The Right to Repair European campaign was launched during this workshop! The branding and website were revealed, as well as the social media channels and we invited participants to sign up for campaign related updates on the website.

The main policy demands of the campaign both at EU and national level were presented:

1. Include smartphones in the Ecodesign regulations
2. Have national register for independent repairers
3. Have a real and unbiased repairability index to provide consumers with all the relevant information at the moment of purchase

The European Environmental Bureau also shared the findings of their latest report about the climate cost of disposable electronics.

As the Right to Repair European campaign aims to be co-created by activists, the second part of the session was dedicated to work in small groups on 5 different topics:

1. Actions: let’s be creative and make the campaign disruptive and unforgettable
2. Collaborations: what other networks and campaigns should we reach out to?
3. Toolkits: what would be useful to engage the repair community?
4. What data/report would you be interested in seeing?
5. Other

The outcome:

1. Actions: what should we do?

• Changing mindset of consumers => “your e-waste footprint"
• Boycott low repairability scores products => a label such as the ones for food?
• International Repair Day => agenda setting by symbolic action: e.g. decorate all the statues with spray painted tools and release a press release
• Naming and shaming of non repairability (e.g. HOP)
• Video & song & visual => e.g Norway “buy more, throwaway” which is ironic
• Lasting visual impact = memorable impact
• Making repair economically attractive
• Second hand spare parts catalogue

2. Collaborations: who should we reach out to?

• Makers movement
• Local women or workers groups that have events in their communities
• National and regional waste management companies
• Union for Engineers
• Influencers (to reach groups who buy electronics: middle class)
• Media (national but also local)
• Open source software advocates
• Environmental organisations with a broad outreach
• Circular city map
• Union as a promotion partner (“more repair = more jobs”)
• Tool libraries (repairability should be inclusive: price + accessibility to tools)
• Government, start up community, manufacturers (Rebate program (economic incentive) for repairable products )
• Rural areas (not just the city)
• Repair holidays to collaborate with local repair businesses (repair business trade show)

3. Toolkits: what should the campaign provide?

Print:

• Map templates (for repair shops)
• Cards with key messages (but we discussed how to prevent throwaway - wallet-sized? designed to share among friends?)
• Fanzine
• Posters
  • with links to the campaign for use during events with QR codes
  • educational poster to be left at recurrent venues (repair cafes etc)
  • “Fixed” or “Repaired” poster with campaign branding and/or slogans

Online:

• Branding kit (easy + modular)
• How-to materials:
  • Media
  • Invites to policymakers
  • Petitions

One thing we didn’t have time to discuss (because of fire alarm): guerrilla DIY materials. Stencils, stickers, chalk designs, projection-mapping materials…

4. Data: what research should we do?

• Tax and Public costs associated with production & waste treatment of products
• Historical analysis of spare parts costs/new products costs compared to average lifespan of products
• Papers presented @plate to connect the academic & NGO community, use research to compare campaigns
• CO2 and resource used by products
• Costs of premature obsolescence => how much money would consumers save/year thanks to longer lasting products
• How much companies make for every product -> that isn’t repaired vs they repair (overcharge compared to independent repairers)
• Carbon footprint of your product every year of use or after it’s refurbished instead of repaired.
• Production cost vs price of spare parts
• Unsuccessful repairs (by pro @ consumers) => collaborative analysis of repair viability
• Transparency on the cost of labour and price of spare parts
• Residual cost of product / repair
• Quantifying how much money saved by consumers if self repairing

5. Business: how do we build connections?

There are different perspectives on what would repair economy would look like (e.g. between manufacturers and small repairers).

Identify who would be the losers and the winners and focus on the latter.

• Hospital associations
• Large data operators
• Agriculture => farmers association
• Chamber of commerce => Identify a business that could become a right to repair advocate
• Marketing departments of producers and manufacturers
• EPR associations (Weeforum website)

In northern countries, most businesses are owned by a family or part of a cooperative

=> Try to target cooperatives or consultancies that provide them with support on circular economy, stakeholder advice etc)

Independant repairers ("good at fixing, bad at business”):

• We need to frame the debate as if these organisations are pushing for change
• By identifying those who are good at communications, provide them with support and put them forward in media and comms: “opportunity to protect their industry"
• Constant events so they stay interested