Used computers brought back to life for those who need them most

There are many ways of transforming the world and repairing used equipment, and bringing it back to life, is one of them. That is the purpose of the ReBOOT project, which aims to recover computers and give them to those who need them most. This municipal initiative made it possible for Filipe Araújo, Deputy Mayor of Porto, to offer more than 300 devices to 35 Social Network organisations this Thursday, at UPTEC.

More than a year after the municipal project ReBOOT was launched, the time has come for the devices collected and recovered to be handed over to the city's Private Social Solidarity Institutions (IPSS). The initiative, which is part of the Asprela + Sustentável (More Sustainable Asprela) project, proved that it is possible to transform existing resources at a low cost - the municipality invested 25,000 euros, much less than if new equipment had been purchased - and to respond to the needs of the Invicta's social institutions.

'The idea behind it was to set up a process where institutions donated their obsolete computers. After that, we held capacity-building sessions. The computers were fixed by the people themselves, citizens who, without computer skills, came to learn and were no longer afraid to open a computer and repair it, find the parts, change the batteries, change the memories, change the discs, repair screens or keyboards', the Councillor for Environment and Innovation explained.

All things considered, 'we managed to deliver 216 computers and 116 monitors, which are now repaired and can continue to be used by those who need them most', Filipe Araújo said.

One of the aims of the ReBOOT project is to prove also that you don't have to be a computer expert to get down to work in favour of a more sustainable planet, as any person or organisation had the opportunity to take part in the capacity-building and Repair Café sessions. The initiative ended with 83 people trained, after ten six-hour sessions in which the participants recovered more than 300 pieces of equipment.

The beneficiaries of the Qualificar para Incluir Association proved that ReBOOT is for everyone, as besides receiving new computer devices from the Deputy Mayor, also took advantage of the municipal initiative to acquire training in a new area.

'There were Social Insertion Income (RSI) beneficiaries who already had some IT skills and who we sent here to acquire additional ones. This can actually be a gateway to a future occupation', Ofélia Carvalho, from the Qualificar para Incluir Association, admitted while adding that she 'hoped' to take with her around 20 devices that will make a big difference to the procedures of the institution that belongs to the municipality's Social Network.

At the moment, 'the devices we have are slow and don't have the capacity to deal with so much information', she emphasised, explaining that Internet access is a daily necessity at the association.

The recovered devices will also make a difference for Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral. 'We're taking eight desktop computers and three laptops. They will be very important not only for the services but also for the users to do their daily work', said Aníbal Cunha, chairman of the board of the institution, foreseeing that the computers will be used 'for different activities, in terms of literacy and reading tales'.

The ReBOOT project is part of the Municipality of Porto's circular economy strategy, the Deputy Mayor explained, pointing out that the municipality 'takes into account all of the city's resources, so that they will have a new purpose or a new use'.

When it comes to computers, people are still not used to 'repairing them and putting them to another use, when they can often continue to work for a long time', Filipe Araújo underlined, emphasising that even if there seems to be no solution for the equipment, 'we have to insist on repairing it, because otherwise we will be consuming more resources and the world is not endless'.

Throughout the process, the equipment was collected by municipal, intermunicipal and national waste management organisations, from companies and private individuals.

During the device renovation sessions, each participant had access to the ReBOOT Repair Manual and the tools needed to perform the repairs.

With the motto 'Repair your computer. Transform the world', the project is a partnership between Porto City Council, Porto Digital, Lipor, Recycle Geeks and the European Recycling Platform. It also has the support of UPTEC, of Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), the FEUP Student Association, the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto, Universidade Portucalense, the Academic Federation of Porto, Circular Economy Portugal and the Sustainable Campus Network.