Category Archives: Curricula

WATCH // Udita (Arise): a film on garment making in Bangladesh

On April 24th 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh. Over 1,130 workers were killed and thousands more were left injured. These workers were producing garments for consumers in Europe and North America.

We have now marked the two year anniversary of the collapse, yet the ILO trust fund established to support victims and their families remains nearly 3 million dollars short.

Rana Plaza was not the first industrial accident of its kind in Bangladesh, and building (and fire) safety is not the only challenge faced by garment workers.

Udita, the latest documentary from The Rainbow Collective, brings together footage capturing garment work in Bangladesh, collected over a five year period.

The Rainbow Collective premiered the film in East London at the Unite The Union Community Centre to a packed house on 24 April, marking the 2nd anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse.

Udita Trailer (full documentary below):

Udita

Udita asks its audience to listen to the testimonies of workers and organisers. No simple solution is presented. No judgements are passed. Viewers are left to draw their own connections.

Thanks to The Rainbow Collective for making Udita free and accessible.

Please watch and share through your networks.

Udita (full documentary):

Note: This blog post was also published on Routes blog, with permission.

LEARN // The WellMade Project

A three year project that began in 2013, WellMade provides free online resources designed to help brands better support labour rights in their supply chains.

The Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) is lead partner on the initiative, working collaboratively with other partners and associates.

There are currently four specific case studies to assist brands:

(1) “You know those pants we ordered? We need them in a different color!”

(2) “I’m visiting a factory but I’m not a CSR specialist. What can I do to help?”

(3) “We have found labour problems in one of our factories. What should we do?”

(4) “Subcontracting: How can this small group of workers produce so many t-shirts?”

If you’re in Paris, you can catch the project for a free workshop tomorrow (10 Feb) at Texworld.

Follow WellMade on Facebook and Twitter for updates on resources, as well as future workshops and events.

Test your knowledge! And track fast fashion with this interactive Africa study map

How well do you know your geography when it comes to Africa? Unfortunately, many of us need to study up.

This online tool could be a great addition to learning activities on fast fashion supply chains – specifically on second-hand trade.

Add this tool to:

Our #TOSS Station learning and resource guide
Both our pre-16 and higher learning Mitumba: Mapping the Journey activities
And when using NPR’s Planet Money’s ‘simple’ t-shirt as learning resource for

via Africa is a Country

Resources // NPR’s Planet Money Makes a ‘Simple’ T-shirt

Planet Money showing just how little the industry has changed.

Planet Money:

What would you like the people who buy this t-shirt to know about you?

Doris Restrepo, Garment Worker, Medellín, Colombia:

What is behind the T-shirt: It’s a world.

NPR’s Planet Money has released a five chapter series on the production of a conventional t-shirt. This series is an excellent educational resource and is perfect for ‘flipping’ into a short course on our international fashion system. The videos and accompanying articles would also make a fantastic addition to any of SA’s educational resources, particularly the SAGE module where we traced the international production of a hypothetical t-shirt from the farm to the landfill and beyond into it’s second-hand life.

Introducing: Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt from NPR on Vimeo.

Inspired by Pietra Rivoli‘s The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade, Planet Money actually hired the Georgetown Professor as an advisor for this series. Needless to say, I highly recommend the The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy as further reading to help gain even deeper insight into the value chain of a ‘simple’ t-shirt.

This series is an absolute must for anyone interested in the fashion supply chain as a whole and the political, economic, and social issues that surround the production of clothing.

Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt: The world behind a simple shirt, in five chapters

SAGE: The Social Alterations Google Earth Module

Welcome to SAGE, the Social Alterations Google Earth module!

Each station along the SAGE module represents a small window into the vast, diverse and interdisciplinary world of conventional global apparel supply chains by introducing learners (educators and independent learners alike) to an edited sampling of resources, including classroom-ready learning activities (worksheets, study guides, lesson plans, etc.).

Through SAGE, we’ve sought to harnesses interdisciplinary resources and facilitate responsible learning to strengthen industry capacity for research in responsible apparel.

The short introduction video (below) outlines what you can expect form the module; we’ve broken it down into four key stations:

#GET | #MAKE | #BUY | #TOSS

Each key station comes equipped with placecards (so you’ll know where you are!), photos, videos, resources and learning activities – use the legend to guide you!

The SAGE Module was developed by Mary Hanlon, Nadira Lamrad and Maughan Pearce, with a big thank you to the team at Google Earth Outreach for their training and support.

Ready to get started? Happy learning, friends!

Click here to launch the SAGE module in Google Earth

WAIT! Not sure how Google Earth works?

1. If you’re new to Google Earth and you’re really not sure, click here: How do I use Google Earth?

1. If you’re ready to get started, click the link above to download the program file (this is a safe kmz file)

2. When the file opens in Google Earth, it will automatically be sent to your ‘Temporary Places.’ Expand the folder and ‘Save to My Places.’

3. Before getting started, be sure to turn on/off ‘Layers’ by de/selecting each box (but we recommend leaving 3D Buildings and Photos on, for fun.)

4. If you’d prefer not to use Google Earth to retrieve these resources, just select the stations from the left-hand rail.

SAGE, a Learning Resource by Mary Hanlon, Nadira Lamrad and Maughan Pearce, for Social Alterations, is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Fashion Futures 2025: Global scenarios for a sustainable fashion industry

New Resources for tutors and students!

What will the fashion industry be like in 2025? How might the role of the designer or consumer change? And what can we do now to shape our future?

Thinking about the future can be daunting because we are bound by what we know and what we have experienced, but it can also help us to see things from another perspective; to inspire debate and innovation. In response to this, Fashion Futures has designed four scenarios that help us to picture the future beyond our existing knowledge of the fashion industry. Each scenario is presented through a range of materials that are creative and thought provoking. Although the project has been available since 2010, a new set of educational resources has recently been added to support the use of these scenarios at the university level.

In my experience, sustainability can be off-putting to some tutors and students, especially when the issues appear to demonise fashion or where there is a negative focus. For others who are already engaged with these issues, social and environmental concerns can sometimes lead us to question why we are in fashion at all. This project opens up the sustainability debate by presenting it in a broader context, challenging preconceptions, and exploring opportunities. A highlight of this program is that it introduces ‘design thinking’ to a fashion audience. Design thinking involves taking a human centred, collaborative approach to complex design problems. Its methods include user-centred research, brainstorming and prototyping. With this practical framework, students are guided through a thinking process that addresses these ‘big’ issues in a positive and empowering way.

Fashion Futures 2025, is a good introduction to a wider debate on how we can redefine the fashion industry to better suit the needs of both people and planet. Information about this project, including the new materials for tutors and students, can be found on the Fashion Futures website.

Stay tuned for more on this project, as SA will be featuring this Forum for the Future resource in the SA Google Earth Module which will be released later this year.

Other Resources //

Ted Talk Tim brown urges designers to think big

Design thinking for social innovation By Tim Brown & Jocelyn Wyatt

	LEARNING RESOURCES	TEACHING RESOURCES
The #GET Stage
The #MAKE Stage
The #BUY Stage
The #TOSS Stage


Lesson 1: Sifting Through the ‘Ecofashion’ Lexicon
Lesson 2: Key Players
Lesson 3: Global Governance and the Corporation
Lesson 4: Corporate Social Responsibility
Fashion High: Understanding the Impact of your Clothing [Pre-16 Workshop]
Fibre Analysis: Possible Social and Environmental Impacts

1. Why does the issue exist?

2. What will happen if the issue persists?

LEARNING RESOURCES

TEACHING RESOURCES

The #GET Stage

The #MAKE Stage

The #BUY Stage

The #TOSS Stage

Lesson 1:

Sifting Through the ‘Ecofashion’ Lexicon

Lesson 2:

Key Players

Lesson 3:

Global Governance and the Corporation

Lesson 4:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Fashion High:

Understanding the Impact of your Clothing

[Pre-16 Workshop]

Fibre Analysis:

Possible Social and Environmental Impacts

Welcome to the #GET Station, the 1st stop along the SAGE journey!

Connect…

Welcome to SAGE, the Social Alterations Google Earth module!