Conference Agenda

British wool (BW), once central to the UK economy, is now economically marginal yet ecologically regenerative, revealing deep tensions between sustainability rhetoric and material practice. This paper reframes BW as a transitional material, whose value, meaning, and use are shifting across ecological, infrastructural, and discursive systems. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 35 stakeholders across the BW supply chain, combined with policy and industry analysis, the study applies reflexive thematic analysis to examine how value is produced, diminished, and potentially restored. these findings are situated within new materialist and posthuman theory and emerging sustainability regulation (ESPR and Digital Product Passports), the paper argues that design research can re-mediate transitional materials by integrating ecological data, provenance, and care into material systems. The study contributes a conceptual model of transitional materiality that links design, policy, and ecology, offering pathways for regenerative and circular textile futures.

Material designers worldwide are transforming how innovation emerges through local engagement, moving beyond conventional material selection to create materials that reflect and embody their originating contexts. This research examines how locality influences design motivations, resource utilisation, and collaborative approaches through a systematic analysis of 635 material design projects across 56 countries, complemented by questionnaire responses from 19 practitioners across 14 countries. The mixed-methods research establishes the state of the art by mapping ingredient sourcing patterns, fabrication processes, and stakeholder engagements across diverse geographical contexts, while illuminating designers' conceptual frameworks regarding the role of locality in material development. The research reveals the mindset of locally-aware material designers; how geographic and cultural factors function as active design parameters rather than passive constraints. This comprehensive analysis provides foundational knowledge for place-based material innovation, offering researchers and practitioners the foundations of a framework for developing territorially responsive design practices that advance sustainable material development.

As the environmental impacts of wearable technologies intensify, exploring how material choices can enable circularity in such a waste-intensive sector has become critical for design research. In response to this challenge, materials are recognised as pivotal in emerging wearable alternatives, yet how they can actively support circular practices remains underexplored. The study addresses this gap through an annotated portfolio of 40 case studies situated in or informing the wearable domain at the intersection of Material-Driven Design and Bio-HCI. By foregrounding recurring materials, methods, and tools, the analysis aims to reveal how matter can act as a transformative agent in shaping low-impact wearable solutions. Key outcomes include the identification of transferable design principles demonstrating the potential of material-driven and speculative approaches for generating transitional scenarios. The study further advances the dialogue on embodied and symbiotic interactions, emphasising the active role of materials in guiding designers toward circular futures.

Abstract: This paper considers how one plant, harakeke (phormium tenax), native to Aotearoa New Zealand embodies the natural attributes to mitigate climate change and support transition to more sustainable and equitable material futures. Through interaction and collaboration, harakeke demonstrates how circular and regenerative textile design systems are manifested. In the interest of learning from harakeke the authors, working from multiple perspectives, position the plant as tohunga (knowledge expert) and themselves as tauira (learners) to share and reflect upon their engagements with the plant and its fibre. From harakeke we learn about familial relationships to whenua (land) and to each other, Māori textile practices, and how learning about harakeke can unlock insights and understandings of indigenous fibres and practices from Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. In this regard, we suggest that it is the knowledge that is transitional as the materials and practices themselves translate this knowledge through inter-indigenous and inter-cultural exchange.

This paper seeks to explore the material transitions in vernacular dwellings to explore how local knowledge can inform future construction practices rooted in material circularity. Behramkale village in northwestern Türkiye harbours traditional dwellings where reused earthenware from pots to roof tiles are integrated into masonry for durability and ornamentation. This unique and site-specific construction technique reflects the resourcefulness of local craftsmanship. Under the methodology titled “tracing the earthenware,” the study maps the distribution and uses of these elements throughout the village, interpreting them not as passive remnants but as active agents which can help envision future pathways for material circularity, while the adaptation of similar traditional techniques is already evident in certain contemporary design initiatives. Thus, the paper discusses this stratified indigenous material practice, positioning it as an instructive model to reveal how vernacular knowledge can shape resilient and waste-derived material systems in today’s sustainability-driven design paradigm.

Design Matters Lab (DML) was a collaborative design programme that brought together ten emerging designers from Europe and Indonesia for an online and in-person design residency in Bandung, Indonesia. This paper explores the concepts, methods, and outcomes of DML, offering a potential blueprint for small-sized international businesses seeking to integrate crafting techniques and local, sustainable materials into their manufacturing processes. The project also proposes a methodology for teaching sustainability in design through meaningful environmental engagement rooted in local collaboration and applied practice. It emphasises the importance of working with local communities and using locally available waste and bio- materials. The study found that the most significant impact emerged from the collaborative process itself as well as potential collaborations through networking and dialogues. DML demonstrates how cross-cultural partnerships can expand the creative potential of these materials, resulting in innovative, sustainable outcomes that benefit both the local economy and environmental practices.