In 2024, Creative Insights Studio was selected as a creative partner in the Cross Innovation Lab—a regional innovation program by Region Skåne designed to bring together creatives, industry, and public actors in collaborative problem-solving. Over several months, we were matched with Addict3D, a cutting-edge company using industrial-scale 3D printing and robotics to transform recycled plastic into new products.

Challenge
How can Addict3D increase visibility, spark public understanding, and highlight the creative potential of large-scale 3D printing using recycled materials?

Through a social design-led process, we explored how storytelling, place-based engagement, and artistic intervention could bridge the gap between technology and everyday life.

Result
A public installation and hands-on pop-up day in Helsingborg’s Söder neighborhood, a district facing challenges with waste sorting.

Together with local children and Addict3D’s team, we co-created a playful and educational outdoor experience. Participants learned how plastic waste can be transformed through 3D printing and even witnessed the process live. The installation served as both a prototype and a public engagement tool, demonstrating how circularity, creativity, and community can meet in unexpected ways.

This collaboration combined:

• Local insight and social engagement strategies

• Educational and visual storytelling

• Prototyping public space interventions to open new paths for Addict3D to connect with communities, and for residents to see waste as a creative resource.