
•Fine motor skills
•Hand-eye coordination
•Perceptual continuity
•Problem-Solving Skills
•Creativity
•Geo-environmental awareness
•Early geological and mineral literacy
School Community:
•Subjects and pedagogical strategies for environmental and geoscience literacy
•New guidelines for teachers and educators to develop geo-environmental engagement
•New geo-didactic support – the geo-panel inside or outside the build
Local Community
•Beautiful infrastructure, with noble materials
•Comprehensive environmental awareness strategy for all
•Promotion of activities with other groups in the community
•Point of interest and local attraction
Natural Stone Industry
•Reduction of waste to be disposed of and corresponding waste logistical and landfill costs
•Development of a high-added-value by-product
The initiative involves different stakeholders from the local level to the European level.
Natural Stone Industry -our main partner is an Iberian company, based in Braga, Portugal(https://mercadodapedra.com/), committed to:
-supplying the natural stone waste (stone pieces and mineral waste sludge);
-supplying logistic data, waste costs, water treatment, and sludge production(storage fees, transportation fees, and landfill disposal fees)
-validating an innovative R&D strategy
Research centers and University
-our academic partner in Educational Science is the Research Centre on Child Studies(CIEC-UM; www.ciec-uminho.org), with an international scientific impact
-our partner in the architecture and design(product design) is the Escola de Arquitetura, Arte e Design(EAAD), in the same University, specifically the Advanced Ceramics R&D Lab(ACLAB: www.aclab-idegui.org).
CIEC and EAAD provided support to the initiative in the design phase, and they will be involved at the implementation moment, by:
-providing research subjects to Master and PhD students
-expanding the state of the art, research and innovation themes in the industrial ecosystem
In terms of 3D printing, EAAD/ACLab is focused on developing and scaling our innovative concept –“mineral velcro structure” which is a crucial challenge in terms of materials and operative processes.
In terms of environmental education(and geosciences literacy), CIEC is interested in creating guidelines for teacher training regarding the implementation and use of the geo-didactic panel.
Local Authorities, both villages and cities, coastal or inland, are committed to:
-providing space and support infrastructure
-giving visibility to their communities
- communicating and promoting an innovative initiative
(Pre)Schools are committed to:
-implementing the geo-didactic support
-training teachers/educators
-guiding new geo-themes and their pedagogical strategies
-attracting new students and capturing local curiosity
Geosciences and Big Data
Our raw material is a by-product of the Natural Stone industry, which implies: 1) the survey of the company's logistical movements (inventory, consumption, waste rates, and waste emission), and 2) the geological characterization.
For the first task, the company will undertake the database analysis - a powerful source of big data yet to be explored, and an aspect that our initiative can promote internally. Also, it could assess the circularity potential of natural stone wastes, in line with European recommendations for a modern and cleaner economy (EC, 2017).
The second task is the petrographic discrimination of the lithotypes available on the market, including exotic lithotypes. The lithotype selection ensures the didactic quality of the geo-panel and its pedagogical aptitude.
Educational Sciences and Geo-Environmental Engagement
Teachers are responsible for creating and developing environmental awareness. Among these concepts and strategies, we are also focused on values such as the Geological Heritage or the Global Heritage Stone Resource.
Co-creation processes allowed to develop our first prototype, specifically in the stone pieces selection and placement. Combining this with action-research methodologies will allow new pedagogical upgrades in future implementations.
Architecture and Design for Didactics
With an emphasis on eco-design, we choose additive or mixed manufacturing to test the integration of increased percentages of mineral sludge with ceramics or cementitious mortars.
Recent experiences have tested conservative percentages with encouraging results, following recent standards (ISO / ASTM52900-15). Some projects report unconventional paths of mixed modeling for printed connection components (3D Printed Connectors). Those prototypes suggest functional and structural solutions such as the one we intend to develop for the middle layer of the geo-didactic panel - the “mineral Velcro”.
Three-layer stratigraphy geo-didactic panel
The geo-didactic panel has an operational stratigraphy:
I. the base layer supports the panel vertically or horizontally, with classic materials such as iron, stainless steel, wood, or plywood.
II. the middle layer, functionally and productively more demanding, will be 3D printing to ensure the adhesion of the stone pieces.
III. the stone pieces, each one lithologically and petrographically unique, and prepared on the back side to adhere to the middle layer, either magnetically or by geometric fitting, macro or microstructurally.
Additive manufacturing and mineral velcro
Starting from traditional manufacturing processes, we will add innovation with additive manufacturing (3D printing techniques). Each piece of stone must be calibrated with low weight, must have smooth edges and vertices, and be either polished or have a diversified surface finish. The biggest challenge is investigating new forms of adhesion using 3D printing, integrating the mineral sludge waste. Using CNC programs, we will define 3D geometries to be printed in the middle layer and also in the stone’s back, such as a "mineral velcro".
Access to the uniqueness of natural stones
One of the most innovative aspects of our initiative is the singularity of each set of stones that compose each geo-didatic panel, given their petrographic and petrogenetic signature and the diversity of lithotypes of global provenance - classic and exotic.
Simultaneously, we present the natural stones available in the national market.
Learner-centered process and the geo-literacy gap
The set of natural stone pieces moves to form images of mountains, beaches, cities, or buildings. The child's imagination and/or the teacher's intention are the only limits! Each piece has many stories to learn from, and many reasons to play with! This is also an innovative model for the teaching-learning process, a learner-centered approach, changing the role of a teacher.
ReStone4Kids model or brand
Different companies from the Natural Stone Industry - regional, or european - could replicate the initiative, for which, in its physical component and namely in the intermediate layer, we believe we can register a process and product patent. The ReStone4Kids brand will hopefully be registered, and eventually converted into a university spin-off if the results of implementing the prototype that we want to promote prove to be economically viable. This will imply scaling up production and obtaining waste from other companies of the same nature as the main partner of this initiative.
Artificial intelligence methodologies
For the company's logistical processes, this initiative suggests an urgent need for data reorganization and processing. The model that we have been following, selecting the natural stone waste, can be an example and can be replicated. We have been preparing image acquisition procedures and data processing, to apply artificial intelligence methodologies, namely to classify the lithotypes and to identify the sizes of "useful waste", to turn into by-products. The validated algorithms can also be transferred to other cases of circular product revaluation.
Investment return and self-explanatory support
About the pedagogical component, it is possible to train teachers and educators transversally in geosciences content, as well as in pedagogical strategies to implement and explore the geo-panel. We believe, however, that this is a self-explanatory support, even more so if QR codes are fixed, which widens the scope of implementation among the community. In physical terms, it can be adapted to any pedagogical space whose interior or exterior infrastructure has floor or wall space for laying the geo-panel. In horizontal mode, the panel can be easily shared with other entities, for free, or by contract. Since it is modular and easy to assemble, it can be implemented in other spaces, making its use and exploitation dynamics.
The physical component, the geo-didactic panel itself, with its structure and stone pieces, was obtained by:
- identifying and selecting natural stone waste supported by industrial database (image and numerical data);
- classifying natural stones in their petrographic features, as well as the genetic and spacial provenance;
- finishing the stone pieces by stonemason, according to the eco-design principles - ensured by two partners in the natural stone sector, includes material and human resources in operative techniques such as carving or cutting, (water) polishing, grinding, and abrasion (sandblasting), fixing accessories. Concretely, the edges and vertices are aspects whose finishing requires a lot of quality and technical skills. It’s required tools such as chisels, hammers, mallets, brushes, pneumatic drills, wedges, and trowels;
- obtaining shapes and sizes, maximizing the use of waste and the lowest rework, using equipment such as a CNC cutting machine and a water jet machine, which runs CAD-CAM programs.
- 3D printing procedures by adding mineral sludge waste, the use of efficient content implies experimental approaches. Also, the (micro) structure geometry printed must be developed - an approach supervised by EAAD - University of Minho
The pedagogical component aimed at educators as well as students, with a specific teaching-learning purpose, or with a playful purpose, exploring the senses, motor coordination, and personal or interpersonal dynamics follows an action-research methodology and a co-creation approach.
A first prototype was produced by co-creation in a preschool classroom, based on:
1) situated in an education context “Atelier Ciência e Drama” and focused on a teaching-learning issue “build a panel with stone pieces”;
2) conducted by and for kindergarten teachers and the Atelier promoter.
3) creating a panel, with stone pieces combined by the child himself.
Quality Education and Geoscience Literacy Challenge
Locally promoting the environmental education with natural stones geo-didatic support, makes children, teenagers, and adults (teachers and educators) aware of both the source of mineral resources for companies and the natural geoheritage of communities. It also enhances the recognition of natural stones’ diversity and their provenances, so distant and culturally so emblematic.
Sustainable Schools and Communities
The investment generates a new educational infrastructure as the geo-didactic panel, produced by eco-design principles, and as an innovative result from the circular economy of local industries for local communities themselves, as a true ecosystem. This could grow to a global scale, wherever natural stone industries and educational communities coexist, benefiting from the knowledge of their resources and heritage.
The challenge of standards for new by-products
Regulatory compliance about a by-product based on geomaterials (waste and sludge from the natural stone transformation), has a specific scope of the pedagogical object - the directive equivalent of the toy ( Directive nº2009/48/CE) is currently under review. The review is based on the sustainability of chemical products and an assessment of current rules on the safety of toys completed in 2020, with national transposition (Decree-Law 48/2021, of 14 June). It should be emphasized that this review has particular protection in the valuation of our initiative, since it aims to protect children against the risks of chemical products, and the by-product geo-panel that is proposed has a strict mineral composition.
In more general terms, about coverings (where the geo-panel could be one of the possible subcategories), compliance with product standards for natural stone (EN 1469:2015 and EN 12326-1:2014) must be ensured, both as aggregate stone (EN 15286:2013) or ceramics (EN 14411:2012).
This initiative includes eight work packages (WP1 to WP8) (Figure and Table annexed).
WP1-Work Program Design:
-starting with prototyping in articulation with the scientific/industry entities,
-register a process and product patent of the developed structures, as part of a Spin-Off constitution.
WP2-Database systematization for waste recognition and natural stone selection:
-State of the Art of raw material consumption statistics.
-quantification, categorization, and selection of litotypes, usable in geo-panel production.
-waste percentages, issue of waste guides, and, by-product classification.
WP3-Petrographic, feature classification of waste:
-petrographic analysis of target lithotypes;
- sludge characterization to integrate into the geo-panel structure and its components.
WP4 -Co-creation as an exploratory approach in the classroom - Develop guidelines for teacher training as a strategies for sustainability engagement:
-characterize how kindergarten teachers' conceptions of environmental education and geoscience;
-analyze the potential of the activities selected or built by kindergarten teachers with full integration of geomaterials;
-submitted a first geo-panel to the GeoArt National Prize - obtaining a first prize.
WP 5-The actual moment with prototype tests takes into account the diversity of lithotypes, surface finishes, sizes, and typical geometries of waste:
-Test with additive or mixed manufacturing with sludge residues
-modeling surfaces and functional components of the geo-panel.
WP6-Implementation in different educational contexts of the geo-panel in its various prototype phases:
-Co-creation process of one or more product ranges,
-Outdoor and indoor version,
-urban and rural schools,
-Inland and Litoral regions
WP7 - Assessment of product conformity according to standards. Benchmarking; Business plan; Catalog definition.
WP8 - Life cycle analysis; Dissemination of results.
Nowadays, the challenge of educating for sustainability urges both learning agents and the community itself to promote new skills. This initiative was designed to address some of the key competences that make up the European framework, such as:
• the creation of the prototype and its validation phase involved problem-solving integration skills - the selection of natural stones, the shapes of the unitary element, its adhesion to the base of the panel.
• the first prototype proposal resulted from a co-creation process, where the interpersonal skills of the different specialties resulted in a successful first iteration.
• the versatility of the panel calls for implementation skills, based on information and rules for fitting stone pieces together, as well as strategic-thinking skills
• both environmental and geoscience awareness - resources and heritage promotes value-thinking as future-thinking
• the use dynamics of the geo-didatic panel, with an underlying geoscience content, the origin of natural stones and their logistical and cultural circuits develop systems-thinking skills.
All these competences are necessarily supported by basic academic competences, but go beyond them through the relational and illustrative level that the initiative offers to both children and educators.
