Faro

Project

268659

Status

Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

Faro

Full concept/idea title

Description

Faro is an authentic motivational system that questions the automatisms of mankind related to the rejection of material. The main goal of the proposed project is to motivate and inspire the public to sort and reduce waste in cities and educate the young generation in the field of a circular economy in order to achieve an environment without waste as one of its main components.

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

Project Faro is based on the analysis of the changes that have occurred over time in the relationship between man and material. The main goal of the proposed project is to motivate and inspire the public to sort and reduce waste in cities and educate the young generation in the field of a circular economy. For this purpose, a widespread technological principle in symbiosis with a design Object is presented. The waste bin as a highly approached design object in the public area allows sharing a short but strong message by the use of a Quick Response code. By scanning the QR code, an app will launch on the user's phone giving them a few fast questions about waste – if their answers will be correct they will get a reward (discounts for various cultural events, tickets for public urban transport, or your favourite locally made products from the grocery store and many more, depending on what a city wants and can offer you to keep you learning about waste. The app would promote certified, sustainable, and locally made products only. This way, manufacturers will have to make some effort towards sustainable solutions to appear on the app list. The user will learn and profit from the use of the app and influence the production supply chain. The design of the recycling bin resembles a road cone in its shape, expressive colours (based on the collected material), and in addition to the main function of the recycling bin, it works also as a visible obstacle pointing to one of the main problems of mankind.  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

Based on analyzes of mixed municipal waste (Slovak Institute of Environmental Policy, 2016), we know that components with the highest weight fraction are paper, multilayer combined packaging, plastics, glass, metals, and metal packaging. The goal of the environmental policy strategy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 is to achieve a better quality of the environment and a sustainable circular economy using as few non-renewable natural resources and hazardous toxic substances as possible. To achieve the goal, Slovakia plans by 2030: to increase the recycling rate of municipal waste to 65% and to reduce its landfill rate to 10%. As a global issue, environmental sustainability has been one of the fastest-growing areas of human-computer interaction research in recent years. The potential of using technology to promote environmentally sustainable behaviour and environmental awareness among individuals has been explored. Findings suggest that awareness-raising leads to self-reflection and reassessment (eg. reduction of food waste). Motivating individuals to overcome the "easiest option" (reject) in their behaviour and perform a more demanding task (recycle) is the challenge of the proposed system. The amount of packaging waste is constantly increasing. Packaging waste is generated throughout the supply chain but ends up as waste, especially at the final consumer. Recycling today is not profitable, which makes it cheaper to dump material. By raising awareness of the impacts of waste through the app and subsequently influencing the production supply chain, materials that are not being recycled to the required extent could be significantly disadvantaged. On the other hand, locally made products with packaging responsibly designed to be recycled at the end of their lifecycle could be promoted. These products will therefore contribute to the lowering of CO2 emissions from the transport of goods.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

At the end of the 19th century, no household products designed and manufactured specifically for the holding or disposal of waste were sold. The mechanized production, the "material boom", and the increasing pace of life have changed the relationship between man and material. Waste has become a matter of course in public spaces. The issue of sustainable production and consumption is still on the margins of social interest. Waste disposal behaviour that occurs with high frequency often in the same contexts happens without conscious evaluation. The way we perceive the "thin-walled container intended for things that can no longer be used or are unwanted" has not changed since its invention. In terms of experience, I started to reflect on how a container in its shape, material and positioning in the environment could change the user's perception. The way we treat the unwanted must be disrupted. To bring a change, I believe, users must be well informed, educated and at the same time motivated to do so. Information has a key role to play in the coming revolution for sustainability. As a carrier of new content, new rules and goals, flowing through a new communication channel to a new addressee, the information should be relevant, convincing and strong enough. It is true that any system will start behaving differently when its information flows change. Inspired by the past, I focus on bringing about change shortly by the use of modern means. There are a large number of types of waste bins in public spaces which, in addition to meeting the requirements for production, durability, and maintenance, are intended to be unobtrusive. In my view, a problem that needs to be solved collectively as soon as possible must be visible. Faro disrupts the automatic subconscious identification of a container as a waste bin and, by its unusual nature, gains the interest of the public and invites them to discover its function.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

The means to achieve the goal - the transition from chaos to order in the current space-time in terms of waste generation and littering, are to raise awareness and support subsequent intentions to change behaviour. The aim is to achieve change both at the level of individuals and at the collective level. When individuals are unsure of their behaviour, they consider other people to be an important source of information for their own behaviour. At the same time, they are motivated by a desire to gain social consent and avoid rejection. The greater the importance of collectivism for the individual, the less they will perceive recycling as an inappropriate activity. The designer has a significant influence on the appearance of the world. Sustainability, circularity, aesthetics and inclusion should be considered the foundation pillars of each project being proposed for a post-postmodern and post-pandemic generation. Project Faro was designed as my bachelor's thesis in studio Balaz at the Institute of Design of the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. The studio is based on independent intellectual research and concept development with Star Status Philosophy, Open Sphere Strategy and Authentic Design Essence. Through a series of international science and art conferences in cooperation with the Umelka gallery and support of the Slovak Union of Visual Arts, an interdisciplinary discussion was led focusing on topics as Design and Society or Action Centric Design. Star Status Design activities are open to new "star" connections in order to guarantee progress towards pre-established criteria for sustainable design solutions.

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

Up to 45% of the world's population owns a smartphone able to read QR codes, while up to 65% of Slovaks. The proposed reward system can be easily adapted for the specific needs of a city or a country. In the case of efficient use of the application, the second step could be tracking the personal amount of waste for a predetermined period (done by scanning the barcodes that currently characterize each product placed on the market). Sufficient anonymous data could lead to the identification of specific products with the highest weight fraction in municipal waste. The use of these products might be limited through regulations. A public database of products should motivate the manufacturer, in order to make his product still desired by the consumer, to approach responsibly to his product in terms of production, distribution, consumer experience and recycling. Project Faro changes the perception of a bin in the public environment. The recycling bin becomes an object approached not only to throw away packagings but also to gain some of the benefits in exchange for education. The design is intended to last until our unconscious behaviour of waste disposal becomes a conscious act. In my view, it is the first step that needs to take place as soon as possible in order to achieve a future where the environment could be seen without waste as one of its main components.

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

In order to promote the designed solution, there will be a request for a meeting with the mayor of Bratislava to consult the idea for its further development. If any of the proposed solutions will be approved for testing, the prototyping phase will begin. There will be a call for participants from different fields (Urban planning, IT, Sales and Marketing, UX/UI Design...) to join the Star Status Design initiative to prevent deficiencies in the proposed system. In terms of the product design process and manufacturing different solutions will be evaluated based on the ecological footprint of the design, its price and the life cycle of used materials. Public online surveys will help to set the right user experience and user interface of the App. The project could have a high reach on consumers through social media. Any form of promotion that causes unnecessary waste production or high rates of energy consumption will not be an option.   Project Faro was presented at The Festival of science - European Researchers' Night 2020, a project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 101036038. The presentation of the project starts at 25:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myl1WF34iFY&ab_channel=NocVyskumnikovNocVyskumnikov

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.