Av Fagerholm, Anna-Sara
The aim of this licentiate thesis is to examine from a universal design perspective whatcharacterizes today's recycling environments in residential areas and what values are linked to them.The first study was carried out at a local level in a recycling environment in a municipality in Norrland.The method used on site was go along-studies and this involved professionals from the municipalrecycling company and the municipal housing company. In the second study, which was on a nationallevel, design ethnography was used as a method, investigating 27 recycling environments aroundSweden. The results pointed to three prominent norms in the context of recycling: Normate norm:recycling is for the normal person. The technology norm: recycling is a technical matter. The sign norm:recycling is described with a sign indicating the correct way to sort. Design contributes to the experienceof inclusive recycling environments by shaping environments that are both accessible and aestheticallypleasing. The results from the two studies, however, show that these environments are not designedbased on that approach. In the licentiate thesis, the concept of ”accessibility aesthetics” is presented.Accessibility aesthetics could be part of a future framework for building the values of aesthetics withinuniversal design