The slides were used for the presentation in the consortium meeting of the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials and Products in September, 2015. The presentation shows the brief summary of the PhD research on "Sustainable Production and Consumption by Individual Upcycling in the UK".

1. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Kyungeun Sung
Supervisors: Tim Cooper and Sarah Kettley
Sustainable Consumption Research Group
School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
CIE-MAP consortium meeting
Sustainable Production and Consumption by
Individual Upcycling in the UK

2. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
What is individual upcycling?
Creation or modification of any product out of used products, components or
materials in an attempt to result in a product of higher quality or value than the
compositional elements

3. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Why individual upcycling? – Benefits
 More sustainable way of making, crafting or personalising products
 Contributing to reductions in waste
 Eliminating the need for a new product
 Reducing new raw materials use and conserving the natural resources
 Reducing (industrial) energy usage
 Leading to greenhouse gas emissions reduction
 Creating strong product attachment for product longevity
 Saving money + potential income opportunities
 Psychological well-being and socio-cultural benefits (e.g. learning & empowering)
 ….

4. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Why individual upcycling? – Increasing upcyclers
 contemporary Maker movement
 readily available physical resources
 shared digital resources

5. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
“How might individual upcycling significantly contribute
to sustainable production and consumption in the UK by
influencing household behaviours and industries through
appropriate interventions?”
Central question

6. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
 Why they are upycling when they do?
 Why they are not doing it when they don’t?
 What drives, facilitates or hinders the behaviour?
 What interventions do we need?
How to intervene behaviours?

7. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
 To gain insights into individual upcycling in the UK
 To identify the UK-specific key drivers and facilitators for and
key barriers to individual upcycling
 To formulate policy and design interventions for successful
scaling-up of individual upcycling
Objectives

8. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Research design

9. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
What I have done
1. Behaviour model identification
2. Interview (+ exploratory questionnaire study) with 23 UK-based consumers
3. Interview analysis with NVivo
4. Exploratory questionnaire study analysis with SPSS
5. Behaviour model refinement for operationalisation
6. Survey pretests + pilot test & analysis
7. Survey proper with 227 responses (online)
8. Ongoing survey proper analysis

10. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Main findings – from interview
 Perceived benefits – practical, environmental, and psychological
 Social factors – social norm of ‘environmentally conscious’ + occupational and
relationship roles
 Emotions – both negative (frustration) and positive (happiness & satisfaction)
 Habits – art and craft / hacking, tinkering, DIY, repair, etc. both concurrent and
childhood memories
 Facilitating conditions – competence, materials, space, social situation and
cultural perception, tools, spare time, and interest
 Demographic differences

11. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Main findings – from exploratory questionnaire
 When people feel attached to their upcycled products:
 Higher degree of attachment
 Intend to use products longer
 Self-expression, group affiliation, (special) memories and pleasure confirmed
as ‘product attachment determinants’
 Women and older consumers + ornamental products, personal belongings
and furniture to consider for potential scaling up

12. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
What to do next?

13. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
 Sung, K. and Cooper, T. (2015). Sarah Turner – Eco artist and designer through craft-based
upcycling. Craft Research, 6(1), pp. 113-122.
 Sung, K. (2015). Source reduction; Appropriate technology; Renewable resources; and Waste.
Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design (publication in November)
 Sung, K., Cooper, T. and Kettley, S. (2015). An Exploratory Study on Individual Upcycling: Links
with Product Attachment and Product Longevity, and Implications for Designers. International
Journal of Design (queued for review)
Publications

14. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Conference proceedings
 Sung, K., Cooper, T. and Kettley, S. (2015). Individual Upcycling Practice: Exploring the Possible
Determinants of Upcycling Based on a Literature Review. Copenhagen, Sustainable Innovation
2014 Conference, pp. 237-244.
 Sung, K. (2015). A Review on Upcycling: Current Body of Literature, Knowledge Gaps and a Way
Forward. Venice, International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social
Sustainability 2015 Conference, pp. 28-40.
 Sung, K., Cooper, T. and Kettley, S. (2015). An Exploratory Study on the Consequences of
Individual Upcycling: Is It Worth Making People Feel Attached to Their Upcycled Products?.
Nottingham, CADBE Doctoral Conference 2015. (selected as the best paper)
 Sung, K., Cooper, T. and Kettley, S. (2015). An Exploratory Study on the Links between Individual
Upcycling, Product Attachment, and Product Longevity. Nottingham, Product Lifetimes and the
Environment 2015 Conference, pp. 349-356

15. Kyungeun Sung, Sustainable Consumption Research Group, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Thank you!
Any question?
Kyungeun.sung2013@my.ntu.ac.uk
http://kyungeunsung.com/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kyungeun_Sung