October 2024 Newsletter

Four New Teaching Resources!

-- Shraddha Sopar, Agency by Design Oakland 2019 Teacher Fellow

TEACHING ABOUT REPAIR


Announcing Four Resources
Newly Published by Grantees!

Regenerational Fashion Repair Series

The High School of Fashion Industries (HSFI) and Repair Shop collaborated to create an exciting multi-generational after-school program between fashion-focused high school students and New York City’s fashion industry experts. The objective was to generate a more sustainable fashion future across generations through sharing vanishing couture repair and alteration skills with students hungry to learn.

"The Repair Workshop Reference Collection" includes all the resources you need to launch your own program: slides with how-to’s, lesson plans, supply lists, budget forms, templates and videos.

Riot Refurb

Riot Refurb is a robust after-school program and classroom in South Portland, Maine, dedicated to repairing and refurbishing sidelined school devices. Equipment is then sold to support the program or donated to organizations serving under-resourced communities.

The diverse group of students and staff who created this oversubscribed program have now published a comprehensive guidebook offering advice and suggestions on curriculum, equipment, timelines, and processes. The "Riot Refurb Program Guide" is a terrific resource, covering everything from diagnostic steps, to e-waste disposal, to the ethics of repair.

Stitching Stuffies

WNC Repair Café collaborated with local public libraries to develop hands-on repair workshops for youth ages 6 to 10. Children worked with adults to repair their stuffed toys as a way of connecting sustainability concepts with their own lived experience.

Children learned to sew, resurrecting their battered toys, AND they learned that they, too, can take part in caring for the environment. "Stitching Stuffies" includes a lesson plan, workshop guide, best practices, lessons learned, sample promotional materials and parent waivers.

Computer Club

Alfond Youth & Community Center created an after-school program to teach middle school students how to repair and upgrade salvaged computers for donation to under-resourced families.

The class turns around teaching the technical how-to's of upcycling and repair, environmental sustainability and self-sufficiency. Super exciting. Check it out!!

AYCC created a "Computer Club Guide" to help others establish their own Computer Club. The popular program continues to expand in depth and breadth --> These six modules are just the beginning! Additional teaching materials will be added as they're developed.

More is on the way!

Three more resources from Grantees are expected in the Spring and Summer.
Stay tuned!

In the meanwhile,
Check out other resources in the ever-growing library!

 
 

The Culture of Repair Project collects and collates links to educational resources from around the world. Materials range from fully-developed programs to resources designed to support teaching about repair, such as toolkits, lesson plans, videos, maps, schematics, and more.

Please suggest additions!

 
 

CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL REPAIR DAY!

Saturday October 19th

 
 

International Repair Day is an annual celebration for everyone who makes repair happen in their communities around the world.

Every October we celebrate the power of repair to bring our communities together, reduce our impact on the planet, learn new skills and so much more. Whether you’re a fixer, community organizer, tinkerer, maker, repair business, campaigner or simply a fan of repair, there are lots of ways to join in.

Organized by the EU/UK-based Open Repair Alliance.
Find an event near you! MAP
Help Culture of Repair in cyberspace!

 
 

Can't Get Something Repaired and Want to Complain?

US-based Repair.Org is here to help!

"Have you struggled to get repair materials from a manufacturer? Do you have evidence that a company is out of compliance with a Right to Repair law in your state? We're collecting evidence of manufacturers who aren't giving their customers access to parts, tools, and documentation."

"If appropriate, we'll submit your complaint to the Attorney General in your state. But even if the company isn't technically out of compliance, your report will help us keep tabs on where repair regulations need to be stronger."

Don't just give up...

Complain!

Want to help do this work?
Opportunities to Get Involved!
In the East Bay, California and in Cyberspace



I look forward to hearing about more exciting repair programs, materials, and plans.

If it's broke, FIX IT!
Vita

May 2024 Newsletter

BUSD Earth Day 2024

Students learned about repair from Transition Berkeley at the Community Earth Day Fair — Hosted by Berkeley Unified School District's Climate Literacy Initiative (Spring 2024 grantee).


INTRODUCING THE SPRING 2024 GRANTEES!

Taking Repair Into Educational Settings

Fix-It Fest and Makerspace Classes
Berkeley, California

The Berkeley Unified School District Climate Literacy Initiative and Middle School Makerspace Program will collaborate to teach week-long repair units in the district's three middle school Makerspaces. The in-school work will culminate with community repair events - Fix-It Fests! - at each middle school in the 2024/2025 school year (September 28, November 16 and February 8).

Through hands-on experience with repairing items, including their own, this project will educate students and families on repair's role in environmental sustainability; teach strategies for approaching broken objects; and cultivate a sense of capacity to take care of our material world.
 

Mend Like a Scientist
New York, New York

Columbia University / Barnard College’s STEAM in the City program will develop the “Mend Like a Scientist Initiative” for K–8 science teachers in New York City schools.

In a pop-up workshop, participants will utilize the scientific method to experiment with adhesion between different materials. The workshops serve a dual purpose: to mend damaged items at schools to divert waste from landfills, and to imbue learners with a scientific understanding of why unique properties of adhesives impact their ability to repair materials.

The initiative includes the dissemination of “FixKits” with binding agents, as well as an open-source curriculum on scientific method experiments in adhesive repair, published in their library of Teaching Resources.

Sustainable Fashion Design
San Francisco, California

SCRAP will expand its new Sustainable Fashion Design program, which looks at fashion design through the lens of sustainability.

Geared to students ages 12-18 in under-resourced communities, the interdisciplinary fashion curriculum offers students a deep understanding of how the fashion industry impacts the environment. Students will be equipped with the vision and skills to mend, repair and construct garments, extending the useful life of their clothing as long as possible, while developing their creative expression.

The project is a collaboration with community organizations serving youth, including the YMCA and San Francisco Unified School District.

Fix Forward

Fix Forward
Rensselaer, New York

The Rensselaer Repair Café is partnering with the Robert C. Parker School and the Woodland Hill Montessori School to foster a repair mindset in K-8 schools through developing students’ interests, skills and confidence relative to repair. Grantee teachers are long-time Repair Café fixers and sponsor Repair Clubs in their schools.

The project will prototype mobile repair platforms — Fix-it-Carts — that are equipped with child-friendly, age-appropriate tools and materials, organized to meet the needs of children, and functional in a school setting. Grantees plan to create and publish detailed and practical lesson plans, examples and ideas for repair projects, and Fix-it-Cart building plans and supply lists. In this way, Fix Forward will design opportunities for children to develop their interests, skills, and confidence as they become the repair champions of the next generation.

Garment Repair and Upcycling Workshops for Teens
Los Angeles, California

Rediscover Center aims to bring fashion-forward upcycling and mending into libraries and similar public settings serving teens. In collaboration with the Los Angeles Public Library, Rediscover Center will develop workshop curriculum for garment repair, upcycling, and personalization.

Their materials will support creating teen-centered workshops in libraries and makerspaces, and will be published to Rediscover Center’s excellent catalogue of online resources of teaching resources.

Fix-It Shop
San Francisco, California

Repair in educational settings will have wide visibility in the Bay Area when the Randall Museum leverages their fantastic Woodshop, "Garage", and deep pool of maker-faculty to host a series of hands-on workshops on-site and at the Bayview Waterfront Park.

With the theme “Don’t trash it! Fix it!” and publicity primarily targeting youth, every Friday will be "Fix-It Friday" during five weeks of this summer's Randall on the Road off-site program. Workshop participants will be encouraged to see how they can apply creativity, basic skills, and on-line research to fix and renew a wide variety of household items.

Prior Grantees!

Visit the Grantees page to learn about other exciting initiatives by some truly amazing people. Then follow the links to their websites and get to know them better.

Educators!


Free materials to modify and use to get going quickly!

 
 
 

The Culture of Repair Project collects and collates links to educational resources from around the world. Materials range from fully-developed programs to resources designed to support teaching about repair, such as toolkits, lesson plans, videos, maps, schematics, and more.

Please suggest additions!

Educator Resources

 

Featured Resource

Repair What You Wear
Fashion and the Environment Education Project

Comprehensive, engaging, and high quality educational materials to take learning about textiles, clothing and their larger context into the classroom. Technical skills and information about mending, fibers, and dyes are complemented by resource-rich discussions of the environment, human rights, the circular economy and related topics.

Includes: lesson plans, learning intentions, materials required, research questions, ideas for further learning; extensive links to reference and supplementary materials. Developed to integrate into UK curricula but immediately relevant and adaptable to any school context.

Repair What You Wear also offers terrific Survival Sewing Skills videos for common mending needs -- jeans, buttons, Lycra, running shoes, and more.

A Waste Loop student celebrates a new fix in Leavenworth, Washington! (Spring 2023 grantee)

The Culture of Repair Project is currently focused on supporting teaching about repair in educational settings, and integrating the mindset, technologies, thinking skills, systems understandings, and value of taking care of the material world, into core K - 12 subject areas.

“Gear for a good time and a long time”


Rose Marcario - Former CEO of Patagonia
"Repair Is a Radical Act"
Read her excellent 2015 essay for a crystal clear statement about the relationship between repair and the environment, with an emphasis on the impact of the clothing industry.

Want to help do this work?
Opportunities to Get Involved!
In the East Bay and in Cyberspace

Check out other resources on the website.
And please suggest additions!

Practical and Technical Resources

Scholarship and Research

Mind, Body and Spirit

Worldwide Initiatives

 

I look forward to hearing about more exciting repair programs, materials, and plans.

If it's broke, FIX IT!

Vita

 

January 2024 Newsletter

New Grant Cycle this January!

 

Fixing ~ Tending ~ Mending

An Ethos Grounded in Care

It's winter and it's dark and it’s cold.

But this newsletter's being written on New Year's Day, in the afterglow of friends, families and communities marking the reemergence of life-giving light.

It IS possible to repair what's broken, and when we choose to repair, we shift our culture's values and capacities toward ones grounded in care.

 
 
 
 

The time has never been so ripe to teach repair, and to integrate the mindset, technologies, thinking skills, systems understandings, and value of caring, into core K - 12 subject areas.

 

INTRODUCING THE FALL 2023 GRANTEES!

This fall The Culture of Repair Project awarded grants to five terrific organizations that put forward exciting proposals to develop, advance, and document teaching repair in educational settings.

“ReGenerational Repair Certificate Seed Program”
The Repair Shop is collaborating with the High School of Fashion Industries in New York City to develop a multi-generational after-school program. Fashion-focused high school students will work with fashion industry experts and Garment District workers to learn vanishing couture repair and alteration skills. The project also serves as research for extending HSFI's sustainability program into a Repair Certificate.  The initiative includes developing a training and toolkit for designing and facilitating accessible hands-on repair workshops.

“Radical Mending at The WasteShed”
The WasteShed will develop a youth-and-child centered version of their successful Radical Mending adult program, which teaches textile repair skills and garment-based problem-solving on Chicago's West Side. The project includes developing and publishing a Curriculum Guide for incorporating Radical Mending into the classroom.

“Stitching Stuffed Animals”
WNC Repair Cafe, in alliance with Triangle Repair Café, will develop a program to teach about sustainability and the environment to 2nd-4th graders through mending. The intention is to make abstract environmental issues concrete to young students by connecting them with hands-on repair of something that matters to them.

The Weaverville NC project involves a series of workshops in which sewing specialists will guide young children through mending their own stuffed animals. The objective is to create a successful program that can be easily replicated, using the materials the project develops and publishes.

“Riot Refurb”
This high school program will train students in repairing and repurposing computers for distribution in its under-resourced South Portland (Maine) community. Riot Refurb will publish a Toolkit online, along with curriculum resources to support other educators in establishing like programs.

"Computer Club"
Alfond Youth & Community Center will expand its program for 3rd to 7th grade students in Waterville, Maine. The class teaches upcycling used computers, and learning about repair, self-sufficiency and environmental sustainability. Once repaired, computers will belong to the youth and their families in this under-resourced community. The initiative will create, document and publish a replicable model. As a combined YMCA and Boys and Girls Club, there's terrific promise for broad distribution across its network.

Spring 2023 Grantees

"Cascade Repairs"
Expanding its robust relationship with the local school district, Waste Loop is working with teachers to develop a pilot after-school repair program in Leavenworth, a small, demographically diverse community in rural Washington.

"Spreading Repair Culture"
Repair PDX is collaborating with Environmental Promoters and their local, urban high school in developing an after-school program with a culturally inclusive curriculum.

Environmental Promoters is a community organization committed to repair, recycling and waste prevention in Portland, Oregon. Once completed, materials will be posted online for others to use in similar settings.

"Repair:  Bring a Second Life to Objects"
We supported presenters' travel expenses for a fall workshop that explored repair as a part of the 6Rs — Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle.  Based on the Cultivating a Repair Mindset Toolkit, the workshop was offered at FabLearn 2023.

Columbia University hosted FabLearn Conferences bring together key influencers and thought-leaders from around the world in education, policy-making, academia, design, research, and maker communities to learn, present, and discuss digital fabrication in education, the maker culture, hands-on learning, and instructional tools.

ANNOUNCING THE SPRING 2024 GRANT CYCLE!

There’s only upside in bringing repair into K-12 educational settings, whether it be integrated into curricula across disciplines, a repair-centric after-school program, a component of a sustainability program, or something else. The opportunities for students learning through repairing physical objects are bountiful:  

  • Cognitive development, creative thinking, analytical and practical skills and more

  • Physics, ecology, economics, government, ethics, and more

  • Collaboration, agency, citizenship, and more

The times call for paying attention, seeing and leaning into the possibility and promise of repair, and supporting youth in learning how to take care of our world. That's why we’re excited to announce:

 
 

The grants program provides resources to K-12 educators and repair advocates who are teaching the undergirding of a culture of repair. Standard grant amounts range from $1000 to $5000. Exceptional projects will be considered for up to $10,000. Total funding for the Spring 2024 grant cycle is expected to be $30,000.

Applications will be accepted January 15 - February 15; notifications are planned for the beginning of April with funding released in June.

Important note: To be eligible for funding, grantees must be registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3), or be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3).

Visit our Grants page to learn more

 
 

The Culture of Repair Project collects and collates links to educational resources from around the world. Materials range from fully-developed programs to resources designed to support teaching about repair, such as toolkits, lesson plans, videos, maps, schematics, etc.
Resources are ever-increasing.

Please contact us if you know about something that should be added!

 

a Special Offering from our Friends at Craftsmanship Magazine

Be sure and check out the The Art of Repair, the Fall issue of Craftsmanship, a multi-media digital magazine dedicated to reclaiming craftsmanship’s principles of excellence, beauty, and durability as a pathway to a more sustainable world.

 
 
 
 

"In a culture addicted to novelty and fast profits, the humble art of repair has declined almost to the point of extinction. But it’s not too late: In this issue, we delve into the history of planned obsolescence, and the reemerging ethos of restoration. From the patient hands of watchmakers, piano restoration experts, and veteran appliance repairmen to the story of a young French woman who got her country to ban planned obsolescence, we’ll explore what it really means to create, maintain—and truly value—a world built to last."

 

Check out other resources on our website.
And please send us suggestions for additions!

Practical and Technical Resources

Scholarship and Research

Mind, Body and Spirit

Worldwide Initiatives

We look forward to hearing about exciting repair programs, materials, and plans.

If it's broke, FIX IT!

Vita

August 2023 Newsletter

To subscribe to this newsletter go to: Join our Mailing List

New grant cycle this September!

 


The time has never been so ripe for teaching about repair and for integrating the mindset, technologies, thinking skills, systems understandings, and value of repair
into core K - 12 subject areas.

 

We believe repair is a gateway for learning far more than how to solder and sew. While we celebrate students’ learning technical skills, our objective is more fundamental.

Here’s where we are:

The Earth is burning.
Repair directly reduces carbon release.

The World is reeling.
Repair empowers people.

The ecological, social and spiritual devastations of our era’s dominant extractive - hyper-consuming mindset are painfully obvious. Repairing our stuff keeps it in service longer, reducing our carbon footprint. Support for repair is surging around the world - Repair Cafés and other community repair events are wildly popular and Right to Repair policies are being embraced with overwhelming majorities in state after state, country after country.

The power of repair is something we can ALL deploy, and that's why we’re excited to announce:


On September 1st The Culture of Repair Project will
open the Fall 2023 grants cycle for proposals
to develop programs and materials for teaching
about repair in K - 12 educational settings.


The grants program provides resources to K-12 educators and advocates who are teaching the undergirding of a culture of repair. 

Standard grant amounts range from $1000 to $5000. Exceptional projects will be considered for up to $10,000. Total funding for the Fall 2023 grant cycle is expected to be $30,000. The final total amount granted will be determined by the applications received — the proposals’ requests, their number, and their quality.

Applications will be accepted in September; notifications are planned for mid-November with funding released in January.

Important note: To be eligible for funding, grantees must be registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3), or be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3). Alas.

 
 
 
 

The Culture of Repair Project collects and aggregates links to educational resources from around the world. Materials range from fully-developed programs, such as the three highlighted below, to resources designed to support teaching about repair, such as tool kits, lesson plans, videos, maps, schematics, etc.

 
 

“Make It Work!”
The "Make it Work" education packs center repair in teaching about sustainability.  The impact of the choices students make in their lives is highlighted throughout discussions about consumption, the circular economy, sustainable development, and the role of repair in caring for resources.

Published in Belgium by Djapo in collaboration with Sharepair, the two education packs offer learning outcomes, materials required, planning support, lesson plans, and activity pages, as well as background didactic materials. Designed for 10-12 year-olds, and 14-18 year-olds.

"Cultivating a Repair Mindset"
Grounded in research and iterative classroom testing, Agency by Design Oakland and Maker Ed created the “Cultivating a Repair Mindset Toolkit” in Oakland, California, USA. The Toolkit includes teaching strategies, tactics, and classroom materials, and a pedagogical framework for bringing repair into the classroom.

"Fixing Things for the Future" 
The Rudolf Steiner School in Munich, Germany published "Fixing Things for the Future" based on their student-run repair shop for 5th-11th graders. Centered on repairing objects, the program not only teaches diagnostic and hands-on skills, but also incorporates many aspects of repair relevant to students’ development as healthy and responsible citizens of the world.

Soon to be published in Spanish!

While you’re on the website, check out other resources.
And please send us suggestions for additions.

Practical and Technical Resources

Scholarship and Research

Mind, Body and Spirit

Worldwide Initiatives

We look forward to hearing about exciting repair programs, materials, and plans.

For the Future!

Vita

“If It’s Broke, FIX IT!”

May 2023 Newsletter

To subscribe to this newsletter go to: Join our Mailing List

Resource Alert!

A primary goal of the Culture of Repair Project is to ensure that educators and repair advocates have access to resources and support to teach repair in a robust way. We’re excited to highlight cutting-edge resources for teaching repair in schools and beyond, and to report on grants we've made thus far this year! 

 

Resource spotlight

 

“Make it Work!” - HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Repairing electronics and electrical devices extends their lifespan and contributes materially to a more sustainable future.

“Make It Work!” is an instructional pack that equips educators to teach youth about consumption, the circular economy and sustainable development; the role of repair in caring for resources; and the impact of the choices they make. 

This is an excellent turnkey resource for teachers that links repair to the environment.

Developed in Belgium by Djapo and Sharepair, the teaching pack includes learning outcomes, materials required, planning support, lesson plans and activity pages, as well as background didactic materials.

"Make It Work!" is free to download. Also available in French and Dutch.


"Fixing Things for the Future"

The Rudolf Steiner School in Munich, Germany, published "Fixing Things for the Future" based on their student-run repair shop for 5th—11th graders. Centered on repairing objects, the program not only teaches diagnostic and hands-on skills, but also incorporates many aspects of repair relevant to students' development as healthy and responsible global citizens. The handbook includes the program’s pedagogical grounding, conceptual design and structure, along with a step-by-step outline for establishing a repair class, practical resources and more.
This resource will be published in Spanish soon!

"Cultivating a Repair Mindset"

Grounded in research and iterative classroom testing, Agency by Design Oakland and Maker Ed created a rich resource for teaching through repairing objects, in Oakland, California, USA. The Toolkit includes teaching strategies, tactics, classroom materials, and a pedagogical framework for bringing repair into the classroom.

Toolkit materials were designed to be integrated into existing classes across subject areas to help cultivate in students the insight, creativity, and motivation to contribute toward putting what we value into working order.

"Cultivating a Repair Mindset" is available to download for free, and in hardcopy at cost.

Introducing Culture of Repair Grantees

The mission of Repair PDX is to spread repair culture. They’ve found that one of the most effective ways to do this with youth is by their tinkering and repairing items alongside experienced repair folks.

The project we funded is to design a culturally inclusive repair curriculum that’s relevant and effective with students at an alternative high school in Portland. The approach is to build on current Repair PDX initiatives, bring students into the center of the development process, and collaborate closely with a community organization committed to repair, recycling and waste prevention. By working together to repair household items, the skills, curiosity, and love of repair is shared between youth and adults.

“We will center students in the design so that it meets their needs and learning styles. The purpose is more than just tinkering and repairing items — we plan to incorporate where materials come from, how electricity works, values behind repair, and the circular economy. In doing so, we will actively shift from a culture of consumption to one of repair and intentionality.”

Waste Loop's mission is to inspire and transform local waste streams into sustainable resources. Their Cascade Repairs Feasibility Project aims to develop a robust and sustainable school-based repair program in the small, rural Cascade School District. Market research, networking with school partners, and establishing relationships with community repair partners will form the groundwork for a pilot program.

"Students will learn tangible repair skills that can be put to use by helping community members fix their broken items. This training and hands-on service experience will also help students develop and practice problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork. Integrating repair into education provides an opportunity for students to examine the concept of 'waste' and resources, and to grow a sustainability-focused mindset. Equipping the next generation with the mindset of waste reduction, the tangible skills of repair, and the life skills developed through problem-based learning will lead to a generation of young leaders ready to tackle the environmental problems of an increasingly complex world."

More Teaching Resources

Check out the Educator Resources on our website for mostly no-cost materials we’ve gathered from around the world, ranging from curriculum to lesson plans to teaching aids.

As summer approaches, we know educators are taking a much-needed break. We'll be back in August with more to share and a new grant opportunity for US nonprofits, so please stay in touch. 

Let's fix the future together! 
Vita

Want to know more about Repair?

Venture beyond this newsletter for information about:
~ Local, National and International Repair Initiatives ~
~ Technical, Educator and Research Resources ~
~ Private, Public and Non-for-Profit Projects ~
And more...

Join the mailing list: Mailing List
Volunteer at: Get Involved
Follow The Culture of Repair Project on Twitter: @cultureofrepair

“If It’s Broke, FIX IT!”

November 2022 Newsletter

To subscribe to this newsletter go to: Join our Mailing List

Special Issue Newsletter:
Teachers are Talking about Repair!

 

The Bottom Line:


Repair is a relational, practical, philosophical, spiritual and environmental imperative.

Remembering Repair is urgent.

Repairing our things is a stake in the ground for a creative and responsible relationship with our physical world.

 

We are inspired by the groundswell of people demanding information, materials and tools for repair, and repair-friendly product design. “Right to Repair” policies are sweeping the globe. Repair Cafés and other community repair events are popping up right and left. Repair is one of the tight circles of the “circular economy”, an approach to more responsibly managing resources increasingly adopted around the world. 

Consider these facts:

  • Education. Repair is a powerful gateway to learning and fosters cognitive and personal development; critical thinking and technical skills; and examining our role and capacity within our community, the environment, and the world.

  • The Environment. We MUST turn from hyper-disposability to lengthening the productive lifespan of the energy and material investment we make in objects. Repair keeps our stuff in service longer → carbon impact goes down.

  • Empowering Communities. While repair is aggressively opposed by way too many manufacturers, it benefits small businesses and consumers; creates local jobs; and helps everyone, across the political spectrum — rural, urban, and suburban communities can take care of themselves and each other.

 

we're super-excited to make two announcements:

 

I. The Fixfest 2022 "Repair in K-12 Educational Settings" Video Has Been Posted!

The October 1, 2022 online session offered an opportunity for individuals working to bring repair into educational settings to gather to share information about what they’re doing and how, and to exchange resources and ideas.

In 90 minutes of presentations and discussion we broadened our understanding of what repair in educational contexts might look like, addressing scope, objectives, implementation, relationship with other school subjects, and related topics.

It was clear that the session heightened enthusiasm for bringing repair into educational settings. We hope that that enthusiasm, coupled with the resources offered, will enable educators to more easily transform an interest in repair into actual programs.

Panelists included:
Transition Berkeley - Repair Training Class
Agency by Design Oakland - Cultivating a Repair Mindset
Rudolf Steiner School - Student Repair Workshop
PolicyLab Africa - Gifted Hands Hardware Repair
Janina Klose - Scholar of Repair in Education

For information about panelists, their programs and the materials they offer, as well as a link to the session video: "Repair in K-12 Educational Settings"

II. Two Excellent Educational Resources Are Now Available In Hardcopy!

We're thrilled to support the development and distribution of two new important resources, created BY teachers FOR teachers who are working to integrate repair into their learning environments. We see the momentum picking up around the world, with educators leading the charge.


"Fixing Things for the Future"


The Rudolf Steiner School in Munich, Germany, established an exceptional Student Repair Shop as part of their regular class offerings for 5th - 11th graders, and created a handbook to help other schools establish their own repair programs.

The school announced at Fixfest that the guide has been newly translated into English!

The class naturally teaches diagnostic and hands-on skills. Importantly, it also emphasizes essential aspects of learning that support students’ development as capable, healthy and responsible citizens of the world. The handbook includes the program’s pedagogical grounding, conceptual design, structure, a step-by-step outline for establishing a repair class, practical resources and more.

"Fixing Things for the Future" is available to download for free, and in hardcopy at cost. For information: "Fixing Things for the Future"

"Cultivating a Repair Mindset Toolkit"

Agency by Design Oakland and Maker Ed created a rich resource for teaching through repairing objects, in Oakland, California, USA. Grounded in research and classroom testing, the Toolkit includes teaching strategies, tactics, classroom materials, and a pedagogical framework for bringing repair thinking into the classroom.

The thinking processes developed through repairing physical objects involve looking closely, understanding how things work, investigating the interests that shaped objects’ design, and identifying points of intervention.

Those thinking processes support students’ cognitive and personal development, and are transferable far beyond simply fixing things. Toolkit materials were designed to be integrated into existing classes across subject areas.

"Cultivating a Repair Mindset" offers educators material to help cultivate in students the insight, creativity, and motivation to contribute toward putting what we value into working order.

The Toolkit is available to download for free, and in hardcopy at cost. For information:"Cultivating a Repair Mindset"

While you’re on our website, check out Educator Resources for mostly no-cost materials we’ve gathered from around the world, ranging from curriculum to lesson plans to teaching aids.

Repair is not new.
Planned obsolescence and prohibitions on repair are new.

→ Let's turn this ship ←

Want to know more about Repair?

Venture beyond this newsletter for information about:
~ Local, National and International Repair Initiatives ~
~ Technical, Educator and Research Resources ~
~ Private, Public and Non-for-Profit Projects ~
And more...

Join the mailing list: Mailing List
Volunteer at: Get Involved
Follow The Culture of Repair Project on Twitter: @cultureofrepair

 

"We" ~ I'm me, but usually write as "we" because everything I do is in collaboration with a fantastic community of public-spirited repair enthusiasts and educators. The work wouldn't happen without everyone pulling together.

That’s it for now.

Vita

“If It’s Broke, FIX It!"

 

February 2020 Newsletter

To subscribe to this newsletter go to: Join our Mailing List

In This Issue:

I. Berkeley Repair Events
Fixit Clinic, Mending, Repair Café

II. Repair in the Schools
Integrating Repair into Maker Programs

III. Tool Lending Library Featured
Repair in The Story of Stuff's New Video

IV. Repairability and Right to Repair
New York Times, Wall Street Journal and More

V. Sundry Other Good Stuff

I. Upcoming Community Repair Events

Fixit Clinic at Berkeley Public Library

Berkeley Public Library Fixit Clinic

Saturday, March 7, 2020
Tarea Hall Pittman Branch / Tool Lending Library
1901 Russell Street, Berkeley, CA 94703

Celebrating repair by conveying basic troubleshooting skills, Fixit Clinics are do-it-together hands-on, STEM-based explore and learn workshops for all ages. Clinics are staffed by volunteer Fixit Coaches who generously share their time, tools and expertise to consult with you on the disassembly, troubleshooting, and repair of items.

So bring your broken things -- electronic gadgets, appliances, computers, toys, sewing machines, bicycles, fabric items, etc.  Fixit Coaches will offer consultation, workspace, specialty tools, and guidance for you to disassemble and troubleshoot your item. Whether you fix it or not, you'll learn more about how it was manufactured and how it worked, ready to share your new-found confidence and insight.

For more event information:  Fixit Clinic page / Library page
To bring a broken item: Register
To volunteer to help repair items:  Coach
To volunteer to help greet participants, please register as a Coach and note that you'd like to be a greeter.

Mending at the Library

February 22, 2020, 1:00 - 3:00
Tarea Hall Pittman South Branch

"Bring your well-used and well-loved clothing and learn how to make simple visible clothing mends. The Mending Collective is a Bay Area artists’ collective dedicated to spreading mending practices far and wide. The collective supports creative mending as a subversively fun way to push back against the garment industry and deepen our connection with our wardrobe! Mending Collective co-founders Leeza Doreian and Liz Harvey will facilitate."

Fixit Clinic

While we focus on Berkeley and Oakland, Fixit Clinic hosts events around The Bay. We encourage you to check out other venues: Information

New volunteer fixer / coaches and greeters are always welcome!
Sign up HERE

Repair Café

Transition Berkeley's next Repair Café is in the planning stages. Swing around to their website or FB page soon for information about the next Repair Cafés in Berkeley.  Events will also be posted on our Community Repair Events page.

Their November Repair Café was a resounding success.  TB lead a collaboration with Cal students, Berkeley Technology Academy and Berkeley Independent Studies teachers and students.

Sixty volunteers worked with over 100 members of the community to repair some 93% of 91 broken things brought to the event - 621 lbs of perfectly functional goods didn't go to landfill. See HERE for a video of the event.

An important publication on the CO2 impact of extending the life of our things is reported on below.

 

Join The Culture of Repair Project VOLUNTEER POOL and we'll let you know about these and all kinds of local opportunities in Repair:

Get Involved

 

II. Repair in the Schools

Integrating Repair into Maker Programs - Local to National

With the conviction that it’s essential for youth learn to repair rather than reflexively trash and repurchase, and that there are vibrant synergies between Repair and Making, The Culture of Repair Project has been collaborating with Agency by Design Oakland and Maker Ed to explore integrating Repair into school Maker programs.

We reported in November that Maker educators from the two groups presented research and first generation tools at Maker Ed's annual gathering of Maker educators from around the world. 

Tools and strategies have been further developed and will soon be published in Maker Ed's open source Online Learning Library for maker educators.

Tools and strategies have been further developed and will soon be published in Maker Ed's open source Online Learning Library for maker educators.

Much of the work builds on the Agency by Design framework and tools from Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

 
 
 

It’s REALLY EXCITING to participate in bringing Repair into Maker education programs, and to see educators' enthusiasm about possibilities.

More information about this work is posted HERE at Maker Ed, and on our website at Schools.

 

Interested in helping in the classroom?
Join the VOLUNTEER POOL:
Get Involved

III. Tool Lending Library featured in The Story of Stuff Video

Check out a new video from Berkeley's own The Story of Stuff Project about The Zero Waste Movement, featuring BPL's Tool Lending Library.

"Borrow Tools and Repair Stuff at This Library!"

"The Zero Waste movement is spreading across the United States. Say NO to mindless consumerism, say YES to Zero Waste."

IV. Repairability and Right to Repair

In the face of technology companies' significant opposition, Right to Repair legislation failed in California last year.  It's not yet currently active but will be back soon.  We'll let you know when and offer guidance about how to support it.

Meanwhile, only 5 weeks into 2020 and legislation is already active in 17 states, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. See below for the tip of the iceberg.

 
Newspaper Name
 

An opinion published in The New York Times on November 20, 2019 by Captain Elle Ekman, logistics officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

"Here’s One Reason the U.S. Military Can’t Fix Its Own Equipment"


"Manufacturers can prevent the Department of Defense from repairing certain equipment, which puts members of the military at risk."

"A few years ago, I was standing in a South Korean field, knee deep in mud, incredulously asking one of my maintenance Marines to tell me again why he couldn’t fix a broken generator. We needed the generator to support training with the United States Army and South Korean military, and I was generally unaccustomed to hearing anyone in the Marine Corps give excuses for not effectively getting a job done. I was stunned when his frustrated reply was, "Because of the warranty, ma’am." ...

At the time, I hadn’t heard of “right-to-repair” and didn’t know that a civilian concept could affect my job in the military. The idea behind right-to-repair is that you (or a third-party you choose) should be able to repair something you own, instead of being forced to rely on the company that originally sold it. This could involve not repairing something (like an iPhone) because doing so would void a warranty; repairs which require specialized tools, diagnostic equipment, data or schematics not reasonably available to consumers; or products that are deliberately designed to prevent an end user from fixing them.

In the United States, conversations about right-to-repair issues are increasing, especially at federal agencies and within certain industries. In July, the Federal Trade Commission hosted a workshop to address “the issues that arise when a manufacturer restricts or makes it impossible for a consumer or an independent repair shop to make product repairs...

"How pervasive is this issue for the most powerful military in the world? And what does it mean for a military that is expected to operate in the most austere and hostile environments to not possess the experience, training or tools to fix its own very technical equipment? ... "

Visit The New York Times for the complete opinion:  a discussion of the implications of manufacturers' prohibitions to owner repair for military preparedness, and the relevance of Right to Repair legislation.

 
 

While you're there, check out last April 6th's Sunday Times lead editorial concerning Right to Repair:

"It's Your Phone.  Why Can't You Fix It Yourself?"

"When the tools of modern life stop working, people should be able to shop for the best price on repairs."

 
Newspaper Title
 

Matthew Kronsberg reports on right to repair and on reclaiming an idea we've lost touch with:  Buy for durability and repairability.  Published January 9, 2020.

"An Umbrella That Lasts Forever: How Much Would You Pay?"


" ... But this fall, when I brought [my broken backpack] into Patagonia’s shop on the Bowery in New York, the repair desk gladly accepted the bag and its issues with closure under its Ironclad Guarantee; a month later, it was returned, good as new, for the price of nothing...

"Consider that my bag was one of more than 100,000 pieces of gear the brand repaired last year—whether in stores, at its repair facility in Reno, Nev., or during 164 Worn Wear events Patagonia staged around the world—and the ecological impact of durability and repairability becomes apparent."

Read the full article HERE.

European Environmental Bureau (EEB) Report

The EEB published a report in September 2019 on the impact on the environment of short-lived products. Repair is central to extending products' useful lives.

 
EEB full report European Environmental Bureau
 

"Our analysis shows that extending the lifetime of all washing machines, notebooks, vacuum cleaners and smartphones in the EU by just one year would save around 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually by 2030, the equivalent of taking over 2 million cars off the roads for a year."

The full report including data, methodology and conclusions can be found HERE.
See especially page 16, recommendations to users and manufacturers.

More on Right to Repair
Go to our Advocacy page for resources about the issue, information about the movement, and guidance on how to get involved. 

V. Sundry Other Good Stuff

Fix-it Shops ~ An Endangered Species

This short video (5 minutes) by Dorothy Fadiman profiles a repair shop in Menlo Park, California. Though made in 1998, it's as relevant today as ever and offers easy access to considering the challenges  small repair businesses face.  Viable independent repair shops contribute to a vibrant local economy and a healthy community.

Synopsis:  "Fix-it Shops takes an affectionate look behind the scenes at a neighborhood business which repairs small appliances.  In this intimate portrait, viewers meet the people whose dedication, patience, and skills contribute to their own community. This form of “recycling” adds significantly to the urban ecosystem by reducing unnecessary waste in landfills."

 "Fix-it Shops ~ An Endangered Species"

Menlo Vacuum and Fix-It
1179 El Camino Real in Menlo Park
One of the last general appliance repair shops still standing in The Bay

Restart Radio

The Restart Project of London hosts an informative and surprisingly engaging podcast about repair.  Their Top Five of 2019 are posted here.

Want to know more about Repair?

Visit our website at The Culture of Repair Project for information about:
~ Local, National and International Repair Initiatives ~
~ Repair, Educator and Research Resources ~
~ Private, Public and Non-for-Profit Projects ~
And more...

Join our mailing list at: Mailing List
Volunteer at: Get Involved
Follow us on Twitter: @cultureofrepair

 
 

"We" ~ ~ I'm me, but usually write as "we" because everything I do is in collaboration with a fantastic community of public-spirited people. The work wouldn't happen without everyone pulling together.

That’s it for now.

Best wishes,
Vita

“If It’s Broke, FIX It!"

October 2019 Newsletter

To subscribe to this newsletter go to: Join our Mailing List

In This Issue:

I. Berkeley Community Repair Events
Repair Café - November 2nd
Fixit Clinic - New Programming in January
Fixit Clinic - March 7

II. Repair in the Schools
Integrating Repair into Oakland Maker Programs
Local to National

III. East Bay Mini-Maker Faire
Volunteer Help Needed
(and flashlights)

IV. International Repair Movement
International Repair Day October 19
FixFest in Berlin
Repair Advances in Europe

I. Upcoming Community Repair Events

Transition Berkeley / Cal Zero Waste Repair Café
Saturday, November 2, 2019
1:00 - 4:00 pm
Berkeley Technology Academy
2701 Martin Luther King Jr Way
Berkeley, CA 94703

Community members gather to help each other repair what’s broken!

Please register to:

  • Get help repairing your broken item.

  • Volunteer to help fix things.

  • Help host and support the event.

Registration and questions: info@transitionberkeley.org

This project is organized by Transition Berkeley and Cal Zero Waste and supported by UC Berkeley Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund and StopWaste.org.

 
 
Fixit Clinic at Berkeley Public Library

Berkeley Public Library Fixit Clinic

Saturday, March 7, 2020
Tarea Hall Pittman Branch / Tool Lending Library
1901 Russell Street, Berkeley, CA 94703

BREAKING NEWS: An expansion of Repair programming at BPL Tarea Hall Pittman / Tool Lending Library. Plans are in the works for BPL to host a monthly Fixit Clinic “Residency”, beginning in the new year. In a series of small evening workshops, a handful of volunteer fixer coaches will work with library patrons as they explore and hopefully repair their broken objects. More details to come.
Meanwhile: Volunteer Coaches welcome! Sign up HERE.

 
 

While we focus on Berkeley and Oakland, Fixit Clinic hosts events around The Bay. We encourage you to check out other venues: Information

New volunteer fixer / coaches are always welcome! Sign up HERE

Fixit Clinic is a do-it-together, hands-on, STEM-based fix-n-learn, community-based exploration and discovery workshop for all ages. Bring your broken object - work with a volunteer fixer / coach. Hopefully fix it. For sure, learn and have fun.

 
 
 

If you join our VOLUNTEER POOL we'll let you know about these and all kinds of local opportunities in Repair:

Get Involved.

 

II. Repair in the Schools

Integrating Repair into Maker Programs - Local to National

With the conviction that it’s essential for youth to Repair rather than reflexively trash and repurchase, and that there are vibrant synergies between Repair and Making, The Culture of Repair Project has been collaborating with Agency by Design Oakland and Maker Ed to explore possibilities in maker programs in schools.

This summer I joined a group of Maker educators to research and begin to develop strategies and tools for cultivating a "Mindset of Repair" in Maker education in the K-12 setting.

Much of the work builds on the Agency by Design framework and tools from Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Thank you Peter Mui of Fixit Clinic for contributing to our research.

BREAKING NEWS: This past weekend members of the Repair research group traveled to Pittsburgh, PA, to present at Maker Ed's annual Convening, a gathering of Maker educators from around the world.

Why Repair?

The group shared their research for the first time and engaged workshop participants in trying out prototypes of their new tools, including reworked versions of thinking routines from the Agency by Design research project. It was super-well received!

One team member reports: "The workshop was a big success, with tons of engagement, rich discussion, and great feedback!"

 
Tweet
 
Repair Working Group

It’s REALLY EXCITING to see so much energy around bringing Repair into the heart of Maker education programs.

More information about the collaboration is on our website - Schools - and will be posted shortly at Agency by Design Oakland and MakerEd.



 

Interested in helping in the classroom?

Join the VOLUNTEER POOL:

Get Involved

III. East Bay Mini-Maker Faire

The Culture of Repair Project will be joined by other Repair Advocates at the East Bay Mini-Maker Faire on Sunday October 27th at Park Day School in Oakland. We'll host a repair activity (fixing flashlights), discuss the imperative to fix our broken stuff, and talk with people about ways to get involved advancing Repair.

We could use a couple or three helpers. Also broken flashlights. Please email cultureofrepair@gmail.com if you're interested in volunteering and/or have a trove of flashlights you're ready to part with.

PLUS ... It's a really cool event.
You should go.

IV. International Repair

FIXFEST -- Berlin

Fixfest Berlin

The Restart Project of London reports: "We're still buzzing from a fantastic Fixfest 2019 in Berlin where we met around 200 organisers, repairers, activists and academics from around the world. We talked about all things community repair, from running individual events to bigger picture issues around driving culture change." More HERE.

INTERNATIONAL REPAIR DAY: October 19th!

A joint initiative of the Open Repair Alliance to promote repair around the world.

"We repair advocates want to make repair as visible as possible. This day highlights the value of repair and promotes global community efforts to fix the stuff we own."

Berkeley's own Fixit Clinic is a founding member of the Open Repair Alliance.

Repair Advances in Europe

On October 1st the European Commission adapted new rules relative to Repair. From the Commission press release:

"The Commission today adopted new eco-design measures for products such as refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers and televisions... For the first time the measures include requirements for repairability and recyclability, contributing to circular economy objectives by improving the life span, maintenance, re-use, upgrade, recyclability and waste handling of appliances." Full press release HERE.

Right to Repair -- Europe

While the Commission's new rules are a step in the right direction, they don't allow consumers to repair their own broken objects, only professionals.

In response, a new coalition was recently established among European organizations pushing for further system change around repair.

More on the European Right to Repair Movement HERE.

Right to Repair -- California

Learn about and sign up to support the California Right to Repair Movement at The Repair Association. Right to Repair legislation failed in Sacramento last April but will be reintroduced next year. Details on our Advocacy page and in future newsletters.

Want to know more about Repair?

Visit our website at The Culture of Repair Project for information about:
~ Local, National and International Repair Initiatives ~
~ Repair, Educator and Research Resources ~
~ Private, Public and Non-for-Profit Projects ~
And more...

Join our mailing list at: Mailing List
Volunteer at: Get Involved
Follow us on Twitter: @cultureofrepair

 
 

"We" ~ ~ I'm me, but usually write as "we" because everything I do is in collaboration with a fantastic community of public-spirited people. The work wouldn't happen without everyone pulling together.

That’s it for now.

Best wishes,
Vita

“If It’s Broke, FIX It!"