Sustainable Fashion and Circular Economy: An Academy Designed for VET Students

Fashion is much more than the clothes we wear. It is a lens to understand better history, culture, social and environmental issues. This means fashion has transformative potential to address some of our most significant social and ecological crises.

The question is: How can fashion education become a catalyst for a circular and sustainable fashion industry, and how can students participate in it?

To answer this vital question, we, the social organisation 2811, developed our very own Climate Action Academy Fashion, designed to empower VET fashion students with information, tools, and sustainable practices they could incorporate into their young careers. In this project, a total of 30 students, two teachers, and other school faculty members participated and enthusiastically shared their perspectives, developing innovative solutions with the help of multiple mentors who enriched the program through their knowledge and expertise.?

"I learned a lot about sustainability in the fashion industry and broadened my horizons”, summarized one of the participating students.

This innovative initiative, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and supported by Climate-KIC, the EU’s largest public-private partnership focused on climate innovation, was tailored for fashion students interested in the sustainability and circularity mindset and processes. The mission of the Academy was thus to catalyze change and empower the next generation of fashion leaders with the tools and knowledge needed to drive sustainable and circular practices forward.

The Fashion Climate Action Academy also included the development of a methodological toolkit offering insights into essential concepts and practical knowledge inspired by the development of the activities with the students, as well as references, expert opinions, and a compilation of successful sustainable fashion projects

This innovative initiative, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and supported by Climate KIC , the EU’s largest public-private partnership focused on climate innovation, was tailored for fashion students interested in the sustainability and circularity mindset and processes. The mission of the Academy was thus to catalyze change and empower the next generation of fashion leaders with the tools and knowledge needed to drive sustainable and circular practices forward.

The Fashion Climate Action Academy also included the development of a methodological toolkit offering insights into essential concepts and practical knowledge inspired by the development of the activities with the students, as well as references, expert opinions, and a compilation of successful sustainable fashion projects.

Why should we steer the fashion industry towards sustainability and circularity?

It has been no secret in the last couple of years and decades that the global economic powerhouse of the fashion industry has had and continues to have a dramatic social and environmental footprint. From textile production to garment manufacturing and transport, each step of the fashion supply chain contributes to excessive carbon emissions, social inequalities, and waste generation.

"The project sparked a new interest in sustainability issues", commented another one of the CAA Fashion participants.?

According to UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) data, the fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water each year, which would supply the needs of five million people in the same period. Not only does this industry use a lot of water, but it also pollutes the rest. Heavy metals and water-toxic salts return to and contaminate rivers and tributaries after passing through the industrial textile production processes. All these procedures are equally harmful to animals and other natural ecosystems.

We can also consider other phenomena such as fast fashion, which causes clothes to be thrown away shortly after purchasing them to stimulate consumption, or social issues like job insecurity or child labor.

"After the presentations, I chatted with a mentor and gained a great insight into corporate management and sustainability. In general, I was surprised by how serious the influence of fashion and its industry is on the climate, and it sharpened my horizons", added one of the Academy's participants.

Fashion ranks as one of the most polluting industries on the planet with steel production, energy, and oil extraction. That's why systemic innovation in fashion education is more important than ever so that new generations can shape sustainable practices that allow the fashion industry to adapt to the needs of humans and the environment.?

New approaches to climate education are catalysts for change. The fact that fashion students know the environmental issues associated with the fashion industry and that they will be in charge of the revolution of a new wave that will think about fashion as a way to heal, contribute, and be part of the change with their ways of expression.?

These new approaches to fashion also include inclusive, ethical perspectives to be incorporated even from the design and conception of the projects. In this way, perceptions also migrate towards issues such as trends that students start seeing from a magnifying glass of consumer practices, cultural expectations, or social norms.

It's about breaking conventional fashion archetypes with an environmental education that promotes systemic thinking.

Climathon + Climate Action Academy?

The training program also focused on redefining the industry through sustainable practices, including a Young Climathon, an in-person event to bring students together to face local challenges from a systemic perspective.?

The activities occurred at the Lette Verein Berlin, where students faced the challenges and questions of implementing sustainable fashion models and practices. The 30 students devised interesting proposals on circular fashion and sustainable entrepreneurship.

At the close of the Young Climathon, students presented approaches to projects related to practical approaches to sustainable fashion, such as new trends in multidimensional waste recycling or provocative citizen awareness campaigns.

Climathons were developed initially by Climate KIC , and implementing them with the Climate Action Academy merges theory and practice to produce concrete knowledge results. The Climathon in the CAA Fashion helped address climate change and sustainable fashion with methodological, didactic, and visual tools to encourage critical thinking among the students.?

“It was fascinating to share the knowledge I learned at the Young Climathon and to get to know the people who made the project possible”, said a participant.

These efforts guide future people in charge of fashion industry roles to approach their work with innovative and circular practices, understanding that they can be part of a catalyzing generation in this industry. They can imagine how to care for our planet with the design, production, and diverse ways we think of our clothes.

Young people have a gigantic drive to make and weave shapes to care for and restore our planet. It is thus an opportunity to make the tools available and accelerate change so fashion can be an example of how to design a future where sustainability is the new trend.