2nd PLATE Conference
Delft University of Technology 2017

The 2nd Conference on Product Lifetimes and the Environment (PLATE) took place in Delft, Netherlands, 8-10 November, 2017. PLATE 2017 was the second international conference to address product lifetimes in the context of sustainability. It brought together researchers, designers, practitioners, and educators from a broad range of traditions and communities from all around the world.

In total 140 delegates from 24 countries attended PLATE 2017, which was deemed a great success in survey feedback. Over three days 88 papers and 10 workshops, drawn from a multi-disciplinary and international perspective, debated the conference’s main themes, including design approaches to product longevity, strategies for product lifetime optimisation and consumer influences on product lifetimes.

The conference included a separate session for PhD students, four dedicated live streaming sessions during the Disruptive Innovation Festival (an online conference hosted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation) and four keynote speakers from academia and government: Kirsi Niinimaki, Associate Professor in fashion research, Aalto University, Finland), James Pierce (Lecturer at UC Berkeley and the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA), Deepali Sinha-Khetriwal (Associate Programme Officer at the United Nations University) and Ruud Balkenende (Professor in Circular Product Design, TU Delft, Netherlands).

The conference provided a great opportunity to review the current state of research in this emerging field of knowledge. Academic researchers, industry representatives and policy stakeholders were invited to share their experiences and debate the implications of product longevity for environmental, economic and social sustainability.

Plate Committees 2017

Conference Chairs

  • Dr Conny Bakker
  • Dr Ruth Mugge

Local Organising Committee

  • Advisor to the local organising committee: Prof Tim Cooper
  • Prof Ruud Balkenende
  • Dr Nancy Bocken
  • Dr Ellis van den Hende
  • Prof Erik Jan Hultink
  • Dr Lise Magnier
  • Prof Jan Schoormans
  • Dr David Peck

Scientific Advisory Committee

  • Prof Ruud Balkenende (Netherlands)
  • Prof John Barrett (UK)
  • Prof Margaret Bates (UK)
  • Prof Tracy Bhamra (UK)
  • Prof Casper Boks (Norway)
  • Prof Maria Bovea (Spain)
  • Prof Brian Burns (Canada)
  • Prof Tim Cooper (UK)
  • Prof Jonathan Chapman (UK)
  • Dr Rebecca Collins (UK)
  • Prof Ichiro Daigo (Japan)
  • Dr Danielle Densley-Tingley (UK)
  • Prof Kate Fletcher (UK)
  • Dr Alison Gwilt (UK)
  • Dr Vicky Lofthouse (UK)
  • Dr Ana Mestre (UK)
  • Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis (UK)
  • Dr Kirsi Niinimäki (Finland)
  • Dr Nils Nissen (Germany)
  • Dr Masahiro Oguchi (Japan)
  • Dr Miles Park (Australia)
  • Dr Valentina Rognoli (Italy)
  • Dr Mark Sumner (UK)
  • Prof Michael Waldman (USA)