Tommencioi Pisapia, Chiara, 2024, Journal Article, Affordances as tool for ecosystem mapping in a context of regenerative ecologies DRS 2024 Ph.D. Consortium. pp. 18-19. ISSN 2398-3132
| Abstract or Description: | Environmental concerns and the compelling need to operate within planetary boundaries result in the search for novel approaches and solutions to support the transition to materials and processes which are ecological and regenerative to achieve holistic sustainability. Regenerative frameworks suggest the adoption of a holistic vision where all different ecosystems actors’ humans and non-humans are comprehensively considered in their interconnections. Wool is a natural renewable fiber with invaluable intrinsic characteristics produced by sheep whose grazing offers a regulatory service to the ecosystem, if not bred intensively. If sheep are farmed according to regenerative farming standards, the extracted wool can achieve carbon neutrality thus becoming a well-equipped beneficial player in a regenerative context. In addition, wool is one of the purest sources of keratin, a remarkably useful protein. Its recovery from end-of-life and low-grade wool presents worthwhile applications in different industries. Wool and wool keratin processing cover a vast array of transformation methods ranging from rural and craft-based approaches to cutting-edge biotechnologies, resulting in a plethora of applications which can address different societal needs. All these aspects require a new level of attention to take into consideration the reverberation of action and decision by industry stakeholders in the wider ecosystem, human and non-human, thus including the planet as stakeholder in the process. The concept of affordances, firstly theorized by Gibson, has been adopted in multiple disciplines and some scholars suggested that the concept of affordances could aid individuals to harness the resourcefulness of the environment. By drawing from a literature review across different disciplines, affordances can be defined as relationships between the offerings of the environment and the abilities of a form of life to harness them. As such affordances are characterized by being relational and hence highlighting the potential interconnection between two entities and generating mapping. Ecosystem mapping enables context unpacking and the concept of affordances - due to its broadness - could facilitate the generation of eco-system mapping to the level of details necessary to follow a regenerative framework by signposting interconnections between different entities. Firstly, by deploying participatory design approaches I aim to investigate how the concept of affordances can be translated into a tool for ecosystem mapping in the context of regenerative ecologies. Secondly, by investigating the translation of the concept of affordances into a mapping tool applied in the context of wool ecosystems I aim to extend knowledge to the design field about the translation of theoretical concepts into regenerative design tools. Thirdly, my research aims to develop a tool which could facilitate regenerative practices in the wool ecosystems and thus supporting different actors in producing mapping of their ecosystem to guide informed decisionmaking process by visualizing the wider impact of potential operations in their ecosystem. |
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| School or Centre: | Research Centres > Materials Science Research Centre |
| Identification Number or DOI: | 10.21606/drs.2024.170 |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Feb 2026 14:08 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Feb 2026 20:34 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/6838 |
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