Category Archives: Events

Sometimes it is the simplest ideas that can change the world!

Your Green Idea (M&S, 2010)

As a part of M&S’s ambitious Plan A scheme they are looking for the ultimate green idea. As consumers we are always on the look out for better shopping experiences and if it is beneficial to our planet it is even better.

On their Plan A website M&S says: “Working with our customers over the last couple of years, our Oxfam Clothes Exchange has recycled 4 million garments, our bag-charging scheme has saved 600 million bags and we’ve reused or recycled 350 million coat hangers. But that’s only the beginning.”

Now M&S is looking for your green ideas.

So get your thinking cap on. Next time you’re in M&S think about a way our customers can shop for the better. You could use our ideas as inspiration or come up with your own. Think green, but think big. And here’s a thought – if your brainwave is picked as the ultimate green idea it could be seen by 21 million people every week at over 700 M&S stores. And, what’s more, you could win £100,000 for your favourite organisation to spend on their green initiative. It could be for a school, local community project, a small business or charity… it’s up to you.
You’re the brains.

This is a great opportunity, regardless of  your background, to have a positive impact on the future of consumerism.

More details about the competition can be found here.

Source: M&S Plan A website.

ATTEND// Re-dress Clothes Swap in Aid of Haiti

If you happen to be in Dublin this Sunday, go ahead and join a Clothes Swap for Haiti organized by our new friends Re-dress (great to meet you at FEI!!).

The ad is below!  Go out, have some fun and trade clothes while also raising money for a good cause!

Re-dress Clothes Swap in Aid of Haiti

MARCH 7TH AT 2PM @ THE TWISTED PEPPER, Lower Abbey street

one man’s tat is another mans treasure !!

A map can be found here.

WATCH// Social Alterations @ FEI

Here are just two of the videos we took at the conference. We have more videos to come, so stay tuned for those.

The first video is of my Pecha Kucha talk. I’ll be posting the slides and my notes a little later on. Please contact us if you have any questions on the works cited in the presentation.

Social Alterations @ FEI from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) held the table next to ours during the Market Place on day two of the conference. We asked them what exactly responsible fashion meant to the EJF, and for their thoughts on why designers should care.

FEI Conference 006 from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) was also there, asking participants “what organic cotton means…..to me”. Pictured above is Nadira Lamrad (right) with her answer.

Social Alterations @ FEI

So here we are in London for the Fashioning an Ethical Industry Conference: Fast Forward. Today, Nadira and I will both be presenting at the conference, and with Katrine in attendance, this will mark the first time the SA team is all together in the same place at the same time!  

We will be doing lots of blogging and twitter (ing?) from the event, and will have our presentations uploaded later tonight for you to check out, so be sure to tune in.

Follow on twitter via @maryhanlon for that feed.

Wish us luck!

‘I’d rather go naked than wear sweatshop clothes!’

Join a week of student action against sweatshops starting next Monday, March 1st 2010 in the UK and the US.

Description: “Universities and student unions spend tens of millions on clothing for their staff uniforms, sports teams and branded hoodies. Sadly, the people working for your university’s suppliers are often working under slave labour conditions, with no union, no healthcare, 80 hour working weeks and 5p an hour wages. That’s why we are calling for universities to bare all and uncover the factories that their suppliers use to the Worker Rights Consortium, a labour rights monitoring organisation set up by students.” (People & Planet)

The theme for the action is:

While the action does encourage some nudity, it is up to you how far you go.  People and Planet have provided tools to make this day a success including a stencil template, a media guide, and even a facebook invite page.  If you do go, we’d be happy to see some of your photos!  Share some with us on our facebook fanpage.  Have fun!

CSR Asia Summit 2010

In 2009, SA’s Katrine Karlsen reported on CSR Asia’s 7th summit “Sustainable Business as the Road to Recovery” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Click here to read Katrine’s synopsis of last year’s summit.

This year’s summit will take place September 14-15 in Hong Kong, and will offer cutting edge workshops on the following topics:

-Community investment and cross-cultural engagement
-Measuring and reporting your carbon emissions
-Business strategies for adapting to a changing climate
-Water risks down your supply chain
-Asian companies going transnational
-What investors are looking for: Environmental, social, governance (ESG) issues
-A new agenda for human rights: Engaging governments
-The role of business in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Asia
-ISO26000
-Disaster preparedness: The role of the private sector
-The 2010 Asian Sustainability Rating
-Measuring the impact of your community investment on business and the community
-Developing a sustainable development strategy in your organisation

Title: CSR Asia Summit 2010
Location: Hong Kong
Link out: Click here

Start Date: 2010-09-14
End Date: 2010-09-15

Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design


How might ‘social biomimicry’ influence design within the context of socially, culturally, environmentally, and economically responsible systems of fashion? While this conference may not directly focus on fashion at the stage of design conception, it does concentrate on other stages, such as manufacturing, communications, transportation, and green building. Indirectly, lessons learned at all stages of the lifecycle should influence the designer at the early phases of initial conception.

“A pioneering collaboration among biologists, designers, engineers, and businesspeople, Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design is a conference organized by graduate students and supported by the Frontiers in Life Sciences program at Arizona State University. This conference will explore how the collective behavior and nest architecture of social insects can inspire more efficient and sustainable solutions to human challenges in areas such as manufacturing, communications, transportation, and green building. It will facilitate interdisciplinary exchange of concepts, perspectives, and tools that may enrich biology and advance biomimetic design. Finally, it will address fundamental issues in social biomimicry, including its ethical and psychological implications. We invite you to join us for this exciting event February 18 – 20, 2010 at the Memorial Union, Arizona State University, Tempe Campus.” (ASU)

Title: Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design
Location: Arizona State University
Link out: Click here

Start Date: 2010-02-18
End Date: 2010-02-20

Source: Core77 and ASU

Ethical Sourcing Forum North America 2010

The Ethical Sourcing Forum is a unique industry event that brings together members of the global sustainability community in order to address emerging sustainability and ethical supply chain challenges.

Here is the Agenda (subject to change):

Day 1: Thursday, March 18th, 2010.

7:45 AM  –  8:30 AM: Registration & Breakfast

8:30 AM  –  9:15 AM: Welcome Note and ESF Community Poll Findings

What are YOUR top sustainability issues and management challenges? (Kathrin Bohr, Director, ISS Advisory Services)

9:15 AM  –  10:30 AM: ‘VISUALIZE’ Panel Discussion

The Arc of Sustainability Progress: What have we achieved, where are we going and where do we need to be?

  • David Schilling, Program Director for Human Rights at Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (Moderator)
  • Matt Kistler, SVP Sustainability, Walmart
  • Linda Yanz, Director, Maquila Solidarity Network
  • Stephen Howard, CEO, Business in The Community
  • Amy Hall, Director of Social Consciousness, Eileen Fisher
  • International Labor Affairs Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor

10:30 AM  –  10:45 AM: Spotlight on Innovation: Walmart’s Sustainability Index

  • Matt Kistler, SVP Sustainability, Walmart

10:45 AM  –  11:00 AM: Coffee Break/ Networking

11:00 AM  –  1:00 PM: RE-THINK LABS

Mini-Lab 1: Social Networking for Effective Stakeholder Engagement
(Kevin Long, Co-Founder, JustMeans & Brian Walsh, Head of Global Social Engagement, Liquidnet for Good)


Mini Lab 2: Collaboration: Potential and Pitfalls
(Scot Sharland, Executive Director, Automotive Industry Action Group & Monique Oxender, Global Manager, Supply Chain Sustainability, Ford Motor Company)


Mini Lab 3: Role of investment in driving CSR progress
(Garry Bell, VP Global Marketing for Gildan Activewear & Curtis Ravenel, Analyst at Bloomberg)


Mini Lab 4: Measuring and Reporting Environmental & Social Impacts
(TBC)

1:00 PM  –  2:15 PM: Lunch

Joe Sibilia, Chief Visionary Officer of CSRWire and David Mager, President, Major Environmental Solutions  and Co-organizer of Earth Day preview their new book: Street Smart Sustainability – The Entrepreneurs Guide to Profitably Greening Your Organization’s DNA

2:15 PM  –  4:15 PM: RE-THINK LABS

Mini-Lab 5: New Models for Sustainable Purchasing and Factory Compliance (Amy Hall, Director of Social Consciousness, Eileen Fisher  & Julie Yan, Manager, Hudson Bay Company)

Mini Lab 6: New Approaches to Factory Compliance
(Marie David, Director, Corporate Strategy & Sustainability, Walmart)

Mini Lab 7: Transparency in Supply Chain (Chuck Goncalves, Director of Global Responsibility for the America’s Region, Gap)

Mini Lab 8: Managing Supply Chain Environmental Risk: ” Both Win” Tools and Approaches (Jia Liu, Intertek Sustainability Solutions with Supplier (TBC), moderated by The Home Depot)

4:15 PM  –  4:30 PM: Coffee Break/ Networking

4:30 PM  –  5:30 PM: Panel Disussion: What Combination of Strategy and Tactics Really Drives CSR Progress?

  • Moderator: NY Bureau Chief, major international magazine (To be confirmed)
  • Genevieve Taft, Global Workplace Rights, The Coca-Cola Company
  • Sherlyn Broderson, Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability Manager, Cadbury
  • Frank Rexach, VP and General Manager, Haworth
  • Judi Kovacs, VP EHS Programs, NBC Universal

5:30 PM  –  7:00 PM Cocktail Reception

Day 2: Friday, March 19th, 2010

8:00 AM  –  8:30 AM: Breakfast

8:30 AM  –  9:00 AM: Keynote Presentation
TBC

9:00 AM  –  10:00 AM: Presentation: Child/Forced Labor Preview of New Anti-Child/Forced Labor Supply Chain Management Criteria

CREA (Center for Reflection, Education and Action) will preview its work on developing ethical supply chain management criteria (contracted by the U.S. Dept. of Labor)

10:00 AM  –  10:15 AM: Coffee Break/ Networking

10:15 AM  –  12:15 PM: SOLUTION LAB – Backcasting: Developing Your Sustainable Roadmap

A hands-on collaborative sustainability decision-making / solution session involving the technique of reframing – a model for examining challenges from multiple stakeholder vantage points in order to uncover previously unseen perspectives and decision paths.

12:15 PM  –  1:45 PM: Lunch/ Closing Remarks


Source: Ethical Sourcing Forum Agenda

Title: Ethical Sourcing Forum North America 2010
Location: New York
Link out: Click here

Start Date: 2010-03-18
End Date: 2010-03-19

Fashioning an Ethical Industry Bulletin

Events:

25th February 2010: Fairwear Fashion Show at Bristol Cathedral featuring the premiere of the Emma Watson collection for People Tree as well as many more fair trade fashion brands. Booking essential to avoid disappointment

8th and 9th May 2010: The Slow Textiles Conference at the Stroud International Textiles Festival in Gloucestershire. This two day event aims to be a comprehensive introduction to the subject and to stimulate discussion in and around the various and overarching themes central to Slow. Speakers include Becky Earley, Emma Neuberg, Clara Vuletich and Philippa Brock. For further information and to book tickets.

14th May: Create Sustain Ability: The Art Design Media Subject Centre’s (ADM-HEA) 2010 Annual Forum will focus on the subject of Education for Sustainable Development. The Forum aims to support art design and media subjects to develop curricula and pedagogy that will help students develop the skills and knowledge to live and work sustainably. For information on submitting an abstract to the conference or registering to attend.

Resources:

Book: Clean Clothes: a global movement to end sweatshops. The worldwide anti-sweatshop Clean Clothes Campaign marked its twentieth year in 2009. To coincide with the anniversary a new book on the movement was launched, Clean Clothes, by Dutch writer and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter.

Opportunities:

Competition: No Chains t-shirt design competition – a collaborative project undertaken by the two worker cooperatives La Alameda in Argentina and Dignity Returns in Thailand, seeks artists, designers, and activists to assist in creating images for a global sweat-free brand of t-shirts to be launched in April 2010. Deadline for applications is the 25th February 2010. For more information and to get involved.

Competition: Student Essay Competition – ADM-HEA invites students on UK-based art, design or media higher education courses to enter this year’s essay competition and answer the question; Learning to live sustainably – how can your subject area contribute? The overall winning submission will receive £250.

Internships: Himalayan Highlands Summer Exhibitions Ltd, currently the largest importer of Fair Trade products into Scotland, are looking for a Knitwear Design intern and a Fashion Designer/project manager to be based in Kathmandu Nepal. The deadline for application is the 10th February.

Competition: 2010 Green Gown Awards – this year’s awards are now open for submissions. The Green Gown Awards, now in their 6th year, recognise exceptional initiatives being taken by universities and colleges across the UK to become more sustainable.

News:

Improving factory conditions in Bangladesh: This month BBC Radio 4’s Just Business reported on the story of Windy Group, a supplier in Dhaka, which illustrates the power that fashion retailers have to bring about real change for workers.

With the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games just around the corner, the Play Fair Alliance are calling on sportswear brands, such as Nike, adidas, and Puma, to eliminate sweatshop abuses in their global supply chains. Find out what your favourite sportswear brand is, or is not doing, to ensure workers’ rights are respected.

For more on “Clearing the Hurdles,” click here.

Source: FEI

Go Green Week, 2010 // The University of the Arts

Timo Rissanen offers a great post with his notes on ‘The Sustainability Equation: Ethics and Aesthetics in Contemporary Fashion’ and on the ‘Ethics and Aesthetics = Sustainable Fashion’ exhibit at Pratt on his personal blog “Timo Rissanen: Fashion Creation Without Fabric Waste Creation.”

Not to be confused with the Pratt exhibit, that runs until the 20th of February, the graduate students of the MA in Fashion and the Environment over at the London College of Fashion will host “[a]n informal evening called Ethics+Aesthetics = Sustainable Fashion, […] on Friday 12th February at the HUB” for Go Green Week 2010, along with other awareness campaigns such as a fashion swapshop and workshops.

Here is message from the MA Fashion and the Environment students via the Centre for Sustainable Fashion with all of the details:

“Fashion is saving the world this week at the University of the Arts! The first UAL Go Green Week of 2010 at The University of the Arts is fast approaching, held the week of the 8th until the 12th February, and the students from the LCF course MA Fashion and the Environment, who are advocates of an ethical and sustainable fashion industry; based at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, are raising awareness throughout the University of the exciting and innovative developments of sustainable design within the fashion and textile industries.

We have a couple of, what promise to be, exciting and informative events organised for Go Green week, in order to increase public consciousness of environmental issues that are becoming increasingly prominent of late in the industry. Over the course of the week, the Fashion and the Environment students are out to spread the word about what you and I can do to make our wardrobes greener, so to speak! Green is the new black, darling!

A Fashion Swapshop is organised for Thursday the 11th Feb, at the HUB, at the Davies Street between 6pm and 9pm. We are invited to search our wardrobes for garments we never wear, bring them along, and swap them for ones we will wear and love. The Swapshop is not the only focus of the evening, as it will also include speakers from textile recycling company TRAID who aim to protect the environment by diverting clothes from landfill, clothing customising workshops, and, for one night only in London, a vintage clothing stall all the way from Italy–Mercatino Michela.

An informal evening called Ethics+Aesthetics = Sustainable Fashion, will be held on Friday 12th February at the HUB, at the Davies Street between 7pm and 9pm (the bar will be open) introducing and exploring the diverse and innovative areas of sustainability within the Fashion and Textile Industry. This event will be personally hosted by MA Fashion and the Environment students from LCF in collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion. Open to all students from around the university , we are invited to come along to learn more and find out why this is such a vitally important area of contemporary design, ask questions and even get advice regarding sustainable design for our own projects. This evening promises a scintillating line up of from ethical clothing companies such as: People Tree, Ethical Fashion Forum and, Environmental Justice Foundation (also selling their t-shirts) who will be discussing the work they do to play an important role in a changing industry. The evening will also include a short film made by the MA Fashion and the Environment students, showcasing the variety of work and unique individual talents all working towards securing a more sustainable fashion future.”

More info at SU Arts University Student Union.

Source: CSF