To celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, the Embassy of Sweden in Amman arranged a one-day event to engage Jordanian producers and handicraft artisans in discussions around sustainability and circularity. Today, Jordan’s handicraft producers are comprised mostly of small businesses and artisans that are struggling to compete with cheap imported souvenirs. There is however a growing interest for sustainability and a growing number of initiatives to scale up the local production and to produce more sustainable products and offers that can better compete on the market. But what is required in order for local artisans to make their designs more sustainable?

Anneli Selvefors was invited to share her expertise on Design for Sustainability and to moderate discussions and creative sessions throughout the event, which attracted the interest of 90 applicants. The event took place in Amman, at the headquarters of the youth-led organisation Leaders of Tomorrow, and 18 participants were given the opportunity to expand their knowledge on the topic, discuss their sustainability challenges, and explore new ideas for how to make their production and products more sustainable and circular.