Traditional as radical

An essay that considers the traditional methodologies of making as a model for contemporary sustainable design

Signed & Sealed: Agenda 21 and the Role of the Furniture

The aim of this thesis has been to develop and document a research project that takes the form of a strategic response by a furniture designermaker (Philip Koomen Furniture) to the challenging ecological issues raised by the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) and detailed in the document Agenda 21: Sustainable Development for the 21st Century. A Literature Review contextualises this research project in relation to issues around global resources and sustainable practices and considers various models of sustainable design in relation to the commercial mainstream but more particularly with regard to the role of the furniture designermaker in contemporary society. The thesis explores the rationale for what became termed the “Signed & Sealed” project and describes the development of an associated body of designs through the negotiation of the degraded state of the U.K.’s native woodlands and the location of three critical strands which together came to define the “Signed & Sealed” brand – strands identified by the terms semi-bespoke, local cycle and unique signature. These terms are illuminated in turn by discussion of the commissioning processes favoured by designer-makers and by consideration of the economic and aesthetic problems to be found in connection with the sourcing, development and use of local, noncommercial timbers. The thesis also describes the project’s formal presentation in the exhibition “Out of the Woods” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 17 September 2004 to 7 January 2005) and the two conferences “Our Woods in Your Hands” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004) and “Out of the Woods: Design for Sustainability” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on- Thames, 20 October 2004) and considers the peer reviews and responses which followed these events. Finally, the thesis offers a critical evaluation of the PhD research process which framed the project together with some discussion of further potential avenues of research and development

Signed & sealed : Agenda 21 and the role of the furniture designer-maker in developing a sustainable practice

The aim of this thesis has been to develop and document a research project that takes the form of a strategic response by a furniture designermaker (Philip Koomen Furniture) to the challenging ecological issues raised by the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) and detailed in the document Agenda 21: Sustainable Development for the 21st Century. A Literature Review contextualises this research project in relation to issues around global resources and sustainable practices and considers various models of sustainable design in relation to the commercial mainstream but more particularly with regard to the role of the furniture designermaker in contemporary society. The thesis explores the rationale for what became termed the “Signed & Sealed” project and describes the development of an associated body of designs through the negotiation of the degraded state of the U.K.’s native woodlands and the location of three critical strands which together came to define the “Signed & Sealed” brand – strands identified by the terms semi-bespoke, local cycle and unique signature. These terms are illuminated in turn by discussion of the commissioning processes favoured by designer-makers and by consideration of the economic and aesthetic problems to be found in connection with the sourcing, development and use of local, noncommercial timbers. The thesis also describes the project’s formal presentation in the exhibition “Out of the Woods” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 17 September 2004 to 7 January 2005) and the two conferences “Our Woods in Your Hands” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004) and “Out of the Woods: Design for Sustainability” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on- Thames, 20 October 2004) and considers the peer reviews and responses which followed these events. Finally, the thesis offers a critical evaluation of the PhD research process which framed the project together with some discussion of further potential avenues of research and development.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Life cycle assessment of UK forest products : evaluation of environmental profiles and analysis of their communication

Imperial Users onl

Exemplified by the transformation of the Danish pine furniture manufacturers

Dette forskningsprojekt tager udgangspunkt i observationer omkring de danske producenter af fyrretræsmøbler. Siden slutningen af 90’erne har industrien været præget af priskonkurrence som ses dels indbyrdes mellem de danske producenter, dels fra aktører i lande med lavere omkostningsstrukturer. Derudover er slutbrugernes interesse for fyrretræsmøbler dalet betragteligt. I takt med den heraf følgende lavere efterspørgsel på fyrretræsmøbler er de danske producenter i stigende grad begyndt at købe færdigproducerede møbler fra lavprismarkeder som Kina og Østeuropa for at komplementere deres egen møbelproduktion

Dr Carnesky’s incredible bleeding woman

Dr Carnesky’s Incredible Bleeding Woman, Reinventing Menstrual Rituals Through New Performance Practices (DCIBW) is a revelatory, illusory, horror filled, taboo breaking bricolage; a multimodal research project that proposes to reinvent menstrual rituals through new performance practices. DCIBW is a spectacular touring live art carnivalesque performance work premiered in 2015 and documented in this written thesis. It draws on menstruation studies from the fields of anthropology, feminism, live art and performance, entertainment history, popular culture, activism and ecology. Informed by an autoethnographical framework, it uses my experiences as a woman and a performance maker developed through the creation of a Practice as Research (PaR) live performance project. It critically engages with theories of indigenous stories, menstrual synchronicity, horror and abjection in feminism, women in variety entertainment traditions and generative eco feminist frameworks. It explores the overarching themes of cyclicity and renewal that became apparent in researching the reinvention of menstrual rituals. The live performance features a cast of research participants who are a group of diverse intersectional queer live artists and circus skilled performers presenting physical acts in the context of an experimental performative lecture and of the theatricalised personal revelations of life experiences created through our PaR methodology. The creation of the work explored through the thesis and the show included monthly menstrual ritual performance devising workshop weekends, qualitative interviews, group discussion, work in progress showings and live performance touring experiences. The workshops utilised existing research methods on menstrual synchronicity and the devising methods for performance drew on my existing live art and cabaret practice and the performers’ skills. The PaR explored spectacle and taboo in popular entertainment traditions including the traditional variety arts of stage magic, cabaret and sideshow, highlighting new propositions for the term Showwoman as opposed to showman to be used in contemporary performance vernacular, defining the Showwoman as using her spectacular vision in acts that are transformative and collaborative and an antidote to the entertainment traditions of the exploitative tropes of the showman. The revelations of the touring performance and associated events of post- show talks saw the emergence of the activist group the Menstruants which went on to independently organise events and public performative interventions at the same time as the show was touring. This further informed the project to propose new methodologies for the creation of menstrual ritual and activism. The PaR, the writing of the thesis, the performance of the show and the staging of activist events resulted in the introduction of a new proposition for a theoretical term - the Menstrocene - that can contribute to a wider ecofeminist performance activist landscape

Understanding the role of local communities in forest concessions management: a participatory forest management initiative in South Sudan

This research project is a Participatory Forest Management initiative aiming at understanding the role of local communities with emphasis on their participation in the management of forest concession projects. Its long-term goal is Participatory Forest Management practices for the need of sustainable forestry in South Sudan. The research project was integrated and implemented through South Sudan forest concession work to support the development of South Sudan forest concession guidelines and agreement templates under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in partnership with the Norwegian Forestry Group, South Sudan Program. Its data was gathered through qualitative research approaches including the focus groups, use of questionnaires, interviews and observations. It was collaborative and inclusive work in which the local communities, government officials and the concessionaires participated. The results of this research project answered its guiding questions and produced a comparative data. The role of local communities brought successful achievements in their development and peaceful co-existence of local people and concessionaires in the local communities who were involved through participatory approach in the management of those projects. However, the role of local communities impacted negatively on forest concession projects in which their participation on decision-making process during agreements was neglectedMaster i yrkespedagogik