Whole Circles: Models for Academic Textile Design Research Leadership in the Circular Economy

Paper presented at Circular Transitions, UAL, London (Nov 2016). Proceedings published online 6 November 2017.

New leadership approaches are needed in design research to support the creation of more resource-efficient models for material resource loops and cyclability. Designers
will need to take on enhanced roles in order to drive changes to products, systems
and behaviours. The conceptual model, Characteristics of High-Performing Research Units (Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) 2015), cites people, collaboration, partnerships and networks, and departmental practices as all key factors in successful research hubs. In this paper, the author discusses insights drawn from an original auto-ethnographic study and proposes a revised model which provides researchers, practitioners and managers with questions they need to consider in order to lead in ways that academia, industry and the planet urgently needs.