Repair Week in Roeselare

On Saturday 15 October it was International Repair Day, a day on which the importance of repair is put in the spotlight worldwide. This years’ slogan was “#RepairEverywhere”, coupled with a campaign that stimulated the organisation of many diverse repair activities during the week from 8 until 15 October.

Roeselare, together with partner Avansa MZW, created a varied program during the week to further put repair in the spotlight within the region.

Activities in Roeselare during International Repair Day

As a kick-off, Roeselare brought the mini exhibition “Mooi Stuk!” to RSL Op Post, the local repair hub of the city. Repairing is good for the environment and fun to do! Every repair is an exploration. “Mooi Stuk!” shows repaired objects in a museum setting. Each object is accompanied by a short audio fragment with the repairer's analysis and insights. This offers a glimpse into the possibilities of extending the life of a coffee machine, trolley, chair, jeans and smartphone.

During the rest of the week, citizens could also work on their repair skills during 1 of the many workshops, ranging from learning to repair electrical devices, to bicycle and textile repair and a repair workshop aimed at teenagers. For those wanting to find out why repair is so important, now more than ever, the documentary “Minga”, focusing on the impact of mining on local communities, and the lecture #ExpressDefect, focused on the practice of planned obsolescence, were organised together with partner Catapa VZW.

The week concluded with a big Repair Café on 15 October, where voluntary repairers from Repair Café Roeselare were able to tackle more than 60 defective devices.

An after movie of the event will shortly be added to the city YouTube channel found here.