Glossario

A material derived from biological sources — plant-based fibres, fungal and mycelium networks, bacterial cellulose, protein fibres, seaweed — used as a sustainable alternative to petrochemical feedstocks.

One of the industry-framed prompts (C1–C10) derived from the IMASUS Industry Needs Report. A project may optionally pick a challenge as its starting point; teams often form around shared challenges.

A shared generative vision formulated as three elements — Name, Promise, and Principle — used in Imagineering Step C to reframe a challenge and guide decentralised action by everyone who engages with it.

A design strategy anchored in end-of-life thinking: choosing fibres, constructions, and components so the finished product can be disassembled and its materials recovered. Less than 1% of textiles are currently recycled into new clothing.

The workshop role responsible for managing a workshop, inviting participants, and coaching projects. Facilitators do not evaluate or grade; they circulate as mentors and can moderate in case of conflict.

A shared structure of concepts, principles, or tools that guides how a challenge is approached. In IMASUS, frameworks include the Imagineering ABCD steps and the four design lenses (zero waste, recyclability, modularity, longevity).

A complexity-informed design discipline — a portmanteau of Imagination and Engineering, developed by Diane Nijs at Breda University of Applied Sciences — that moves beyond conventional problem-solving toward the co-design of new realities through shared vision and emergent action.

A dated item in a project's process log — rich text with optional photos, videos, and material references — visible to all project members and to the workshop facilitator. Not published unless the team selects it for the public page.

A photograph captured through a microscope, typically a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). In the IMASUS Materials Database, micrographs produced at CSIC reveal each material's structure at microscopic level, making its properties tangible.

The primary workshop role — a student or young professional who joins via invitation from a facilitator, creates projects, and documents their process through log entries. Participants may join multiple workshops.

The central collaborative object of an IMASUS workshop. A project is created by a participant, optionally linked to a challenge, accumulates log entries, and can be published as a public case-study page. It has one or more members.

The set of participants who are members of a project. Teams are typically formed during the in-person workshop around shared challenges. Membership is open to any registered participant the project owner invites.

The IMASUS design workshop, spanning before, during, and after a physical session. Participants register via invitation, browse materials and training, create a project, log their process, and publish a public page.

A design strategy that minimises material waste during patternmaking, cutting, and construction. Roughly 15–30% of fabric is wasted before a garment reaches anyone; zero waste patternmaking drives this toward zero.