The Restart Project Podcast

We’re going on a repair road trip this month as we talk to Simon Frémineur and Jinny Uppington about their respective mobile repair initiatives. Travelling repair cafes are a popular idea in our community, with quite a few iterations popping up across the UK and abroad. We speak to our guests about the benefits of a mobile unit, including being able to reach communities who cannot access repair as easily. The Repair Café Mobile takes Wallonia Simon talks us through the origins of the Repair Café Mobile and the excitement that has surrounded it ever since he first pitched it to Repair Together back in 2017. What started as an idea for his final thesis project is now a popular mobile repair site that we loved seeing in person at Fixfest 2022. He talks us through the four stations of the trailer and how he adapted it to best replicate community repair events – which he’s now been able to take to around 100 events across Wallonia. The trailer boasts a whole range of equipment including tools, spare parts, and even a 3D printer! He also tells us about the ways he is considering expanding and altering the trailer such as, a bicycle version for use in more built-up urban areas. Reaching rural communities with the Fixy Bus Next, we speak to Jinny Uppington, Fixy Lead at Resource Futures. The Fixy van has been travelling all over Somerset to reach those in more rural areas and spread the word of community repair. Jinny tells us about the overwhelming popularity of the Fixy van, with its recognisable graffiti exterior that regularly gets spotted when out and about. Not only are they amplifying repair, Jinny tells us about the work that Resource Futures have been doing with Donate IT to tackle digital exclusion. Their tech amnesty initiatives have helped many residents in need, with the over 1,500 devices donated! She stresses the importance of partnerships for this project and it sounds like they have formed a thriving repair ecosystem in Somerset. Links: The Repair Café Mobile Watch: See the Repair Café Mobile in action The Fixy Project Watch: Learn more about Fixy [Feature image courtesy of Repair Together; Diagrams courtesy of Simon Frémineur; Le Repair Café Mobile by Repair Together / Simon Frémineur is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 92: Taking repair on the road appeared first on The Restart Project.

On 30th September, over 100 fixers, organisers, researchers, and more from around the UK came together for Fixfest UK 2023! This year’s edition was held in Cardiff and co-organised with our friends at Repair Cafe Wales. We spent the day sharing our experiences and expertise on how to build the movement and bring repair to the fore both locally and nationally. It was an incredibly supportive atmosphere, including a session on how to take care of yourself as a repair facilitator. In this episode, we wanted to share a taste of the conversations going on on the day. We spoke to 8 Fixfest attendees about how they’ve been uplifting repair in their communities, what they hope for the future, and how we can get repair on the government’s agenda. You’ll hear a host of different voices including: Clare Seek from Repair Cafe Portsmouth, and Nicole Barton from Cambridge Carbon Footprint from England; Elaine Brown from Edinburgh Remakery, and Jane Dixon from Share & Repair Network from Scotland; Phoebe Brown from Repair Cafe Wales, and Hayley Roberts from RE:MAKE Newport from Wales; and Chris McCartney from Repair Café Belfast, and Caroline McGuiness-Brooks from Repair Café Foyle in Northern Ireland.  Repair for Everyone On October 21st, we’re marking the seventh International Repair Day. The theme for 2023 is ‘Repair for Everyone’, we wanted to know what this phrase meant to UK organisers. It’s clear that accessibility is key to the answer to this question. We need repair to be affordable and abundant. This includes making an effort to start repair cafés in more hard to reach areas, and also making sure that we considering the global community in this movement. “They can come in, watch repair, get the confidence to do it and then make that a part of their lifestyle. So repair cafes are the future, as far as I’m concerned.” Hopes for the future We hear all about how the different organisations and initiatives are championing repair in their local areas but we also want to know what they hope will happen in the next five years. It turns out, our community has big aspirations. Many say that their main goal is simply to do even more of what they’re already doing – bringing repair to as many people as possible. We want to increase the reach of repair projects across the UK. And importantly, Chris emphasises the need to do this in a sustainable way, by finding new partners who can offer support and make repair cafés self-sustaining. Some want to use repair cafés as a vehicle to educate people and spread the message of climate action. What is probably the biggest shared aspiration is that of finding a permanent space for repair projects so the group took great inspiration from a visit to RE:MAKE Newport at the beginning of the weekend and a session on dedicated repair spaces. Almost everyone also wants to grow aspects of their operations, especially by incorporating borrowing libraries into their work. How can we engage politicians? Another exciting event at Fixfest UK was the unveiling of the new Repair and Reuse Declaration. It’s one of the ways we are taking action to make repair for everyone and demanding that the UK government support repair. Our guests share a host of ways that they’ve engaged their local politicians but what seems to work best is inviting them to an event, repairing something for them and really demonstrating the value of repair. “Befriend your local [politicians], get them in so that they can see what you do because once they see your repair cafés and they see what difference it makes to the community and to the environment, they’re going to be blown away.” If you want the UK government to take action on repair please sign the declaration as a group or organisation and encourage your local MP to do the same! Links: Read more about what happened at Fixfest UK Sign the Repair and Reuse Declaration What’s happening on Repair Day 2023 View the global map of Repair Day events (Feature image by Mark A Phillips, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) The post Restart Podcast Ep. 91: Voices of Fixfest UK 2023 appeared first on The Restart Project.

Pinball machines are whirring and circuitboards buzz as we talk to ‘super-fixers’ Rob Howard and Matt Marchant from the TV show Retro Electro Workshop, about the experience of making a show about retro repair and how to encourage more people to repair their things. Retro Electro Workshop features Rob, Matt, and Shamil (who you will remember from our episode about Armstrong Audio) as we watch them dig out broken treasures and repair them to their former glory.  The ‘warm buzz’ of repair It’s hard not to want to dive into repairing your stuff when you hear Matt and Rob talk about it. From the satisfaction of making an antique radio sing again, to the sensory experience of hearing clicking contacts and smelling electrical components firing, it’s clear that they live and breathe repair. The hosts share their favourite repairs from the show including an old pinball machine, wartime radios, and a very sentimental Pinnochio toy. But more than anything, Matt and Rob say it’s the process of repairing they love – no matter the final outcome (though the pinball machine did sound fun to play with).  The older, the better New isn’t always better according to Rob and Matt (and us). While they recognise the limits of old cassette players for example, a lot of older devices were built to last unlike more contemporary gadgets. They tell us about the time when receiving a service manual with your device was the default, and things were designed to be taken apart and repaired.  “I think people have sort of forgotten that a little bit. We talk about circular economy, we talk about sustainability. But there’s still a lot of people who just think the first thing that happens if their appliance breaks is just to bin it, rather than actually, well maybe there is a repair thats sort of cost effective and sustainable for it.” Nowadays, a lack of repair guides and the abundance of glued and teeny tiny parts means that the average person will have a very difficult time repairing their gadgets. Perhaps, having a go at fixing an older item thats been sitting in your attic is a good place to start. https://therestartproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Retro-Electro-Workshop-Ep5-Matt-Food-mixer-clip.mp4 Why not give it a go? An important lesson for any budding repairers is just give it a go – your device is already broken anyway! Of course don’t go sticking your hands into the back of a radiator, says Rob, but if you take the proper precautions, there’s nothing to be afraid of with repair. Both Rob and Matt believe that repair education should be built into the curriculum in schools so that people can keep repair in mind as a solution from an early age. They’ve already received many letters from viewers who either were inspired to dig out an old toy and fix it up to working condition, and hope that Retro Electro Workshop will inspire you as well.  Links: All episodes of Retro Electro Workshop are available to stream for free on UKTV Play Fix It Workshop Restart Podcast Ep. 52: Combining nostalgia with the new at Armstrong Audio [Images and video courtesy of UKTV’s Retro Electro Workshop] The post Restart Project Ep. 90: Meet TV’s Retro Electro Workshop ‘super fixers’, Rob Howard and Matt Marchant appeared first on The Restart Project.

In the final episode of our summer season, we talked to author and journalist, Oliver Franklin-Wallis about his new book entitled, Wasteland: The Dirty Truth about What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters. Oliver spent four years researching waste of all kinds, the people that handle it, and its effect on our planet. Having just conducted our own research into e-waste at a recycling centre, we were excited to learn about a more expansive view of the issue. The reality of recycling Oliver has been reporting on and thinking about waste for many years, from writing about Project Sword in China to the pollution of our rivers here in the UK. He’s passionate about making the massive issue of human-produced waste more visible to us. Off the bat, he shares some shocking statistics about the amount of waste that we, as a society, throw away each year. In the UK alone, this is ~1.3kg per person, per day. In the US, the number is even higher. Perhaps, more shocking than these figures is what Oliver calls “the foundational lie” of our recycling rate as a country. He is far from anti-recycling, sharing compelling figures with us like “an aluminum can that’s recycled, has a 95% lower carbon footprint than one that’s made of virgin materials.” But he points out that the way recycling rates are calculated in the UK is unhelpful in significantly reducing our waste output, substantially overestimating the amount of materials actually recycled. “In some cases, half of what we’re saying is recycled is not being recycled at all. A lot of the times we don’t know what’s happening to it when we get there. So, it’s insane to me that the government can be slapping us on the wrist for recycling the wrong yogurt pots or putting things in the wrong bins, when the reality is we don’t actually know what’s happening to this stuff.” We need more transparency in these processes and to better understand the value of our stuff and as such, put more thought into where it goes if we discard it. Oliver tells us about some ways that the government could more productively tackle recycling such as Deposit Return Schemes. What happens to our exported waste? While researching, Oliver travelled across the UK and the world including to Accra, New Delhi, and Fresno. He was struck by the differences between Global North and South in resources for treating waste safely and the role it played in each place. “Economic inequality, is at the heart of a lot of what we’re talking about when we’re dealing with waste, right? Rich people get to deal with it in an environmentally safe and fair manner, and the Global South overwhelmingly doesn’t.” It’s imperative that if we are to continue exporting waste to the Global South, that we ensure it is not harming the people that live there and the exporting of waste is done in a more responsible way. Positively, we also discuss how exporting what we call “waste” can often benefit those in countries like Ghana and India. The market for second-hand goods and the efforts put into repairing items means that much of the waste is reused. By looking at how clothing is resold in markets like Kantamanto, or electronics harvested by ‘burner boys’ in the now non-existent Agbogbloshie, and repaired in Accra. We could learn how to think about waste differently and in a more productive way. Repairing to reduce waste Oliver points out the way that Right to Repair uniquely benefits electronics users in places like Ghana. Here it is even more important that software updates and such are ensured for many years, as the lives of these electronics are being extended beyond their first user. We also discuss the huge issue that is ‘must-shred’ contracts and how an appalling amount of brand-new and usable tech is being shredded constantly. As it didn’t make it into the book, Oliver takes a chance to talk about his experience attending a Hackney Fixers Restart Party, praising the positivity and energy. He speaks about the sentimental value of repair and the way it strengthens our connections with our stuff, and unites people across the world. Links: Read Wasteland: The Dirty Truth about What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters The Guardian: ‘I spot brand new TVs, here to be shredded’: the truth about our electronic waste by Oliver Franklin-Wallis More on these topics: Restart Podcast Ep 29: Tracing global flows of electronic ‘discards’ with Josh Lepawsky [Feature images courtesy of Oliver Franklin-Wallis] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 89: What happens to your waste? with Oliver Franklin-Wallis appeared first on The Restart Project.

Have you ever binned or recycled something that was still working, or could have been repaired? The answer is likely, yes. Based on the results of our recent Waste Composition Analysis, conducted with West London Waste Authority (WLWA), it’s a habit that is even more common than we thought.  This March, we spent a week looking at small electrical products brought to the Abbey Road Household Waste and Recycling Centre, and analysed what could have been reused and repaired. In this episode, we tell you more about the results of this study. Ugo also spoke to Emma Beal, Managing Director at WLWA, about the state of recycling and reuse in the UK and what she hopes we can do to improve the e-waste issue.  From novel to normal When thinking about how to shift public attitudes to waste, Emma points out that once we work as a whole, change comes quite easily. She cites the non-existent practice of recycling three decades ago compared to how common it is now. As our waste problem grows, she believes that a shift to reuse is inevitable. And when people look back in decades to come, they will be incredulous to the fact that it was not always the norm. But how do we make it commonplace now? We need to rethink the definition of waste, as Emma states: “Waste is defined by the person who is not wanting it anymore…the regulation flows from the fact that it has been defined as waste. And it’s only wasted because it’s not wanted, it doesn’t mean it’s not useful, it doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.” We need to see our stuff as valuable, even once we don’t want it anymore. And this doesn’t just need to be done at council level but also within our communities. What’s happening in reuse? While we’d love to, we recognise it’s not possible to reuse everything. Repairing, and even just testing products takes time and money, and we also know that there isn’t the demand to reuse everything. For those at the receiving end, though, reuse is incredibly beneficial. We’ve seen this through our work donating laptops and running the Brent Fixing Factory with WLWA. And there are of course also huge environmental benefits. Emma tells us about their work monitoring the costs and logistics of reuse, in a hope to be able to scale it in a reasonable way.  She tells us about some of the other projects that are working to increase reuse such as, Manchester Renew Hub, reuse shops on waste sites, and our very own Fixing Factory. These initiatives are important not only in developing and testing ways to keep things in use, but also to make reuse more visible to the public. This visibility and communication is what Emma believes will really push reuse to become more popular with the public. Once people see how important it is, there’s no stopping it. Links: Read more about our case study: What a waste: our study shows almost half of electricals sent for recycling could be reused Fixing Factory West London Waste [Feature image by Mark A Phillips, licensed under CC BY 4.0.] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 88: Saving reusable products from the shredder, with West London Waste Authority appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month, we take a deep-dive into a local repair and reuse ecosystem. Brighton seemed like a great case study for this so we spoke to Victoria Jackson and Sam Jarman from Brighton Repair Café and Dr David Greenfield from Tech-Takeback, two of the amazing projects working together to reduce waste in the city.  A decade of repair with Brighton Repair Café Brighton Repair Café is one of the longest-running repair cafés in the UK, holding their first event all the way back in 2013. Victoria and Sam were both studying sustainable design at the time and were interested in the journeys that we take with our things, from their design inception, to when they break, to how we can reconnect through repair. They were inspired by the Dutch repair café model to hold their first repair session and since then, have been steadily running events around the city. They’ve also served as inspiration for more repair cafés popping up in Brighton and Hove and the surrounding area, and are part of the Community Repair Network.  Victoria and Sam share what they have learned from running repair events for so long, from de-gendering repair to making sure that its a fun and rewarding activity. They believe that repair is so rewarding that once someone has a positive experience, that’s all they need for it to snowball into something bigger. “It is quite experiential. So as soon as someone experiences that opportunity, we don’t have to do too much work in that respect because they understand how good they feel when they fix that object with the support of somebody else. They also understand how important those communities are.” It’s their hope that in the future, repair will become so popular that there will be a repair cafe in every town, university, and school. They believe that the knock-on effect of teaching young people about repair would be huge, especially with how many skills have been lost over recent decades. And they’ve already started this mission, working with a local university to set up a student-led repair café.  Repairing at Brighton Repair Café [Photo courtesy of Brighton Repair Café] Give and take with Tech-Takeback We then talk to David from Tech-Takeback, who were recent collaborators with Brighton Repair Café as part of Brighton council’s Circular Saturday scheme. Tech-Takeback began in 2016 as pop-up events in Brighton and London, expanding in 2020 into the organisation that they are now. They run RevaluElectricals, collecting unwanted and broken electrical devices from Brighton residents to hopefully give them a new life. David gives as a breakdown of some of their data including, the most collected devices and the massive amount of e-waste that has been saved since they started. 25,000 items have already gone on to have a second life! He explains their processes for reusing tech, it’s an elaborate process but worth it. Much of the collected items end up going to charities, being sold in the Revaluit shop, or being given away on Freegle. And while some items do end up being recycled, they are first stripped for useful parts and materials. “We need the government to start thinking about the metrics for reuse. Everything at the moment is focused on recycling…above recycling, we should be having refurbishment, repair, remanufacturing, reuse, and we should be having prevention.” Not only do Tech-Takeback reduce e-waste and provide affordable tech to those who need it, the data that they have gathered during their work has been incredibly informative for our own research and for the larger repair ecosystem.  Repair event at Tech-Takeback [Photo courtesy of Tech-Takeback]Brighton Repair Café and Tech-Takeback, are examples of projects that we need to have in every part of the UK. These aspirations though, need a lot of support, especially from the government and local councils. All of our guests agree that not enough is currently being done, pointing to Wales as an example of a truly bolstered repair culture. We hope to use the connections built and data collected by projects like these to inform our work and campaign for Right to Repair across the whole of the UK – and the world.  Links: Brighton Repair Café Tech-Takeback Restart Podcast Ep. 71: Fixing at Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement Community Repair Network [Feature image by Mark A Phillips, licensed under CC BY 4.0.]   The post Restart Podcast Ep. 87: Exploring Brighton’s repair and reuse ecosystem appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month we talked to author and communicator, Katie Treggiden about her recent book entitled, Broken: Mending & Repair in a Throwaway World. Katie has put decades of thought into helping creatives and makers become more sustainable but also forgive themselves when they can’t be.  Back to her roots Having grown up surrounded by nature in Cornwall, Katie tells us about her surprising origin story. She spent over a decade working in advertising before pivoting towards her life-long love of writing. With this, she also folded in a new interest – purpose-driven craft and design. Since then, she has explored what this actually means through writing dissertations, books, and hosting a podcast on the topic. With all this experience under her belt, she decided that she wanted to help makers develop their working practices to fit the circular future that we need to build. How craftspeople are using repair Katie has previously written about waste and reuse, and her new book Broken puts the focus on repair. She shares some standout case studies from the book of artists and craftspeople who are incorporating repair into their work. These include Celia Pym, Bridget Harvey, Ekta Kaul – all artists who explore repair in entirely different ways.  L-R: Work by Celia Pym, Bridget Harvey, and Ekta Kaul Katie notes her interest in the different ways repair can be used for example, as a tool to restore practical value, or to add artistic value, or even for self-care. We talk about where repair and hacking fits into the larger culture of craft, and more specifically the ‘craft of use’. She notes how much more difficult electronic repair often is compared to more traditional craft and making. This is especially true now that manufacturers make an effort to conceal the craftsmanship that goes into making (and therefore taking apart and repairing) our devices.  Letting go of guilt in order to move forward While individual action is of course important, system change is essential for the scale of the problem we are dealing with. When running her courses for creatives, Katie really focuses on this point as key to forward movement. Instead of being weighed down by the personal guilt of climate breakdown, makers need to be led by curiosity and experimentation instead of sustainability perfectionism. We all have a part to play in helping the planet, but it is not our responsibility alone.  “I think really until companies are responsible for the things they sell for their whole lifetime, repair is not going to be the norm.” Additionally, she stresses the need to be compassionate. There are so many reasons why people may not repair. These include social stigma, a lack of time or resources, or that their stuff is simply not designed to be repaired. Knocking down these barriers is not something anyone can do on their own, rather, we need collective action to change the system. Practising ‘defiant hope’ It’s difficult to stay optimistic about our power to enact change but Katie believes hope is one of the most important tools we have. There isn’t a one size fits all solution to being sustainable, but what can join us all together in our efforts is our common goal. “One of the most important parts of my job is staying hopeful and and helping to keep other people hopeful.” Links: Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure by Katie Treggiden Broken: Mending & Repair in a Throwaway World by Katie Treggiden Cultivating Hope in the Face of the Climate Crisis – a free three-part mini-course The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac [Photos courtesy of Katie Treggiden] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 86: Why repairers need hope, not guilt, with Katie Treggiden appeared first on The Restart Project.

This week we’ve been celebrating London Repair Week by highlighting the heroic repair businesses all over the city. Our directory of repair shops, LondonRepairs.org, was recently relaunched with a new dedicated website. Here you can find over 300 reliable businesses to fix your stuff. In this month’s podcast, we spoke to two of these repairers about their passion for fixing, the barriers to their work and what could revitalise the repair economy.  Meet the businesses Junaid Syed is one half of the team of brothers that run Holborn-based Saras Fix. Having grown up repairing and fixing computers in their mother’s school, they have a lifetime of experience to draw on when fixing customers’ electronics. He recounts a very memorable repair that he performed during the lockdown, when he had to take a risk that absolutely paid off and helped someone in need.  Junaid and his brother, Jawad at their shop Xenis Stylianou has been in the electronics repair trade for over 30 years and runs his business, Zen’s Electronics Workshop near Finsbury Park. Having learned his trade through training schemes and skilling up with different engineers, he explains how difficult it is to gain experience this way nowadays. He believes that a lot more support for professional repair is needed, especially in terms of training paths and apprenticeships, otherwise we risk losing these essential skills to time.  Xenis and Junaid repairing at their shops The state of repair today With so many decades of fixing experience, Xenis can give us a first hand account of how things have changed. Speaking on his area of expertise of audio-visual equipment, he tells us that not only has everything become harder to open, and therefore repair, but also products are being produced at much lower quality than in decades past.  “It’s a top down thing…over time manufacturers have actually reduced their build quality to come in line with the cheaper brands. And because now everything’s built to cost, the engineer at the other end repairing the equipment is not taken into consideration anymore.” Both Junaid and Xenis agree that the various barriers that manufacturers put on repair are not only affecting the operation of repair businesses but also the customer’s autonomy to make choices about their device.  Keeping repair alive So, if being a professional repairer is so challenging, how do they find the drive to keep it up? Xenis and Junaid care about their customers and reducing electronic waste. Junaid describes it as “giving back a second life to the broken devices which would’ve ended up in a landfill” and it’s an aspect of repair that he’s incredibly passionate about. He also regularly volunteers at repair events, donating his time and years of experience to help people learn to repair their own stuff. No matter if people want to try to repair their stuff at home or bring it straight to a professional, he stresses that London’s repair businesses are here to help.  Links: London Repairs Saras Fix Zen’s Electronics Workshop [Photo courtesy of Saras Fix and Zen’s Electronics Workshop] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 85: The local businesses giving your stuff a ‘second life’ appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month, join us for an expert panel on community-led high street repair! We gathered together Katie Bellaris from Re:Make Newport, Elaine Brown from Edinburgh Remakery, Sue Briggs from The General Store Selkirk, and Lorna Montgomery from Share and Repair Bath to talk about their experiences setting up high street repair projects in their area. We’re hoping that by hearing about their different operating models, approaches, and tips and tricks it will inspire some of you to support repair and reuse on your local high street.  The money question All of these ventures run with slightly different business models and approaches to funding their work. What they all agree on is the central role of generous donations from their local communities. Whether it’s financial donations, volunteering or donations in cake form, it all helps to keep them running. Sue also taught us a new term, referring to The General Store as a ‘repairmongers’, steadfastly placing themselves as a community institution. The General Store Selkirk [Photo courtesy of The General Store Selkirk] Reaching out We ruminate on how the location and demographics of each project’s local area affects the way that they operate. Whether it is the difference in affluence between Bath and Newport, or the remoteness of Selkirk in comparison to Edinburgh Remakery’s shopping centre location. What Katie loves about Re:Make Newport – echoed by everyone else – is the way that their shop brings people together.  “The essence of what we do is all about community, it’s about bringing people together. And I love being in the shop and the atmosphere there is electric. You’ve got people of all generations, all ages talking about repair and sharing tips and knowledge and the way that they look at repair and reuse.” Inside Re:Make Newport [Image by Mark A Phillips, licensed under CC BY 2.0.] What about you? So what if you want to start a project like this? Our panel say ask others for help. They’ve found that other people in the repair space are more than happy to share their expertise and experience. After all, we are all working towards the same goal of more accessible repair and reuse for all. We want a repair and reuse hub in every town across the UK. In London we’re starting with Fixing Factories and can’t wait to see where they take us. And in case you’re wondering about the cryptic comment in her introduction, in a previous life Sue played a murder victim on the TV show Taggart! Links: Re:Make Newport Edinburgh Remakery The General Store Selkirk Share and Repair Bath Restart Podcast Ep. 81: Launching the new Fixing Factory [Feature collage images courtesy of Mark A Phillips, The General Store Selkirk, Edinburgh Remakery] [Image by Mark A Phillips, licensed under CC BY 2.0.] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 84: Repairmongers, remakeries, and repair hubs appeared first on The Restart Project.

It’s been an ongoing question in our community of how to get young people involved in repair culture. In this month’s podcast, we were delighted to talk to students, Carl Mau and Beat Schneiderhan, and their teachers, Felix Lossin and Walter Kraus, who have a plan. Based at the Rudolf Steiner School in Munich, not only do they have a weekly repair cafe led by students but lessons on repairing are also integrated into their curriculum. And they have created a guidebook on how to start a student repair shop at any school. We spoke to them about this innovative idea and how it has been received by students.  Integrating repair Carl and Beat tell us about their experience being students of the repair workshop and how excited they are to share the opportunity with more schools. In addition to their weekly repair cafe, students who opt to study repair have up to four dedicated classes per week. They feel that the skills they are learning in their repair classes will stay with them for the rest of their lives, and in some cases seem much more applicable than more traditional classes. The ‘learning by doing’ ethos They describe the teaching method of the repair classes as “learning by doing”, often the students are encouraged to work without the assistance of teachers as much as possible. Carl points out that this has made him more confident to attempt repairs at home and he hopes that this mindset will carry on once he graduates.  “It’s the realisation that the students kind of lose their fear of something so easy. When they see how easy it is they get used to it and will repair for themselves. And every time something is broken, they are ready to try to repair it.” Fixing Things for the Future Finally, we discuss their guide called Fixing Things for the Future. It details how to start a student repair workshop from scratch, covering everything from tools to tutorials. Felix points out how important student safety is when operating one of these projects. The guidebook has an extensive section on how to keep students safe and help them confidently deal with electricals.  Beat hopes that in the future there will be a repair workshop at every school, in every country! If this sounds like something you could help set up, they now have an English version of the guide available for download.  Links Find the guide here Schueler-reparaturwerkstatt or here Culture of Repair Our Fixfest 2022 session with Fixing Things for the Future Last month, we spoke to a company introducing repair to even younger children – Restart Podcast Ep. 82: No need for new toys, we have Team Repair [Photos courtesy of Felix Lossin] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 83: Meet the students Fixing Things for the Future appeared first on The Restart Project.