The Restart Project Podcast

We’re currently running a survey of our listeners. Please take a few minutes to fill it in so that we can make the content that you want to hear! Off the back of a very wet and dreary start to the year in the UK, we're bringing memories of sunnier times to all of you. For this episode, we spoke to Clare and Frank about the repair pop-ups that they — with the help of many volunteers — ran at two festivals over the last couple of summers.  Clare Seek is the founder of Share Portsmouth (originally Repair Cafe Portsmouth) and has been running repair events since its inception in 2018. Frank Schoofs founded Marlow Repair Cafe in the same year and has since also set up the Repair Finder. All this to say, that they have plenty of experience running community repair events and in 2024, Frank decided to take one event off the beaten track — to the Cambridge Folk Festival.  When inspiration strikes Frank was pushed to act by the seemingly endless piles of sleeping bags, tents, camping chairs and more that he had been seeing left behind at festivals because he knew that surely more could be done to help this massive waste issue. He did a bit of research and found that the local Cambridge Folk Festival was already doing a fair bit of work around sustainability. So, he pitched the idea of a repair tent at the next edition and that summer, it became a reality!  “I was like, that is a cool idea. Why aren’t we doing more repair out and about because I’m always into taking things out and about and especially focusing on young people as well. I think we need our future generation to be skilled up and excited about repairing things.” Clare, inspired by Frank's blog post on the experience, did her own research and connected with Boomtown Fair. She gathered volunteers from around 10 different repair cafes in the Hampshire network and they brought a ‘Reparium' to the crowd of potentially 80,000 people — a lot of them between the ages of 18 and 26. These huge crowds meant that for both repair events, they saw repair rates much higher than normal. Frank estimates that out of the 14,000 or so people that visited the Cambridge Folk Festival, they managed to help a whopping 10% of them.  Turning broken soles into gateway repairs Both Frank and Clare pointed out that visibility was key to the success of these repair pop-ups. They made sure to place their sites in areas of the festival with plenty of foot traffic, relying partly on people seeing the tent and then returning at a later date when disaster (aka a broken shoe) struck. Though they were both obviously well-prepared with tools and tape, it was a make do and mend attitude that prevailed for repairs over the weekend. Rather than the usual electricals that come to many regular repair events, they said that overwhelmingly the items being brought in were clothing, airbeds, sunglasses, shoes, tents, chairs, trolleys, and a few liquid damaged phones.  We expected that it might be hard to keep people engaged with repairs with so much else going on at these festivals but what Clare realised is that when there is no other option than to repair, people will really get involved in fixing their stuff. It also helped that a lot of the repairs were really simple, providing an accessible and quick introduction to repair that she hoped would influence people's future behaviour.  “In our culture, we’re not really told that some repairs are really simple…we’re often talking about electrical repairs and the barriers to repair, but I think in that festival context where it’s less electrical…some of this stuff is really simple and you can learn those skills and then you can keep using them.” At Restart, and in the repair community at large, we are always trying to find effective ways to reach new audiences — especially younger people. Frank shared that at regular events in Marlow, their attendees are predominantly 50+ years of age. However, at the festival, they helped younger people, families and people from all over the world, including visitors from a repair cafe in Belgium! What is most interesting perhaps is that at both festivals, almost all visitors to the repair pop-ups had not heard of a repair cafe before but absolutely loved the idea.  Clare believes the key to reaching these new audiences is about going to new people not expecting them to come to us. She has taken the same approach by recently bringing community repair events to the University of Portsmouth and connected with younger people on their level. This includes talking to them about campaigning for the Right to Repair and providing them tangible options to take action to tackle one of their biggest concerns, the climate crisis.   Tough tape and trickle down action In the same way that Frank originally inspired Clare to take community repair to new places, they both hope that listeners and organisers will be moved to do the same. They share some tips and tricks on how to get booked to repair at a festival, what the essential items are for mending and fixing on site, and how best to organise volunteers for these events. We also talk about what unusual places they might want to take repair next, including schools and workplaces. And the key takeaway for us: the volunteers loved helping out at the events and they're in high demand. And if anyone at Glastonbury Festival is listening, get in touch! Before we go, we also wanted to give an exciting announcement. This October will be the 10th edition of International Repair Day and to celebrate, our theme will be all about how repair unites us. We’re encouraging groups worldwide to throw a celebration — a repair festival if you will — to mark the occasion. This could be as big as a multi-day event with musical performances and more while people repair, or simply your regular repair event but run in collaboration with a new community in your area (think Scouts or a lending library). We can’t wait to share more in the coming months! Links: Please fill in our podcast listener survey to help us keep improving this show Read Frank’s original blog post about Cambridge Folk Festival BBC: The Boomtown repairers fixing campers’ broken gear Share Portsmouth The Repair Finder [Images courtesy of Clare Seek/Share Portsmouth and Frank Schoofs/Marlow Repair Cafe] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 104: We’re ready for a repair boom at UK music festivals appeared first on The Restart Project.

As the year draws to a close, we’re grappling with what a sustainable future really looks like against a backdrop of a more and more technology-based world. We’re told that the tools that we now have at our fingertips are making our lives easier, more streamlined but this convenience comes at a cost. There are organisations thinking differently though, like the Paris-based “Citizen Science Laboratory”, Atelier 21. On this episode, we speak to founder, Cédric Carles about the low-tech, frugal, and more environmentally-friendly innovations of old that they are raising from the buried past.  Cédric had values of sustainability, repairing and shared responsibility ingrained in him from an early age. That’s why, once he started working in the design space, he was less interested in creating new, shiny things to sell people and more interested in creating products that would elevate peoples lives and be built to last. While working to develop sustainable technologies and speaking to older colleagues, he realised that some of the ‘new’ ideas that he was having actually weren’t that new at all. And in fact, there was a whole history of innovation out there that he wasn’t aware already existed. So, at COP21, he took the opportunity of having environmentally-minded people from all over the world in Paris, at his fingertips, and started having conversations with everyone. In the last ten years, the Paléo-Energétique project has collected ideas around energy, water, transportation and more. A timeline for change This collection became the Paléo-Energétique timeline that is now a partial basis for their RetroFutur Museum in Paris. Cédric shares a few examples with us of some of the forgotten but groundbreaking innovations — the “gold nuggets” — that are included on the timeline. And the timeline is constantly growing, as the RetroFutur Museum has the potential to move to new towns, every time they do so, they work with local schools and archives to augment the exhibition to the innovations that they discover in the local area. “A lot of innovation was killed by the prices of energy. What we discovered is that a lot of crisis time was a really good time for innovation…during crisis there is no coal, no fuel and it is so expensive. But when the crisis is gone…we just forget all the stuff we have done with solar energy and alternatives…It’s time to not forget anymore.” The timeline serves as a tool to not only educate but to inspire. Cédric wants participants to have an “experience with the material” and see with their own eyes what is possible. It’s an ethos echoed in other Atelier 21 projects, like Solar Soundsystem where members of the public power a soundsystem by pedalling bikes. Many efforts for change are shot down by voices saying that a sustainable transition isn’t possible but Cédric says their work proves to people that it is possible because it has already been done. Inside the RetroFutur Museum [Credit: Atelier 21 Resurrecting and regenerating Atelier 21 are not just digging up old patents but are bringing them back from the dead. One of these is the RegenBox, a machine that can recharge alkaline batteries, making them reusable. It was inspired by the inventor of modern alkaline batteries, Karl Kordesch’s original patents for recharging them. So, they began working on “re-prototyping.” What resulted was their RegenBox and RegenStations which can diagnose the energy level in your battery and then, recharge it. And the best part… they’re repairable, both their software and hardware! They’re a perfect addition to community initiatives like Fixing Factories, sharing libraries or eco hubs. The alkaline battery is so ubiquitous, that an opportunity to reuse them could attract new visitors who may not yet be interested in repair. Cédric says that there are around 40 RegenStations and 3-4,000 RegenBoxes around Europe, resulting in an estimated 100,000 batteries saved just this year. And next year, with the help of communities like ours, he wants to up that number to one million. The “treasure trove” continues to grow The timeline contains many, many innovations which you can read about and explore. This also means that there is plenty of knowledge for Atelier 21 to draw on and “re-innovate” on. Right now, they are exploring work extending the lives of solar panels which notoriously get retired before their time, leading to e-waste. And Cédric shares that next year, they are launching Paleo-Water and will be collecting and sharing information on lost patents around water systems. Do you have a lost invention that you would like to add to the timeline? Let Cédric know! Links Atelier 21 Explore the Paléo-Energétique timeline RetroFutur Museum Solar Soundsystem RegenBox Featured image: Karl Kordesch’s patent from 1960 [U.S. patent 2,960,558: Public Domain] Episode uses: Video Game Death Sound Effect by harrietniamh [License: Attribution 4.0] and Power Up 8 Bit.wav by Mrthenoronha [License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0] The post Restart Podcast Episode 103: Resurrecting our low-tech and sustainable past, with Cédric Carles from Atelier 21 appeared first on The Restart Project.

With the end of Windows 10 on the horizon, we sat down with Nathan Proctor, Monique Szpak, and Neil Mather to work out what's next. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 102: We're saying no to Microsoft's wasteful end of Windows 10 appeared first on The Restart Project.

We spoke to author, engineer and communicator, Mark Miodownik about how he gets people excited about repair and his vision for a more repairable future. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 101: Engineering our repairable future, with Mark Miodownik appeared first on The Restart Project.

Spring has sprung in London and so have new repair initiatives! Shelini and Fiona tell us about two exciting projects. The post Restart Radio: London gets a new Fixing Factory and repair vouchers appeared first on The Restart Project.

In our 100th episode, we speak to four trailblazers of repair including, Martine Postma, Kyle Wiens, Cristina Ganapini and Mathew Lubari. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 100: Trailblazers of repair appeared first on The Restart Project.

Marjolaine Bert tells us about EKO!'s Low-tech & Refugees project and how repair and ingenuity can give vulnerable people life saving solutions. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 99: EKO! is changing lives with low-tech solutions appeared first on The Restart Project.

We dig into two new studies into reuse at waste facilities in the UK. We talk to James Pickstone about Restart's BREW report, and Sarah Ottoway about SUEZ's report into uptake of reuse options at their facilities. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 98: It's official, the UK needs more reuse options appeared first on The Restart Project.

For our August episode, we spoke to professor and writer, Shannon Mattern about her writing on the history of repair and repair manuals. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 97: Beyond the repair manual, with Shannon Mattern appeared first on The Restart Project.

We spoke to Restart's own Pascale and James, and Dr Kersty Hobson from Cardiff University about the Student Repair Revolution project and their learnings and hopes for the future of student repair initiatives. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 96: It's time for a Student Repair Revolution appeared first on The Restart Project.

We spoke to Libby Peake from Green Alliance about how we can get the UK government to act urgently to tackle resource and waste reduction.  The post Restart Podcast Ep. 95: There's hope yet for UK waste and repair policy, with Green Alliance appeared first on The Restart Project.

We spoke to Anna Scott from Keep Britain Tidy about their new report on how to better communicate reuse and repair to the public. The post The Restart Project Podcast Ep. 94: How to talk about avoiding waste, with Keep Britain Tidy appeared first on The Restart Project.

For our final episode of the season, Ugo and Fiona sat down for a chat about the year that was 2023 and what they foresee in the future. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 93: A 2023 Restart Retrospective appeared first on The Restart Project.

We're going on a repair road trip this month as we talk about mobile repair initiatives, the Repair Café Mobile and the Fixy Project. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 92: Taking repair on the road appeared first on The Restart Project.

Get a snippet of the action at Fixfest UK 2023. We interviewed 8 attendees about the state of repair in the UK and what they hope for the future. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 91: Voices of Fixfest UK 2023 appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talked to Rob Howard and Matt Marchant from Retro Electro Workshop about making a retro repair show and how to encourage more people to start fixing. The post Restart Project Ep. 90: Meet TV's Retro Electro Workshop ‘super fixers', Rob Howard and Matt Marchant appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talk to Oliver Franklin-Wallis about his book, Wasteland: The Dirty Truth about What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters.  The post Restart Podcast Ep. 89: What happens to your waste? with Oliver Franklin-Wallis appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talk to Emma Beal from West London Waste Authority about how we can promote reuse over recycling, and save working devices from the shredder. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 88: Saving reusable products from the shredder, with West London Waste Authority appeared first on The Restart Project.

We take a deep-dive into the Brighton repair and reuse ecosystem, speaking to Brighton Repair Café and Tech-Takeback. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 87: Exploring Brighton's repair and reuse ecosystem appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month we talked to author and communicator, Katie Treggiden about her recent book, Broken, and how makers can become more sustainable.  The post Restart Podcast Ep. 86: Why repairers need hope, not guilt, with Katie Treggiden appeared first on The Restart Project.

We mark Repair Week by spotlighting Saras Fix and Zen's Electronics Workshop, just two of the businesses that you can find in London Repairs. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 85: The local businesses giving your stuff a ‘second life' appeared first on The Restart Project.

Join us for a panel on high street repair! We hope that hearing about their approaches will inspire you to spread repair in your local area. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 84: Repairmongers, remakeries, and repair hubs appeared first on The Restart Project.

In January, we spoke to a teacher and students from the Rudolf Steiner School in Munich about their student-led repair cafe. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 83: Meet the students Fixing Things for the Future appeared first on The Restart Project.

At Christmas, we have toys on the mind. Team Repair tell us about their gadget fixing subscription - a perfect gift for any child.  The post Restart Podcast Ep. 82: No need for new toys, we have Team Repair appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month, we have an update from Shelini Kotecha and Dermot Jones about Fixing Factories and what's coming up following the Camden launch. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 81: Launching the new Fixing Factory appeared first on The Restart Project.

In this episode, we spoke to 7 Fixfest 2022 attendees about where repair is now and where they hope to see it in the future. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 80: Voices of Fixfest 2022 appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month, we had a handy conversation with some friends from our sponsor eSpares to answer listeners' questions about household repair. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 79: eSpares wants you to clean your filters appeared first on The Restart Project.

To wrap up our summer season, we're giving listeners a proper introduction to Restart's new(ish) Co-Director, Fiona Dear. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 78: Meet our new(ish) Co-Director, Fiona Dear appeared first on The Restart Project.

We're celebrating 10 years of Restart! This episode is an auditory snapshot of Restart, hearing from volunteers, friends, and the team. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 77: Reflecting on our first 10 years appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talked to Ben Wood, Chief Analyst at CCS Insight and Founder of the Mobile Phone Museum about historic phone design, repairability and consumer trends. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 76: Funky phones and durable design, with Ben Wood appeared first on The Restart Project.

On this episode of Restart Radio, Ugo Vallauri is joined by Fiona Dear and Shelini Kotecha to talk about the launch of Fixing Factories. The post Restart Radio: Introducing Fixing Factories appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month, we welcome back Aaron Perzanowski to the show to talk about his new book, The Right to Repair: Reclaiming the Things We Own. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 75: The law and repair: it's complicated, with Aaron Perzanowski appeared first on The Restart Project.

We spoke to Nikos Souslous, Co-Founder of Ready Tech Go about the importance of digital access, their impact and how RTG is going to evolve. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 74: Why digital access is a right, with Ready Tech Go appeared first on The Restart Project.

Four months after its launch on Repair Day 2021, we spoke to four people involved in the repair network, Repair Café Aotearoa New Zealand. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 73: Repair Café Aotearoa New Zealand appeared first on The Restart Project.

As 2022 gets on the road, we spoke to Jenni Gwiazdowski, from London Bike Kitchen about bike repair and inclusion in cycling. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 72: Maintaining your bike and your community, with Jenni Gwiazdowski appeared first on The Restart Project.

We spoke to Mathew Lubari, a repairer from the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement. Lubari is the founder and a team leader at CC4D, an environmental initiative promoting repair skills. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 71: Fixing at Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement appeared first on The Restart Project.

As 2021 draws to a close, Janet and Ugo reflected on this precarious but successful year. Despite challenges, we have a lot to celebrate. The post Restart Radio: Reflecting on a challenging but successful 2021 appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month we talked to author and activist, Alice Bell about her recent book, Our Biggest Experiment: An Epic History of the Climate Crisis. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 70: An epic journey through climate history with Alice Bell appeared first on The Restart Project.

In celebration of Repair Day 2021, we held a webinar Q&A exploring consumption emissions, featuring Professor John Barrett. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 69: Exploring our consumption emissions with Professor John Barrett appeared first on The Restart Project.

We revisit an episode with photographer, Mark Phillips whose exhibition, 'Repair is essential' is showing in London until 17th October! The post Restart Radio Republished: Mark Phillips photographs ‘essential' repair appeared first on The Restart Project.

This month we spoke to Dr Karen Patel about her work on Craft Expertise, a project researching inequalities in the craft sector. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 68: Inequalities in UK craft and making, with Dr Karen Patel appeared first on The Restart Project.

We're revisiting some of our past episodes to reflect on how the repair community has been impacted by the events of the pandemic.  The post Restart Podcast Ep. 67: Reflecting on repair during the pandemic appeared first on The Restart Project.

We're on our summer break from radio this month but we would really appreciate if you can take the time to fill in our listener survey. The post Restart Radio: A small ask appeared first on The Restart Project.

In our final episode of the summer season, we talk to Kate Edwards about building with cob and why it is a really sustainable way forward. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 66: Ancient cob building, part of a low-tech future appeared first on The Restart Project.

Despite what the British weather says, summer has come around again and with it comes Restart's summer reading list! The post Restart Radio: Our 2021 Summer Reading List appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talk to Jessa Jones, founder of iPad Rehab about teaching herself logicboard repair, her fight against 'branded' repair, and R2R in the US. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 65: Saving memories and exposing ‘branded' repair with Jessa Jones appeared first on The Restart Project.

As businesses and community spaces are able to pick up operations again, we talk to Alys Penfold, Borrower Support Lead at Library of Things. The post Restart Radio: Borrowing boom at Library of Things appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talk to Abby Rose and Jo Barratt from Farmerama - a podcast that aims to share the voices and experiences of regenerative farming. The post Restart Podcast Ep. 64: Regenerative farming and rural tinkering with Farmerama appeared first on The Restart Project.

Revisiting our conversation with Loubani and Garapick on medical repair and reuse, we learn when intellectual property can be lethal. And we don't just mean for vaccines. The post Restart Radio Republished: When “intellectual property” is lethal appeared first on The Restart Project.

Robbie Gillet from Possible talks to us about the Badvertising campaign, which seeks to stop harmful adverts contributing to the climate crisis.  The post Restart Podcast Ep. 63: Badvertising – when ads promote fossil fuels and overconsumption appeared first on The Restart Project.

Following Greenland's election, we're revisiting our interview with Autogena and Portway about their documentary, ‘Kuannersuit/Kvanefjeld'. The post Restart Radio Republished: Greenland's election and Kvanefjeld mine appeared first on The Restart Project.