KA152 - Fix the Future: Youth Repair Culture for a Circular Europe

Today, replacing has become easier than repairing: a cracked
phone screen, a torn pair of jeans or a broken cup is often treated as a reason to buy something
new. Even smartphones are increasingly replaced every year, not always because they stop
working, but because the newest model has become a symbol of status. In only a few years, this
habit can cost as much as a major life expense for a young person.
The project questions this throwaway culture not only as an environmental problem, but also as an
emotional and economic one. When we replace everything too easily, we also lose our sense of
care, memory and responsibility towards the things we own. Inspired by Japanese ideas and
practices such as ‘’taru wo shiru’’, knowing what is enough, ‘’mottainai’’, avoiding waste,
kintsugi-inspired ceramic repair and visible mending, participants will explore repair as a creative
act of care.
Through repair cafés, visible mending workshops, kintsugi-inspired activities, consumption diaries,
cost-of-replacement exercises, swap sessions and upcycling labs, young people will learn how to
give objects a second life while reflecting on the real cost of constant replacement.