Enhancing circular service accessibility for young people
Despite the growing interest in sustainability and environmental awareness – young adults find it difficult to fully embrace circular services. The Remore project, which has been granted funding from the Region Västra Götaland, will now collect, make visible and develop circular offers for clothes and shoes with the help of local center leaders and shops to make it easier to consume sustainably.
The challenge is no longer just an established consumer culture where young adults are shaped by a conventional view of owning and buying. Feasibility studies done within the framework of the project The circular shopping center of the future, initiated by Science Park Borås, shows that there is a desire among young people to act climate-smart – but that it is simply too complicated.
“We see that many young people think it is obvious to make sustainable choices but are not always willing to put in the time, energy and resources that may be required. With Remore, we want to work at the intersection between consumer behavior and companies’ circular offers and make circularity the norm,” said Adrian Zethraeus, Project Leader for Remore at Science Park Borås.
Message: Extend the life of your garments
Through collaborations with stores and local center leaders in Västra Götaland, circular consumption will be made available through ambassadors, stores that have come a long way with their circular offer and which already today focus on repair services, second hand or rental and sharing.
The goal is an increased range and diversity of services that extend the life of clothes and shoes. More shops and companies can join the initiative by providing repair services for claims, in line with The EU Commission’s proposal “Right to repair” which aims to promote the repair and maintenance of products.
“The shops that connect will receive common guidelines and communication materials with information about their repair services that they can use to educate end consumers about the importance of repairing clothes and shoes. In addition, a large communication campaign will be launched in social media, aimed at young adults, where we want to encourage extending the life of fashion items and raise awareness of sustainable consumption,” said Adrian Zethraeus.
West Sweden as circular predecessor
Young people’s consumption behavior is a significant factor in future climate impacts and the project therefore has strong support from both the region and politics. The goal is to position West Sweden as a forerunner in the circular transition.
“In Västra Götaland, we have goals to reduce the climate impact from our consumption, these are significantly greater than the territorial emissions. Therefore, it is positive that more sustainable alternatives are developed,” said Birgitta Nilsson, regional developer at Region Västra Götaland.
“Today, many young people want to consume climate smartly, and here there is potential for companies that want to be able to deliver a sustainable and circular product. The Environment and Regional Development Committee (MRU) wants to contribute to making it easier to find sustainable alternatives, therefore the project is granted to develop circular business models at several trading places in collaboration with the young,” said Madeleine Jonsson (MP), chairperson at MRU.
FACTS Remore was initiated by Science Park Borås as part of the initiative Textile Movement and extends between 2023-2025 with the support of Region Västra Götaland. The project is carried out together with the Gothenburg region and Visual Arena with partners from Borås TME, Gothenburg & Co, the West Sweden Tourist Board, local center managers, retailers in fashion and shoes as well as tailors and cobblers.
Text and photo: Vasilios Bartziokas