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A digital marketplace for circular materials

AMBIO-N, UK

London – The B2B platform aligns buyers with sustainable sellers to foster a more responsible supply chain.

Acting as an industry gateway for circular sourcing, AMBIO-N (CircularSource℠) allows designers and manufacturers to access information about materials according to their level of circularity, with credentials based on both financial and environmental impacts. Available as a membership service, users will be granted access to a database of over 60 accredited suppliers.

‘We are passionate about bringing faster access to a range of more and better priced sustainable fabrics to buyers, with added technical information demonstrating the environmental upside of sourcing this type of fabric,’ says Jordanna Marshall, founder of AMBIO-N. ‘Recognising and tagging fabrics which have an improved circular footprint will help companies in their quest for creating circular end-products.’

As brands seek to improve their sustainability credentials, initiatives that better connect creators with materials are supporting the wider industry. For more, look out for our upcoming microtrend on open-source sustainability.

Active Classroom seating encourages children to move

Active Classroom by Studio Lancelot, Netherlands

Netherlands – Studio Lancelot is challenging traditional classroom chairs with its new furniture collection.

The Dutch design studio's collection, called Active Classroom, includes four stools created for use in primary schools. Each has a different structure, encouraging children to regularly change their postures, increase muscular diversity and maintain concentration levels. By supporting different seating positions so that muscles become intentionally fatigued, children are able to experience regular but subtle activity throughout the day.

‘Each stool is designed to incorporate a minimum of four different postures, as frequent variations in alternative sitting positions increases the activity of muscles that would otherwise be left unused in conventional chairs,' explains Boris Lancelot, founder of Studio Lancelot.

Designers are creating experiences for children that foster emotional connection and development, from future furniture to Premium Play Spaces.

Championing empathy and equality in gaming

Raising Good Gamers, US

New York – Raising Good Gamers is an initiative championing more positive, inclusive and fair online gaming communities for young people.

Working with game developers, advocacy groups, philanthropists and educators, Raising Good Gamers explores the ways that gaming environments can address online toxicity. Inspired by the policies and infrastructures already in place to keep children safe in the real world, and the contrasting lack of support online, the initiative considers how gaming can cultivate empathy and civically engaged children.

'We see online games, their technologies, and communities of gamers as important and powerful tools for achieving broader goals of social justice,' said Katie Salen Tekinbaş, co-founder at Raising Good Gamers.

The initiative comes at a time when gaming worlds are being harnessed as spaces to cultivate progressive values – something we identify in Activism Gaming.

Stat: Pandemic-struck young Britons abandon aspirations

Agora multidisciplinary space, Berlin

Young people in the UK are losing hope in their future and reducing their aspirations to reflect the current climate, according to a recent report by Censuswide for The Prince’s Trust.

The report highlights these fears, finding that more than a third of young people aged 16–25 (39%) have abandoned their aspirations for the year ahead. It also reveals that 41% of young people believe their future goals now seem ‘impossible to achieve’, rising to half (50%) of those from poorer backgrounds.

Jonathan Townsend, UK CEO of The Prince’s Trust, explains: ‘We have an aspiration gap, with young people losing hope for the future and, sadly, those from disadvantaged backgrounds being hardest hit. It is truly a responsibility for all of us to ensure the odds don’t stay stacked against these young people.’

This growing concern gives brands and businesses an opportunity to support and inspire young people in their future career. For more, discover the ways in which workplaces are rebranding recruitment for Generation Z.