Restart Podcast Ep. 96: It’s time for a Student Repair Revolution

The Restart Project Podcast

We spoke to Restart’s own Pascale Hall and James Pickstone, 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.

Unique and familiar challenges

We know that engaging young people in repair is no easy task which is partly why the Student Repair Revolution project was set up in the first place. So, we discuss the main challenges that were found when trying to set up initiatives in universities. Kersty stresses that it really is dependent on the unique situation of each institution. Campus layout, student extracurricular culture, and the types of courses offered can all affect how easy it is to establish repair groups at a university. Students are also time poor, which means that accessibility and visibility of these repair activities is vital.

But as Pascale and James point out, not all the barriers that they found are unique to university students. There are also the all too recognisable challenges of obtaining insurance for events and finding the volunteers to run them – issues that any repair group organiser will recognise. What seems to be clear is that the ‘traditional’ repair cafe model does not suit universities… especially when it falls on a hungover Sunday morning.

Collaboration is key

Pascale says that one of the most exciting parts of working on this project has been seeing the knowledge and experience sharing between student groups. With such a daunting task, it’s clear that we need to be fostering collaboration between those who are really motivated to establish repair on campuses. And working with local groups is important also. Not only because community repairers can share their experiences in organising events, but they can also pass on their fixing skills which are sadly being lost between generations.

Kersty stresses throughout our conversation that students also need encouragement to get involved in repair.

“I don’t think we can assume that we’ve got a young generation of repairers waiting in the wings. I think we need to be part of the change to facilitate and empower them to be able to do repair.”

While young people are interested in repair – whether for environmental or financial reasons – it’s not enough to expect them to become leaders of the movement on their own. There is a wealth of knowledge on technical skills, Right to Repair policy, and community organising that is just waiting to be shared with the next generation of repair rebels.

Links:

• Get involved: Be Part of the Student Repair Revolution!
• Read: What is the university for these days? Rethinking the foundations of the ‘circular campus’
• Listen: Restart Podcast Ep. 83: Meet the students Fixing Things for the Future

[Feature image courtesy of University of Leeds]

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