We partnered with Library of Things, City Corporation, and City of London residents to launch a new Library of Things space in the Barbican Library. We took a participatory approach to this, capturing residents’ stories and experiences around what they do with waste. We facilitated 2 workshops at the Golden Lane and Barbican Estate, and dropped into many community groups around the square mile to speak with residents.
The future of sustainable estates requires deep collaboration
This initiative was born from a vital realisation: the future of sustainable, vibrant estates in the City of London cannot be built by the Corporation alone. It requires a deeply collaborative connection between the people who live here and the institution that serves them.
Challenges with resident engagement
While the City Corporation stays committed to resident engagement, certain initiatives, particularly around waste management and recycling, have faced persistent hurdles. Issues such as low participation rates and the contamination of waste streams highlight a disconnect that traditional, top-down approaches have been unable to solve.
Call to action from residents
In parallel, the residents of the Golden Lane Estate, represented by resident association GLERA and resident group Imagine Golden Lane at Net Zero, issued a proactive call for action. Their desire for more effective, community-led systems for managing unwanted items provided the perfect catalyst for this project. This was not a request for more services, but a request for more involvement. This community call to action is rooted in our earlier successes with consulting on, designing and installing bike storage on GLE (another CILNF-funded project) and mapping biodiversity on the estate.
An approach rooted in co-design
We conducted qualitative, co-creative research engagements to explore waste behaviour, repair culture, and the implementation of a new Library of Things space at the Barbican Library. Our approach was rooted in co-design, ensuring the new service evolves from a rental locker into a hub that serves the community. By meeting residents where they already gather, such as in community centres and libraries, we built trust and explored barriers to accessibility that influence local behaviour.
Meeting residents where they already are
We used a multi-layered engagement strategy to reach a diverse cross-section of the community. We used observational research and ethnographic photography to understand real-world actions and behaviours. Resident engagement in conversations with 70+ residents across all 4 City of London estates (Middlesex Street, Mansell Street, Barbican Estate, Golden Lane Estate) and interactive sessions, including 2 formal workshops and 10+ informal drop-in sessions with community groups and activities, such as Food Clubs, maker space sessions, and textile groups.
Co-creating the Action Ladder with residents
As a way of talking about waste, we used an ‘Action Ladder’. We developed this from the ‘Ladder of Waste’ framework: the higher up the ladder, the better for the planet your action is. Many residents typically think about recycling when discussing ‘waste’, which is one small part of a much larger picture. Outlining this as actions on a ladder, this introduces a hierarchy of actions that can be used to manage unwanted items. As we had more conversations with residents, we developed a stronger understanding of how they associated these different actions, so we evolved these accordingly. The ‘Action Ladder’ was co-created by the research team and residents until the final workshop. The visualisation was much appreciated by residents and made it easier to understand. One resident even wanted one to put on his fridge!
Producing a public report
As well as launching a new Library of Things space, we also produced a public report (which can be downloaded below), aimed at outlining actions that advise the City Corporation, Library of Things, and City of London residents to improve how resources and waste can be managed in more sustainable ways.
Launch event
Since the project, the City of London Library of Things has been launched at the Barbican Library. We attended the official launch event where the ribbon was cut. We were able to share a bit about our research that contributed towards this, along with a range of activities that people could take part in, from fashion repair to wood repair, to a seed swap and of course, a demo of the Library of Things.
