Call for students to participate in the Sustainable Challenge’21

The Textile industry is the fourth highest sector for use of primary raw materials and water and the second highest for land use. It has high levels of energy and resource consumption with significant carbon emissions and high dependence on resource availability. This not only puts a strain on our planet’s resources, but also contributes to climate change.

Industrial Symbiosis, this year’s theme for the Sustainable Challenge, encourages industries to work together and exchange materials, energy, water, waste, logistics, knowledge and more, which in turn increases resilience and economic gains while reducing the environmental impact and expenses.

The objective of the «Sustainable Challenge’21. Industrial Symbiosis: A Booster to Circular Fashion» is that different teams, made up by students, design closed-loop products or services for the fashion sector, in which the production of waste is eliminated by design and ensure that materials continue to circulate in the economy and therefore do not lose value. This means designing for durability, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling in order to keep products, components, and materials circulating withn the economy.

MODA-FAD, Design Manchester festival and the British Council, joined this year by the Polimi of Milan and the Nova Universidade de Lisboa, are looking for 48 students from British, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian schools to work in multinational teams to develop proposals. The challenge is aimed at students of any discipline related to the fashion and design industry: fashion design, pattern making, styling, photography, engineering, architecture, product design, digital design, graphic design, art direction, project management, marketing, advertising, retail design, innovation, etc.

This third edition of the Sustainable Challenge will be part of the Barcelona Design Week (25-26 October) and Design Manchester (19 November) and will culminate with an exhibition of the results at the Disseny Hub Barcelona that will be open to the public during the month of December.

The project is curated by Elizabeth Cardwell, fashion stylist and educator at Liverpool John Moores University, and Verónica Kuchinow, specialist in industrial symbiosis and in resource efficiency as a business tool towards circular economy.

Participants will work into mixed teams each one composed by Spanish, British, Italian and Portuguese students. They will be supported by curators and established experts who will provide them with know-how and advice and help them to shape their proposals.

The call will be open until October 12 and the selected teams will be announced on October 15.