Future Island-Island rethinking the E-waste challenge: Design’s Dichotomy and Agency for Change

Small countries, under the correct conditions, can deliver high-level, prosperous innovation (Rae & Westlake, 2014). Future Island-Island involves design-led research to develop an eco-friendly approach for NI, through the lens of Rathlin island, by managing waste as a commodity and enhancing sustainable tourism through digital technologies.
Socio-cultural and commercial attitudes affect waste behaviour in NI (Power, 2021; Roy et al 2020, 2023) requiring sustained engagement and easy-to-use solutions, but require knowledge transfer and technological infrastructure. Design encompasses a broad array of working methods to tackle such a ‘Wicked Problem’, in particular the co-design frameworks of Transition Design (Irwin, 2015), Worldbuilding (Von Stackelberg & McDowell, 2015), and Systems Shifting Design (Design Council, 2022).
The E-Waste component of this research is bidimensional. First, through repair culture where the ‘life of objects’ has a value beyond their original use (Orapallo, 2019). Here, the materiality of E-Waste is considered alongside the thoughtfulness of ‘Silent Designers’ (Gorb & Dumas, 1987) within island communities. Secondly, a 3D print circular ecosystem is proposed from harvested waste plastics which has opportunity for offshore island settings, rural and city hubs through ‘village level fabrication’ (Pearce et al 2010) and domestic repair services within recycling centres (Oyinlola & Kolade, 2023).