Getliņi eko x Business Transformation Strategy • project 2025-26
Rebranding regeneration for an industry stuck in guilt.
ROLE
Service Designer
& Strategist
TIMELINE
September 2025 - January 2026
TEAM
3 Designers
1 Business Specialist
1 Researcher
2 Communication specialist
SKILLS
Service Design
Service Strategy
Prototyping
Business Modelling
Context
What is the Getliņi Darītāji?
A comprehensive design strategy and service concept for a new creative makerspace within an Environmental Education Center to be built at the Getliņi Landfill by 2030.
Who is Getliņi EKO?
A major waste management and environmental education leader in Latvia and is the largest municipal solid waste landfill (or solid waste landfill) in the Baltic states.
Why It Mattered
Without a reason for young people to visit, the makerspace risked becoming an expensive, empty facility.
The Opportunity
Turn a landfill into a community-led platform/space for the circular economy and sustainable co-creation.
PROBLEM
Can a remote landfill turn into a desirable creative destination?
The target persona is a younger audience for the client. Her name is Kitija and she is 16 years old.
Too Far Away
The makerspace sat on the edge of the city, and for a 16-year-old without a car, getting there felt like a mission, not a plan.
Branded as Garbage
A landfill address carried a stigma that made the space feel uninviting before anyone even walked through the door.
No Reason to Go
Nothing connected the makerspace to Kitija's friends, interests, or weekends, so it stayed off her radar entirely.
SOLUTION
Getliņi Darītāji (translates to Getliņi Doers)
We designed Getliņi Darītāji, a service ecosystem that brings the makerspace to students first, so the landfill becomes a destination they choose rather than a trip they’re asked to make. It starts in their schools, builds through mentorship, and grows into a digital community that pulls them all the way to the landfill and keeps them coming back.
Main Components of the Service
Mobile Pop-Up
A traveling workshop that lands in schools and public spaces with hands-on tech-art activities, from turning waste into art to AR games about circular living. Curiosity starts on day one.
Mentorship Program
Students team up with industry experts to build their own passion projects, using the makerspace's professional tools to bring them to life.
Darītāji App
The backbone of the ecosystem. Students book equipment, match with mentors, showcase their projects, and earn badges and vouchers for every sustainable action.
how it comes together
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Research
We used five research methods to understand how students, teachers, parents, and makerspace experts relate to making, sustainability, and the Getliņi site.
Each method surfaced a distinct insight. Together, they turned the three core needs of access, belonging, and motivation into concrete design requirements.
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INSIGHT 1
Action
We decided to position the makerspace around people and projects. Connecting students with experienced guides and giving them a way to share their work with peers emerged as strong strategies to meet this need.
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INSIGHT 2
Action
We decided to explore how the makerspace could reach students before they reach it. Bringing the first experience into schools and familiar public spaces became a promising way to lower the barrier for both students and teachers.
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INSIGHT 3
Action
We decided to frame sustainability through play and discovery. Interactive, game-based experiences with instant feedback emerged as a strong strategy to give students a sense of agency and creative power.
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INSIGHT 4
Action
We decided to make the space feel alive and make the recycling process visible. A vibrant, nature-inspired environment and a clear, physical demonstration of how waste becomes new resources became our two priorities.
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INSIGHT 5
Action
We decided to design for curiosity as the entry point. Low-stakes areas for open-ended tinkering, with a gradual path toward advanced tools, emerged as the best strategy to make every visitor feel capable from the start.
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Prototyping and testing
We took our concepts into schools and public spaces to find where our assumptions held and where they broke. Each test sharpened the service and moved it closer to how young people actually behave.
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Test 1: Street AR Promotion
Our goal was to solve discovery: how students would hear about the Pop-Up, and what would motivate them to show up once it arrived in their school or neighborhood. We placed QR codes on the street that led to an AR game, designed as a playful first touchpoint that would spark curiosity and lead students and passersby to the event.
What happened
People walked past the codes. Engagement stayed minimal.
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What we learned
Discovery needs active, social prompts. The AR game now opens the Pop-Up event as its first hook.
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Test 2: Prototyping the Pop-Up Makerspace
How the Pop-Up would look and feel inside a school, which activities it should offer, and how students would interact with different kinds of making. We set up a temporary makerspace on school premises with a range of creative activities and tested it with teenagers aged 12 to 15.
What happened
Engagement was high. Open, hands-on tinkering held students the longest.
What we learned
Freedom to experiment drives engagement. Free Creation areas now lead both the Pop-Up and the makerspace.
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Test 3: Darītāji App
A low-fidelity first iteration of the app, focused on the core flows: booking equipment, matching with mentors, showcasing projects, and earning rewards.
What happened
The flows worked as intended. Users asked for a more playful interface.
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What we learnt
The structure is validated. The next iteration needs a visual language as playful as the physical experience.
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Outcome
97 Voices Behind It
Students, teachers, parents, and makers shaped every part of this service through interviews, surveys, focus groups, and workshops.
4 Touchpoints, 1 Journey
A Pop-Up, mentors, hackathons, and an app now lead students from their classroom all the way to the makerspace.
58% Who Never Knew
Most young people had no idea makerspaces existed. The Pop-Up puts one right in front of them, at school.
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Reflection
Start where they already are, reverse thinking…
We spent weeks trying to make the landfill feel closer. What worked was going to the students first. Once they had friends, a mentor, and a project waiting there, the distance stopped mattering.
saraSanwal2026™