Waste Stories

This project is a collaboration between Stirling researchers and two professional writers (of both prose and poetry) to co-create "Waste Stories" to help people learn about waste in Scotland, and to develop new ways to reduce, re-use and re-purpose, rather than simply recycle. The initial stage of the project involves field research at some of Scotland's Mixed Recyling Facilities and other waste processing/management facilities (tips, for example), plus staff working at the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (for example in the Waste Crime team). The research will include interviews and field observations, with an emphasis on collecting visual as well as verbal data. A literature review on public understanding of waste and re-use strategies will be conducted in parallel.

Once a reasonable body of data has been gathered, a second stage will commence involving co-work between the researchers and professional writers. We are lucky to have secured the involvement of Ron Butlin (poet, children's author and former Makar of Edinburgh) and Regi Claire (an award-winning fiction and poetry writer) to guide the researchers and co-create the Waste Stories.

The third and final stage of the project will involve co-research with students taking the Environmental Science pathway at the University of Stirling. We will explore how stories such as those generated in the first two stages can be used to provide learning experiences for children at a range of levels,, with a focus on assisting children to create their own Waste Stories.

The project will thus produce a range of outputs, including the Waste stories themselves, guidance on how to use them in teaching contexts, and guidance on creating new Waste Stories, as well as more conventional academic outputs.