Repair Culture and Circular Textiles as Drivers of Local Circular Economy in Germany As the first official FAB Region in Germany, the Bergisch City triangle of Wuppertal, Solingen, and Remscheid is shaping into a real-world testing ground for a co-creative transition toward a circular, sustainable, resilient and locally productive region. But, what kind of a difference can a strong repair culture and circular textiles really make? Cities and regions are becoming places where meaningful change begins. Two recent initiatives of our FAB Region project demonstrate how co-creative and community-driven innovation can accelerate the transition towards a sustainable circular economy region. Both initiatives show how repair, reuse, and community participation strengthen local value creation, sustainable behaviour, and social cohesion. They also offer approaches that can be transferred to other Fab Cities and Regions worldwide. Building a Culture of Repair: NRW Repair Wuppertal 2.0 A networking meeting of NRW 2.0 (Netzwerktreffen Reparatur Wuppertal) brought together repair cafés, open workshops and other civil society initiatives from across North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The event took place across two repair spaces in Wuppertal, Arrenbergstatt and Brockenhaus. What we witnessed was not just a gathering of tinkerers, but a demonstration of how bottom-up infrastructure contributes to peer-to-peer learning, collective action and community agency. Participants shared what they do to bring devices back to life and extend product lifetimes, practices that are becoming increasingly important in a world of fragile supply chains. Repairing is social infrastructure A live demonstration by electrical expert, Lars Gauster on rapid fault diagnosis showcased how technical expertise can be made accessible and empowering rather than exclusive. Afternoon discussions moved beyond tools and techniques, addressing the structural side: how community-driven repair initiatives can find suitable spaces, attract young members, secure funding, and demonstrate measurable social and environmental impact. From these conversations emerged a shared realisation: Repairing is a social infrastructure. It generates trust, intergenerational learning, and a sense of agency, qualities essential for resilient Fab Cities and Regions. The group set to start a new communication channel, start work on first collaborative projects, and plan regular online exchanges. For the global Fab City community, this is an example of how regional networking can transform small, local repair actions into a scalable ecosystem. Strengthening Circular Textiles: The Secondhand Roundtable Textiles are one of the core sectors in the FAB Region project. To advance local circularity, we initiated our first Secondhand Roundtable in Wuppertal, bringing together secondhand shops, social businesses, reuse-focused organisations, and upcycling initiatives. The group highlighted two major systemic challenges: The management of non-wearable textiles, which currently overwhelm regional actors Up to 60% of incoming donations are unusable, creating significant costs, labour demands, and logistical challenges. The rise of ultra-fast-fashion has intensified the problem by flooding the system with low-quality clothing that cannot be resold or upcycled. Participants agreed that the region urgently needs new recovery pathways, such as local recycling facilities, stable partnerships for downcycling and textile-to-textile recycling, and joint procurement of sorting services. The (lack of) visibility of secondhand textiles, which still suffers from outdated perceptions Many shops operate with limited visibility, modest store design, and a public image that restricts access to broader customer groups. Raising awareness of high-quality secondhand clothing is essential not only ecologically but economically, as these stores often play a key role in social inclusion and local employment. How FAB Region is Creating Solutions In response to these challenges, the FAB Region project is working on various solutions. One example could be brining to life a central textile hub where clothes and other textiles could be processed and recycled as the valuable materials they are. We are actively seeking valid business models for this purpose. Furthermore, the FAB Region is developing communication tools, such as flyers, and digital solutions to raise awareness of all the secondhand initiatives in the region. Our upcoming FAB Festival in autumn 2026 will run with repair and reuse as central themes. Learn more about the next Secondhand Roundtable, which takes place on 3 March 2026 here. Outlook: A Model for Other Fab Cities and Fab Regions The FAB Region Bergisch City triangle is still work in progress, but such initiatives already demonstrate how bottom-up engagement, community engagement, and circular infrastructure can accelerate circularity on a local level and advance the Fab City mission. By sharing these stories with the global Fab City community, we hope to contribute to a deeper understanding of how regions, especially those with strong industrial heritage, can reinvent themselves through community-led circularity. Our experience shows that the transition toward a regenerative, locally productive future begins with people who repair together, rethink materials together, and build new forms of collaboration. We look forward to connecting with other cities and regions worldwide to exchange methods, co-develop tools, and strengthen the global movement toward distributed, sustainable and resilient urban futures. For further questions, please contact Nils Kreft. Image in the text: Janina Zogass – Bergische Gesellschaft