A-GAIN GUIDE
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
The A-GAIN GUIDE shows all Berlin citizens the most efficient, sustainable & creative ways to repair, upcycle, recycle, rent out and pass on their used clothes locally.
The first digital platform of its kind, developed with open-source coding by NGO Circular Berlin & social business LoopLook, informs consumers in a playful way about how to prolong the life of their clothes. The beautifully designed integrated tools indicate the best suited reuse services & initiatives close by.
Geographical Scope
Project Region
Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
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Description of the project
Summary
The A-GAIN GUIDE is a digital platform for the city of Berlin. It aims to contribute to a positive change in the way used clothes are handled in fashion culture and its industries, especially in the urban context: Cities are responsible for 50% of the worldwide waste occurrence. As their populations will further grow, the usage of resources is increasing simultaneously. That is why the A-GAIN GUIDE helps to extend the lifespan of clothing and to transfer textiles into closed loop cycles on the local level.
The platform shows consumers the most essential ways to repair, reuse and recycle their unwanted clothes in Berlin. It consists of three main elements:
- The MAP provides as online mapping an overview of Berlin-based contact points and service providers for textile repair, upcycling and recycling services. The MAP's filter function selects which shoemakers, alteration tailors, used clothing containers, second-hand & vintage stores, rental services, upcycling designers, workshops are best suited in the immediate environment.
- The GUIDE tool is built as an intelligent questionnaire that guides users through a series of questions and proposes individual solutions for an item or a whole bunch of clothing, which means users can receive tailor-made solution suggestions.
- The DATABASE is crucial for the collection and evaluation of relevant data, which can help the city to build up essential infrastructures and measures to become more circular.
Through the A-GAIN GUIDE, relatively unknown SME services and innovative as well as classic ways of textile reuse are made visible and accessible.
The website and its elements are jointly developed by the non-profit organization Circular Berlin and the social business LoopLook under an open source license to provide the opportunity for other non-profit initiatives or municipalities to implement the same principle and thus strengthen the textile circular economy at root - on a national and international level.
Key objectives for sustainability
Key objective (KO)1: Waste reduction.
The A-GAIN GUIDE wants to increase the proportion of used textiles that can be saved for reuse and thus reduce the amount of communal textile waste generated in cities. The repair, reuse and recirculating of clothing are strongly promoted by the platform, showing citizens the best options to keep their clothes in use as long as possible and thus avoiding them to be directly landfilled, incinerated or sent overseas. In this way, it makes a significant contribution to the achievement of the Berlin Zero Waste goals 2030.
KO 2: Sustainable consumption & CO2 reduction.
The inevitable change towards a circular system for textiles can especially be achieved with the direct involvement of consumers. Their demand determines the industry's supply and influences the future development of the fashion industry. The A-GAIN GUIDE aims to educate consumers in a fun and playful way about how to prolong the lifespan of their clothes and thus to actively reduce CO2 emissions, which occur during production or disposal as well as the use of natural resources.
KO 3: Strengthening the local ecosystem.
Giving visibility to local independent businesses, the A-GAIN GUIDE promotes and strengthens the local economy. The filter on the map and the GUIDE tool show the closest options to the user and thereby it helps them to avoid long transport routes, reduce CO2 and support their local ecosystem.
KO 4: Creation of valuable data.
In addition, the analysis of the platform-generated data is supposed to close information gaps in regard to textile waste streams and to help the city in investing in new infrastructures and technologies.
Altogether, the A-GAIN GUIDE leads the way to refocusing global circularity onto a local level and involving citizens by offering them tangible information and a representative platform.
In return, valuable information is received for further sustainable development steps to be taken by municipal decision makers.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
KO 1: Appealing design.
The A-Gain Guide is characterized by a geometrical structured landing page, designed in large squared boxes, defined topic areas and clear communication. The whole design reflects a sleek, urban-creative and modern aesthetic in a fresh and friendly color palette that is highly attractive for the younger generation as well as for a more mainstream audience. The “stitched” illustrations highlight the overall thematic context of the platform. The fashion topic is highlighted by pictures kindly provided by upcycling designers. The MAP as well as the GUIDE tools are smoothly functioning and showcasing information about Berlin’s service providers in simplistic formats.
KO 2: The best User experience and adaptive user interaction.
The user is friendly addressed when entering the website, followed by an immediate introduction to the website’s unique content and opportunities. The landing page and the unfoldable menu bar give immediately an idea of what to expect when scrolling down or navigating through subpages.The website and its tools are designed to offer personalized information to the user and promptly react to his/her needs by a responsive adaptation, thus creating a fluid experience.
The MAP is an easy-to-use and accessible tool with a wide zoomable overview of the local textile service offers. Its search and filter options specify the selection, which can be changed and applied throughout the use. The GUIDE, in turn, is built as an interactive “problem-solving” questionnaire, whose sequence built-up depends on the responses of the users. From the start, the user is guided towards the individual solutions for a specific garment or bags of clothing resulting from the responses which can be saved via email eventually.
All in all, the highly attractive aesthetic experience of the A-Gain Guide is exemplary for a non-profit platform of its kind.
Key objectives for inclusion
KO 1: Citizens engagement.
From our perspective, the citizens are the key drivers heading towards a more inclusive, circular and sustainable textile economy.
By inviting Berlin-based small and medium sized companies (SMEs) to offer their services on the A-Gain Guide, we directly involve the citizen-entrepreneurs to play an active role within the local reuse community.
By using the GUIDE tool, citizens are included and engaged in giving valuable information on their consumption behavior and needs, as well as in sharing their tailored results with others, thus becoming multiplicators.
KO 2: Inclusive language and communication.
The platform is available in two languages (German and English), making it easily accessible to the majority of the city inhabitants. The A-Gain Guide’s interactive design and the uncomplicated visual and written communication aim to address a wider range of target groups (families, youngsters, mainstream fashion consumers, etc.).
In addition, a glossary is included within the GUIDE function. It explains different concepts and definitions related to fashion and sustainability that might be new to the users. In this way the platform is accessible for different knowledge levels about textiles and used clothes.
KO 3: Inclusion & Diversity. Communication campaign.
The influencers, models, supporters and ambassadors, who have been and are involved in the A-Gain Guide marketing (print / poster & digital / social media) campaigns, reflect the full diversity of society. Sustainability, inclusion, equality and diversity are core values of the project.
KO 4: Accessibility & Affordability.
The A-Gain Guide is free to use and open to anyone with an internet connection. Also, the listed stakeholders do not have to pay to be visible on the platform. Besides this, the website is created with open-source coding, so that other non-profit associations can easily replicate it without having to invest big sums.
Results in relation to category
First of all, the A-GAIN GUIDE includes an extensive stakeholder mapping showing all the actors of the Berlin textile recovery ecosystem. The deriving impacts already achieved are:
1. These small circular economy businesses, mostly employing people from marginalized and low-income communities, get enormous visibility by new customer segments connected to the internet. This kind of digitized visibility is essential for the growth of the textile circular services sector on the city level.
2. Citizens get easy accessibility to services close by which they probably have not known or heard about. In this way, more circular consumption patterns are highlighted and explained, promoting their advantages for the people and the planet, but also a corresponding price sensitivity.
On the other hand, through our own setup of social media channels, press and networking activities, launch events and interviews (like at 202030 - The Berlin Fashion Summit), we are bringing that ecosystem into a modern up-to-date context and are underlining the importance and relevance of it according to political frameworks.
Furthermore, in supporting citizens to find the best solutions for their used clothes on a local level, the platform embodies and stimulates a renewed way of thinking regarding the value of clothes and discovering new solutions and supporting their local economy.
Our impact in numbers so far: From the launch in September we had more than 2000 unique visitors. We reckon, our Berlin campaign in March for the recently installed GUIDE tool is going to reach 1.000.000 citizens.
In the near future, we are prepared to continuously collect data of fashion consumption and current consumer knowledge, and also identify lacking service offers, lacking transparency, hindering hurdles and challenges causing the typical attitude-behaviour-gap of consumers etc.
How Citizens benefit
From the beginning, both citizens and local textile stakeholders (such as NGOs) have been shaping the A-GAIN GUIDE.
The creation of the project started with a multi-stakeholder workshop, which Circular Berlin has been organizing in May 2019 involving different actors of the reversible supply chain for textiles in Berlin (charities, designers, bigger brands, etc..) and citizens as well. One of the results of this workshop was the participants´ shared wish and need for a platform for citizens, where they could have easy accessibility to information about what to do with their second-hand clothes as well as about the different opportunities for them to prolong the life of their clothes.
Furthermore, the partnering LoopLook team conducted a survey in early 2020 to engage with the demands of fashion consumers in order to understand their openness and readiness for a new sustainable way of consumption.
Also, the local government of Berlin (especially the Environment and Economics Senate Departments) has been involved in the creation of the platform, not only as funding partner, but also in the determination of important platform features, looking from the perspective of the third sector players as well as citizens´ needs.
Moreover, the platform users have the chance to directly communicate what new tool or information they would like to be featured next on the A-GAIN GUIDE, by answering the last question of the GUIDE tool. In this way, the citizens can actively shape the future developments of the project.
The A-GAIN GUIDE is the ideal instrument to be applied at city level to involve the citizens in the transformation towards a circular textile economy with a zero waste policy.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
The A-GAIN GUIDE is the first platform of its kind in many aspects. First of all, it is conceived and realized with open-source code and supposed to be easily replicated by other non-profit organizations. This disruptive element makes it possible for the platform to be simply applied by further cities and sectors with same or similar goals, thus potentially achieving an even greater impact than the one reached by the platform itself.
Moreover, the state-of-the-art aesthetic, based on catchy yet universally understandable graphics and bright colors, goes far beyond the usual and mainstream “green” and “sustainability” communication forms. This aspect, combined with the interactivity of the programmed tools, makes the platform a fantastic instrument to reach young citizens as well as new audiences that would usually not look for this kind of content.
Regarding the map function, unlike other similar digital mappings, the A-GAIN GUIDE includes a precise filter as well as detailed information in regards to the listed services.
The GUIDE tool is a one-of-a-kind application, connected to a matrix of information and locations on the map as well as to a curated list of online circular economy businesses. It has been conceived and wonderfully designed to help citizens, while collecting valuable data for the city. Another innovative aspect of the platform is the possibility for the user to share the GUIDE results through social media, thus incredibly enhancing its reach.
Learning transferred to other parties
Through its open-source code and (partly) graphics, the A-GAIN GUIDE website and tools are easily transferable to other cities or industry sectors. Besides this fundamental aspect, other transferable elements would be very beneficial if transferred into other contexts:
- First of all the collected data, such as the input of the GUIDE users or the numbers around research actions on the MAP, is extremely valuable for both the textile industry and local governments. The data is going to help public and private institutions in understanding the local textile reversible supply chain sector as well as the consumer behavior in its relation. Both cities and industry stakeholders need to implement more circular business models alongside educating the consumers to use them and need more specific information in order to create markets, policies and infrastructures.
- The data collected, in the form of statistics and analysis can be beneficial also for other cities and sectors, such for instance the electronics or the food sectors.
- The platform has already created a network and can contribute in the extension of this beyond Berlin and German borders. Elsewhere replicated A-GAIN GUIDEs will be connected and together help each other in different ways, such as Europe wide campaigns or marketing collaborations to enhance international online visibility. The growth of such a network has the potential to contribute to a dynamic exchange between government, business and society as well as to create crucial synergies among its public and private actors, thus in the long run support some of the most important transformations needed. In its result, it can lead to new fundamentals in order to trigger change together and re-evaluate the status quo.
