USED: An introduction to redesigning waste for a future creative and circular economy – The Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools

This paper introduces the rationale, frameworks and desired impact for a newly established lutruwita/Tasmanian-based creative enterprise titled USED: design=waste=design. This pilot project is decidedly Tasmanian-centric and aims to address waste and sustainability issues by linking the creative sector with new markets and networks. In lutruwita/Tasmania (and across Australia), waste continues to increase at unsustainable levels with consequences that adversely affect social, environmental, cultural and economic imperatives. In response, USED is aimed at developing pathways towards a circular economy that draw from design/creative practice methods. The project focuses on providing practical solutions for the use of problematic and ‘perceived’ low-value reprocessed industry, construction and demolition waste. Although in its infancy, USED’s ambition is to develop, apply and test new processes, materials and approaches for industry applications that provide genuine responses to a changing climate. In an initiative that positions the creative sector as fundamental to future waste mitigation and management, USED also involves a diverse group of Tasmanian designers, makers and creatives to engage with issues of waste together with industry, policy makers and the cultural sector and tasks them with developing new and transformative applications for recovered materials to evidence the value and viability of otherwise wasted resources.

About the author

Niklavs Rubenis

Niklavs Rubenis is a designer and maker interested in the intersection of craft, design, ethics, waste, and people with a specific focus on repair (objects, systems, communities). He has been involved with diverse projects spanning community, non-profit, commercial and cultural institutions, and has had work presented, exhibited and published nationally and internationally. Select funded past projects have included The Pet Project; Transformative Repair, Object Therapy; and Crafting Waste. His creative work is held in collections including the Museum of Australian Democracy, Australian National University and the State Library of New South Wales. Niklavs has a trade in cabinet making, a Bachelor of Visual Arts (hons) and a PhD from the Australian National University. He is coordinator of design and coordinator of object + furniture at the School of Creative Arts and Media, University of Tasmania.

Caroline Cumberbatch

Caroline Cumberbatch is an interior designer dedicated to an innovative mode of creative practice. For over three decades she has been at the forefront of the design industry and was previously Co-founder and Head Designer of one of Tasmania’s leading boutique design agencies, playing an instrumental role in designing a variety of iconic projects around the state as well as most notably the living quarters in Davis Station, Antarctica. She has been profiled in the media as one of Australia’s top interior designers. Today she works with private residences providing interior design services as well as researching best practice with an aim to disrupt harmful, entrenched practices and position interior design as an industry providing solutions to escalating environmental and waste problems.

Rohan Nicol

Rohan Nicol is an experienced artist with an international profile achieved through a hybrid practice spanning contemporary art, craft, design, and curatorship. His practice primarily focusses on the links between domestic living models (the home) and the impact of globalisation and change (consumption, materials use, distribution models). He has exhibited internationally, and since 2009 has secured project funding from the Australia Council and Australian Universities. Awards include the prestigious Bombay Sapphire Design Award. He regularly exhibits at peak venues in Australia and internationally. His work is held in regional, state, and national collections, including the Powerhouse Museum and the National Gallery of Australia. He is Associate Professor and Associate Head of School, School of Creative Arts & Media, University of Tasmania.