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The Challenge

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How might we restore vibrancy in cities and regions facing economic decline? Read the challenge brief

Concept

Made In Our Streets Label (MIOS)

The purpose of MIOS concept is to connect abandoned spaces + unemployed workers + recyclable scrap under a label in order to transform these major problems as an opportunity.

  • Local scrap can be collected and reused in order to create local products
  • Abandoned places from each area could host a whole new recovery-reuse system
  • Local unemployed workers (or anybody really!) could use this system
  • The system could be run on a cooperative basis making participants independent Craftsmen

  • This label will carry strong values:

As nature, we invent ourselves with what we have around us.

For nature - Local for environmental issues

For human - Local to create jobs for our families and friends

We love collaboration – sharing – mutual aid

To celebrate creativity and uniqueness

Carrying and entrepreneurship support


  • When competing with other products imported:
No money used for material
No money used for transport
No money used for energy
No money used for communication
All the money the product is worth will go in a decent pay.


What resources (money, time, people, technology, etc) will your concept need to be successful?

1- Communication and business model: define the system, define clearly the label and the values, prepare a central website (need some time and some thinking)
2- Propose the concept to city councils in order to find abandoned places to be reused (1 dollar should be enough)
3- Rearrange the place. The system being designed to help unemployed people, it should be easy to negotiate welfare benefits changed into a grant. This money will be used for major rework and a minimum of tools to start the work.
4- Raw material.
A truck will go and propose their services to local communities. They will come and collect their old stuff, or people could pass by and drop off their old products.
Proposing the service will serve many different areas: enrolment, communication, raw material collecting. That's the good thing when things are local, it is so easy to communicate, and for people to understand the interest of the project. Families will give, or buy just because friends or family members will work as a MIOS craftsman.
5- Once craftsmen are joining and selling their first products, a percentage of this money will go back to the system in order to pay for new tools and keep the system rolling (employees to manage the system).
6- The place could have other revenues as well. We could imagine hosting technical workshops for schools, or other type of use for the site.
The workers as well could get extra revenue. This system, well accepted and bounded with the community could propose services at home (DIY, etc...)
When possible workers can repair instead of creating new products.
Unusable material can be sold for recycling.
7- Linking locally
Once it is rolling, an online learning community could be created in order to link local needs with local creation.
8- Linking globally
Then an online global community could share technical solutions or ideas regarding the workshop, and marketing, system, business solutions for the MIOS label.

How can your idea be scaled so that it's implemented in cities around the world?

This concept can be globally replicated with a strong label promoting locally made.
Being a global label it can be adopted easily anywhere pretty much like a franchise.
It can unify a mutual aid community and the system invention can evolve on its own (business – marketing – system issues)
At the same time any promotion can be mutualised.

Downloads

MIOS Concept: mios-concept.pdf

Comments

Join the conversation and post a comment.

December 10, 2011, 07:21AM
Great idea! Might I add the following?
- It would be worthwhile to investigate partnering or at least communicating with other organizations that already collect waste/trash/materials for use or sale -- both in order to take advantage of existing overflow as well as to avoid territorial issues. Some larger cities have building material reuse centers, and many small and large communities have thrift stores, scrap metal haulers, and other small entities working on similar goals.
- Similarly, explore connecting with existing organizations that do job training in craftsmanship-related trades, including unions.
- How will you choose pilot communities? (Open ended question!)
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 20, 2011, 05:35PM
Thank you Jennifer. I think you are right with possible partnerships. Actually, the more this concept is open to partnerships the better.
There are plenty of small entities with a similar goal. Maybe this concept could just be a Label and a way to relate or unite all the different entities (collecting, fablabs, repair, artists, etc...).
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 20, 2011, 05:50PM
Forgot to answer about pilot communities. Well, I believe some communities might be more disposed to make it work. Having all the right ingredients for examples. Do you have suggestions?
Jennifer Wang's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 22, 2011, 08:40PM
I think communities with the following "ingredients" would make good pilots:
- arts-, crafts-, and manufacturing-inclined human capital. former manufacturing towns?
- municipal government willing to innovate and appropriate space / zoning / accordingly
- strong community fabric, for word-of-mouth promotion. Could be in the form of neighborhood organizations, religious congregations, schools, etc.
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 25, 2011, 06:17PM
Thanx Jennifer.
December 09, 2011, 03:41PM
Really nice idea Jean-Luc.In Amsterdam are 2 Latin designers that are doing a similar thing, These women from Latin America have a totally different view on how we handle sustainability in the Netherlands, which gives great new views. http://www.lsdp.nl/
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 20, 2011, 06:04PM
Thank you Jeroen. I like the social aspect of their projects, and the way they create workshops to teach and empower people. From the comments on their blog we see that it is as well a great atmosphere and an excellent way for people to meet.
Jeroen Spoelstra's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 21, 2011, 01:32PM
They are really inspiring. I collaborated with them on school projects for the University of Amsterdam
December 20, 2011, 01:21AM
I think much like the Reclaimed in Detroit concept, there is a wonderful opportunity here to not only make use of local, recycled/reclaimed materials, but also to create sustainable employment through the processing of these goods.

Additionally, there's an opportunity to engage local educational institutions - a college for woodworking for example - where local students learn specifically how to repurpose different types of materials, and are given the opportunity to sell their wares via an Etsy-like site.
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 20, 2011, 05:23PM
Thank you Mat. I didn't know Etsy. It is great!
Mat Triebner's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 20, 2011, 07:32PM
You might also want to check out 3rd Ward - a cowork/cocreate/colearn model that could serve as a handy node in your chain. A 3rd Ward type entity could be a place for people to drop off reclaimed materials, learn how to reconfigure them in the workshop, and ultimately serve as a sales venue for those inclined.

http://www.3rdward.com/
December 14, 2011, 02:36AM
Brilliant idea.

Local space, local labor, local materials, local sales, local purchasers, continuing in a closed system.

This is something that could be driven by Cities. Especially by providing existing spaces, and by working with residents to separate waste flows.

Imagine Community pulp and paper drop off, textile drop off, metal drop off. Then these materials could be moved to an upcycler, who them sells them to local manufacturers, who then sell their goods locally again.

I honestly believe that the solution is local, and this is a great step in that direction.
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 20, 2011, 05:51PM
Thank you Carlo.
December 10, 2011, 02:30PM
I like this and think it's very reasonable to think that you could harness the momentum of the green/reuse movement to make this project successful. And I love the presentation of your ideas. Thanks!
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 12, 2011, 05:23PM
Thanx
December 08, 2011, 10:12PM
Great plans and sketches! I think that you would emphasize the part where citizens drive to your collection center and drop off their things. Partly to reduce the need for collection trucks going a route. And partly to make citizens come and see the "shop" often, where you display the products made. To make them see the value of the resource, and possibly make them want to buy some at the same trip.
Possibly you could also persuade citizens to dismantle and disassemble and separate different materials and parts and place them in different containers, to make them feel highly relevant and included in the process too!

(think of it as a reverse down-side-up IKEA-model, if that helps symbolizing my idea)

speaking about creative ways of getting revenue : I think that you could perhaps enforce a small fee, to be paid per weight or volume of the items that each person drops off. Perhaps not at the start, but after a while running the program, when you will discover amount and value of the parts that you will receive. To be fair, disposing of garbage costs money, so you shouldn't just accept all peoples trash for free, because not exactly 100% of collected items will be able to reuse, remodel, remake...

I hope you find some of this valuable! keep up the great work!
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 09, 2011, 09:23AM
Thank you very much Johan for those very constructive comments.
I definetly understand the down-side-up Ikea model.
I like the idea of asking people to participate and make them feel part of the whole project (dropping off things, dismantling).
And at the same time I believe we really have to go with the way people live now in order to infuse little by little new behaviours.
Your proposals, make me think, we could propose a real service (that could be paid for this one), to go and get the scrap at their place that would get the project rolling (real service, no need for people to change their habits, communication). And after some time, I believe we could propose people to participate exactly like you said in order not to pay for the disposing fees (if they dismantle).
What do you think about that?

I am still thinking about what you said about not accepting every garbage. I believe we can find an opportunity in here as well.
It makes me think that for some more valuable parts or products we could even propose incentives for the "dropper" (in a way it will contribute to the fame of the system).

Johan, I hope you can bounce on those proposals.
Thank you again for your ideas.
Johan Löfström's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 09, 2011, 10:16AM
thanks, i appreciate it, use my ideas and details to your liking. I feel no "ownership" of it, so go with what you think is best. But I would think you will be amazed about how many would ask to be able to come in and dismantle their stuff and sort it in respective container, just because they want to see more of the process.

this type of involvement and behaviour change was very fast in scandinavian cities that enforced recycling-collection-schemes very rapid pace. Many cities have now got even compost-collection, and return soil to residents at discounted price. And also the yearly garbage collection fee for residents is dropping because of the extreme reduction of trash being collected and thrown in landfills. That financial motivation is very good carrot!!!

Just try to design the process so there are several options open to change/adjust depending on participation and success rate! Best of luck!
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 09, 2011, 11:08AM
I like the idea of the carrot. Why not trying to work on individual carrots? The major problem with group behaviour, is that people always believe their little contribution won't make a difference.
Instead of paying them for their contribution to recycling with MIOS project, we could make arrangements with city council, and create a system of "Discount on Garbage Fee" points for every participant.
This way, you act for the community and see the impact directly coming back to you.
Johan Löfström's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 10, 2011, 08:08AM
But it is very memorable lesson to be at a recycling center to see many others also come and drop off their glass, metal, plastic, paper, wood materials in different containers. Both for young children and adults of all ages it is a fun experience.

I think that many individuals (within any type of group or demographics) can only relate to carrots and benefits that will serve themselves, in a direct way. If "the promised" award/profit is not paid to them immediately at delivery, they will start to loose faith in the good value of doing the deed. And start to distrust that their small action of returning their recyclable materials is doing any change at all in the grand scale.

Almost like trying to raise dogs, you need to show and give them instant gratification at a well done job!

What I meant with the garbage fee and tax, was that it is only a secondary retro-active result of the collection efforts. Sadly it is not really sticking in peoples memory for very long if their yearly garbage collection costs 200€ or goes down to 100€ (because most of the citizens started to recycle very meticulously in that year)
December 09, 2011, 10:27AM
Within this concept you might be able to get the city paying out a small symbolic fee to every person that drops off hazardous chemicals, for instance a thermometer or light bulb that got little bit of mercury inside them. That would influence some people to walk around to all their neighbours and collect many objects to drive and drop off larger batches at the same time. 25 cents per item?

Every tiny drop of mercury or cadmium that is collected safely instead of thrown out into the nature is a great benefit to healthy future. Less dead fish in the lakes, less dead trees in the forests and parks, better health for newborn babies...
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 09, 2011, 10:59AM
Very interesting! Thanx
December 08, 2011, 05:57PM
I like the concept. Repurposing locally collected junk is a great way to revive waste, create new products and train and employ craftsmen, and the MIOS label encourages local pride. I'm glad you've already noted the "Reclaim Detroit" and "Fablab" concepts because you have a lot in common and could probably work together in fleshing out a whole complete system. You may need to rethink some of the costs above, but the sentiment is on-track.

One question, because it's not totally clear above. You're talking about creating products for sale, right? There are a few hints, but I'm just making sure. The plan for distribution of proceeds to workers and reinvestment in the program and brand will be important.

As for global implementation, I think it would be great to be able to communicate which products are the most popular in different locations, and, like with the Fablab concept, to post designs for other cities to replicate. I know a lot of projects using trash as raw materials for consumer goods, but creating a connected network and open-sourced designs, best practices, successes and lessons for all to benefit from would be great.
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 09, 2011, 09:43AM
Thank you dave for your comments.
Yes, the idea is to sell the products, hopefully at a reasonable price otherwise it won't give that feeling of mutal help.
Regarding the plan for distribution of proceeds and reinvestment, it is not easy to go deeper into it yet. I believe to define the percentage of proceeds, it is a question of finding the right balance between time spend creating the products, and time spent helping the system taking into consideration product cost and system cost.
How long will it take a worker to create a product and how much can he get at the end of the month? Do we get extra help form open-source network to accelarate the process of finding new ideas?

How can we help those independent craftsmen create sufficient to get enough products sold at the end of the month without creating a taylored process?
Which kind of products can we get from this MIOS concept? Can we really produce necessity products for people to stop buying imported products or are we only creating a "charity" system where people would buy unnecessary or decorative things to help other people?

Here is they key I believe.
We want to change the way we produce and the way we consume at the same time.

Dave, thank you again.
December 08, 2011, 08:05PM
Great to see your thinking visualised here, J-L – especially that last one which shows the craftsperson journey (Keep in mind you can always re-order your images by hitting the Update Entry button up there on the right – incase you ever want to :^)
Jean-Luc Alfonsi's reply to Jennifer Wang's comment
December 08, 2011, 09:53PM
Thank you Meena, I will change that.
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