(1.3) Workshop Series: Circular Crafts

How can craft-based knowledge form the foundation for circular design?
How can resource-efficient processes, cultural grounding, and future-oriented thinking be meaningfully connected?

The Circular Crafts workshop series invited participants to explore craft practices through new lenses – stretched across time, place, and value, and in dialogue with the principles of a circular economy: Slow – Narrow – Close. It created a space for exchange, reflection, and collective exploration among craft practitioners and designers working with their hands.

At the heart of the series was the Circular Crafts Canvas – a hands-on tool designed to help identify, reflect on, and integrate key aspects of circular economy thinking into one’s own practice.

The Slow – Narrow – Close framework, introduced by Nancy Bocken and her research team in 2016, served as a foundation for the sessions. Rather than offering quick fixes, the model fostered deeper engagement with craft values, principles, and design agency.

Participants were encouraged to share their own experiences, ask questions, rethink processes, and situate their work within a future-oriented design framework. The series centered on openness, shared values, and a desire to learn from one another.

The sessions built upon one another to form a continuous learning journey, and participants were encouraged to attend all dates. The workshops were held in German, with support for English-speaking participants provided where possible.

The series was organized by the Hof der Kulturen at the Volkskundemuseum Wien in collaboration with the Institute of Design Research Vienna (IDRV) and co/rizom.