Can we achieve Responsible Fashion Consumption?
According to a United Nations study, the fashion and textile industry is responsible for about 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions, 20% of all wastewater and consumes more energy than the airline and shipping industries combined.
In addition to the environmental costs, the fast-fashion sector has also huge social costs. To name only one example: the catastrophe of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in 2012 killed 1 138 garment workers and injured 2 600.
Despite an increased awareness towards the environmental and social costs, the fast-fashion industry has grown 21% over the past three years.
Consumers: you have a central role to play! In this workshop, we will discuss about what is preventing us from making changes? What is at stake when it comes to individual consuming behaviour?
In this workshop, the participants divided into groups visit four different workstations, where the following themes are discussed with the help of facilitators:
- The ethics of Consumption
- How do culture and identity affect our relationship with fashion?
- The motivations behind your purchasing behaviour: your needs, your wants and your ethical values
- The role of media in driving (un)ethical consumption
The session ends with a wrap-up and discussions on the findings of different groups.
Facilitators include for experts in the field of sustainable fashion to animate the discussions at the workstations:
- Tarja Castel - Co-Founder; mpakt
- Kirsi Niinimäki - Associate Professor in Design, especially Fashion Research; Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture
- Anna Härri - Researcher; Pro Ethical Trade Finland | Eettisen kaupan puolesta ry
The methodology used is Open Space.
Due to unexpected circumstances, there is a change is the workshop's animation, which will be handled by Nikodemus Solitander, Director, CCR.