Signals

Finland – Aalto University in Finland has created a cookbook to allow people to experiment with and create their own plant- and wood-based biomaterials.

The Chemarts Cookbook takes readers through four sections, allowing people to gain a better understanding of where materials come from as well as learn about their own material usage. Encompassing different themes, including hard, soft, flexible, transparent and printed materials, as well as paper-making and fibre-making, the ‘recipes’ are intended to be both informative and enjoyable to make.

Created to educate and draw attention to some of the current issues with common materials, Chemarts hopes to inspire engagement in a more circular economy. Pirjo Kääriäinen, editor of the cookbook, says: ‘The world might become digitalised, but our need for materials will not disappear; they will nurture us, cover us, comfort us, delight us and keep us alive.’

In Material Far Futures, we explore how innovators are using transformative techniques to turn environmental excess into valuable new resources.

A study by IBM has revealed that nearly 20% of Americans who regularly used buses, subways or trains before the Covid-19 pandemic said they would no longer do so.

Meanwhile, another 28% said they were likely to use public transport less often. The ride-sharing industry is also set to be hit hard, with more than half of ride-sharing app users planning to use these services less or to stop completely.

‘There are long-term implications of the new consumer behaviour for industries like retail, transport and travel among others. These organisations need to quickly adapt their business models to serve the new consumer behaviour in order to survive and thrive,’ explains Jesus Mantas, senior managing partner at IBM Global Business Services.

Post-Covid-19, consumers will be increasingly conscious of their Urban Wellness and the ways they can remain safe while navigating through cities.