IVAC - International Virtual Academic Collaboration

Students will be challenged in the project to develop solutions and perspectives for more sustainability in the fashion industry, conditioned by digital opportunities and international collaboration. The German Academic Exchange services supports the project with over 40.000 € to cover for example the travel, accomodation costs and more for the students, teachers & guest lectures.

CHALLENGE 

Fashion as an expression of a zeitgeist touches many areas of life and at the same time represents one of the largest industries worldwide, dominating the global South in particular. Globalized value chains in the fashion industry offer opportunities to balance consumer demand and production performance. However, the current prevailing linear system creates environmental and social injustices that require a holistic approach to change the existing paradigm. Wider schemes such as the European Green New Deal or a recently released £80 million funding to create circular economy systems in the fashion industry in the UK show that the fashion industry is under significant pressure to make major structural changes to achieve regenerative practices. Many higher education institutions and fashion companies are realigning themselves to meet the challenges of a new fashion industry. To enable the shift toward a sustainable industry, they are looking for fresh impetus and suitable young talent to support their journey. 

CONNECT & SOLVE

International exchange and collaboration are the basis for international solutions for labor, health, and environmental protection, as well as sustainable socio-cultural development in the form of equality, diversity in the workplace, and inclusion in fashion education.This project, Progressive Sustainability in Fashion, builds on a successful previous 2022 European university partnership project to accelerate co-creation and multicultural student experiences in sustainable fashion. Based on these experiences, the new project aims to expand collaboration with a focus on changing young people's perspectives to develop an understanding of what a radical transformation of the status quo in fashion can look like. The project will be implemented with an international network of university partners from Germany (Trier University of Applied Sciences), Portugal (ESAD), and the United Kingdom (BCU), as well as a practice partner, in a blended mobility format, meaningfully intertwining phases of virtual transnational collaboration with short-term physical meetings in multidisciplinary teams.

WORK IN INTERNATIONAL TEAMS

The international teams are made up of students from bachelor's and master's degree programs in fashion design with different cultural backgrounds. The project will challenge students to engage in speculative investigations of potential applications for a regenerative fashion future. They will explore sector-specific solutions and interventions for greater sustainability in supply chains, design, product development, and manufacturing. They will also address equity and the harmonization of social standards to address the perspectives of the Global South in line with the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As a real-life challenge donor, Holy Fashion Group is involved as a practice partner. Team-building activities and intercultural communication workshops at the beginning of the project create the foundation for international co-creation and provide an environment for a more autonomous, student-led project approach with an interdisciplinary and collaborative mindset. Both are essential for a fundamental paradigm shift towards a socially just and environmentally conscious fashion industry.

LEARN TOGETHER & FROM EACH OTHER

The student project work is complemented by a thematically appropriate transnational lecture series that combines the academic expertise of the teaching staff with the application-oriented know-how of the practice partner as well as other relevant industry partners. The teaching staff also support the international student teams in developing their concept proposals for the practice partner as coaches and mentors in virtual learning sessions that take place on a regular basis. Short mobilities at the beginning and end of the project allow progress to be made in a physical environment that provides a space in which rich learning experiences can be gained. By ensuring a high level of knowledge transfer and collaborative experiences, students will develop newly defined skills as global change makers. Complementing this, they will build valuable practical and international networks for career entry that will connect them to industry beyond their degree. Embedded in existing module curricula, the project will help align course content across all three partner universities with growing industry demands and requirements.