The Right to Repair Movement
Project Outputs
The Right to Repair project has brought together researchers from the University of York and Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University to explore how repair and sustainability can help shape a fairer, more circular future.
A major focal point of the research into the Right to Repair movement involves looking at how consumer electronic lifecycles can be extended to reduce global e-waste. As part of this context, Ulrike and Mustafa were interviewed for a recent article by Which? magazine that highlights the practical choices consumers face when choosing to stick with older devices or dispose of them responsibly. The article explores why keeping your older phone makes you an inspiration and highlights how what you do with old devices - and how you choose your next one - can make a bigger environmental difference than you might think. Bridging the gap between the Right to Repair and consumer choices is vital to reshaping how society values, maintains and processes electronic goods. You can read the full piece via the Which? article on why not having the latest phone makes you an inspiration.
Building Connections:
In June 2025, Dr Mustafa Enes Tepe visited the University of York, where he shared his research at the YESI International Fellows seminar: The Right to Repair Movement and exchanged ideas on the social and environmental value of repair. A few months later, in October 2025, Dr Ulrike Ehgartner travelled to Türkiye for a return visit, meeting with academics, students, and local partners to continue the conversation on repair culture and sustainability.
Dr Ehgartner's visit received wide attention from both the university community and local media. Two university news features covered her visit and seminar, and local Turkish media ran a story about the collaboration - helping to raise public awareness of the project’s goals and impact.
🔗 You can read the full articles via the following links:
University of York Collaborator
Ulrike Ehgartner - School for Business and Society
Dr. Ulrike Ehgartner, PhD in Sociology, is a Research Associate (on FixOurFood, one of four research consortia funded by the £47.5m Transforming UK Food System, Strategic Priorities Fund Programme) based at the School for Business and Society. Her research focus is on sustainability and the role of narratives in driving climate action and social change. Her work explores the ways in which stories, discourses, and framing influence societal responses to environmental challenges, particularly in the context of social innovation and transformation. Much of her research investigates the dynamics of change, looking at how different narratives shape perceptions of sustainability and inform both policy and practice.
International Collaborator
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Dr. Mustafa Enes Tepe - Department of Business Administration, Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Türkiye
Dr. Mustafa Enes Tepe, PhD in marketing, is a lecturer at the Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Türkiye. He received his PhD from Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Türkiye. Additionally, to conduct doctoral studies, he spent one year at the Sustainable Consumption Institute, the University of Manchester, supported by a research grant provided by TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye). His research interests primarily focus on sustainable consumption, consumer ethics, and ethical consumption, with a specific emphasis on the interplay between ethical principles and sustainability in consumer behavior. His work also explores these areas through a generational lens, analysing how distinct generational cohorts engage with and interpret these concepts.