A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition

Extending the useful life of consumer products is a critical element in the circular economy. Although commercial repair is an established part of the global economy, the repair is often conducted informally. This means that non-commercial repair ecosystems exist, including the international network...

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Autores principales:	Rikke Marie Moalem, Mette Alberg Mosgaard
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	repair café actors product repair sustainability circular economy Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/64b9d482af8046628467cafca7c04c2b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:64b9d482af8046628467cafca7c04c2b2021-11-25T19:00:22ZA Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition10.3390/su1322123512071-1050https://doaj.org/article/64b9d482af8046628467cafca7c04c2b2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12351https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050Extending the useful life of consumer products is a critical element in the circular economy. Although commercial repair is an established part of the global economy, the repair is often conducted informally. This means that non-commercial repair ecosystems exist, including the international network of repair cafés, spreading worldwide to over 2000 repair cafés in 37 countries (April 2021). As the first review on this topic, this article investigates and gains more knowledge about repair cafés, and critically assesses their role as a sustainability initiative, i.e., how the concept may translate into a broader sustainability context. A systematic literature review (2010–2020) was conducted, including 44 articles in descriptive and content analyses. The bibliometric data revealed an increase in the number of publications on repair cafés, particularly over the last four years, indicating that repair cafés as a research topic have started to gain attention, and this is likely to grow in numbers. However, the significant number of different places of publication indicates that this is not (yet) a well-established field with defined research channels. The content analysis revealed that the concept has spread to a range of different contexts, beyond the original scope, influencing the mindset and acts of a broad field of practitioners. This indicates a wide range of possibilities for the expansion of the concept of repair cafés, bringing different expectations on calling into question the future role of repair cafés. However, the aims of the people involved in repair cafés span from the altruistic and strategic, over personal gains, to critical consumer, financial and educational aims. This may challenge repair cafés’ future role(s), i.e., ambitions set by the international organisation of repair cafés. Notably, the ambition for actors at the micro-level is to feed in data on repair and achieve ‘collaborative repair’, as the aims of the people involved are complex, and their expectations lack alignment, both vertically and horizontally.Rikke Marie MoalemMette Alberg MosgaardMDPI AGarticlerepair caféactorsproduct repairsustainabilitycircular economyEnvironmental effects of industries and plantsTD194-195Renewable energy sourcesTJ807-830Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENSustainability, Vol 13, Iss 12351, p 12351 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	repair café actors product repair sustainability circular economy Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	repair café actors product repair sustainability circular economy Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Rikke Marie Moalem Mette Alberg Mosgaard A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition
description	Extending the useful life of consumer products is a critical element in the circular economy. Although commercial repair is an established part of the global economy, the repair is often conducted informally. This means that non-commercial repair ecosystems exist, including the international network of repair cafés, spreading worldwide to over 2000 repair cafés in 37 countries (April 2021). As the first review on this topic, this article investigates and gains more knowledge about repair cafés, and critically assesses their role as a sustainability initiative, i.e., how the concept may translate into a broader sustainability context. A systematic literature review (2010–2020) was conducted, including 44 articles in descriptive and content analyses. The bibliometric data revealed an increase in the number of publications on repair cafés, particularly over the last four years, indicating that repair cafés as a research topic have started to gain attention, and this is likely to grow in numbers. However, the significant number of different places of publication indicates that this is not (yet) a well-established field with defined research channels. The content analysis revealed that the concept has spread to a range of different contexts, beyond the original scope, influencing the mindset and acts of a broad field of practitioners. This indicates a wide range of possibilities for the expansion of the concept of repair cafés, bringing different expectations on calling into question the future role of repair cafés. However, the aims of the people involved in repair cafés span from the altruistic and strategic, over personal gains, to critical consumer, financial and educational aims. This may challenge repair cafés’ future role(s), i.e., ambitions set by the international organisation of repair cafés. Notably, the ambition for actors at the micro-level is to feed in data on repair and achieve ‘collaborative repair’, as the aims of the people involved are complex, and their expectations lack alignment, both vertically and horizontally.
format	article
author	Rikke Marie Moalem Mette Alberg Mosgaard
author_facet	Rikke Marie Moalem Mette Alberg Mosgaard
author_sort	Rikke Marie Moalem
title	A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition
title_short	A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition
title_full	A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition
title_fullStr	A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition
title_full_unstemmed	A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition
title_sort	critical review of the role of repair cafés in a sustainable circular transition
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/64b9d482af8046628467cafca7c04c2b
work_keys_str_mv	AT rikkemariemoalem acriticalreviewoftheroleofrepaircafesinasustainablecirculartransition AT mettealbergmosgaard acriticalreviewoftheroleofrepaircafesinasustainablecirculartransition AT rikkemariemoalem criticalreviewoftheroleofrepaircafesinasustainablecirculartransition AT mettealbergmosgaard criticalreviewoftheroleofrepaircafesinasustainablecirculartransition
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A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition

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