Sustainable value chains for bamboo working communities: Integrating the tenets of sustainability through the Rhizome approach

Sustainable value chains for bamboo working communities: Integrating the tenets of sustainability through the Rhizome approach

Reubens, R.
Brezet, H.
Christiaans, H.

2010-10-27

There is a growing demand globally for products which impact sustainability positively. Bamboo fulfills these criteria, since it is a highly renewable timber replacement material which does not cause deforestation. It simultaneously has the potential to create livelihood opportunities for both the urban and rural poor. The eco-friendly potential and image of bamboo has led to various designed sustainable products, which are made from industrially processed bamboo. Though this approach frees the product from common negative connotations associated with bamboo products, such as ‘low cost’, ‘rustic’ etc., actualizing these designs requires industrial production facilities. Consequently, bamboo producer communities are pushed lower in the value chains of these products. From being final stage producers, their role becomes limited to growing the raw material, and at the most primary processing of bamboo inputs. This focuses on the role of design as an enabler to achieve holistic sustainability in the bamboo value chain in general, and in the instance of the Kotwalia community in particular. Most contemporary bamboo designs focus primarily on bamboo’s potential for eco-design and for commercial viability, and in consequence contribute to the unsustainability of social and cultural factors. The paper also presents the Rhizome approach, developed though the process of action research with bamboo working communities. The approach is designed to facilitate the design of products which take into consideration the social and cultural tenets of sustainability, alongside the ecological and economic tenets.

sustainability
bamboo
design
craft
livelihood

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Conference proceedings

conference paper

(c) 2010 Reubens, R.; Brezet, H.; Christiaans, H.