Fashion, sustainability and awareness Erasmus Project

Project Title

Fashion, sustainability and awareness

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Energy and resources; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

The project “Fashion, Culture and Sustainability” focuses on fashion as an issue in all European countries and all Europeans have a basic opinion about it. At first sight, the preoccupation with fashion may seem superficial, because there are certainly more urgent problems in the world and also in Europe than the question of what to wear and how to look. But fashion is much more complex than it might appear at first glance and has serious socio-political and environmental implications. Our project also deals with the question of fashion as an economic factor, production conditions and the use of resources. European companies earn high returns with products manufactured abroad; the production conditions are often criticised. There is the workers’ payment as well as the use of water and energy. Last but not least, the consumer behaviour of ourselves who we want to go with the latest fashion and therefore produce waste and do not act sustainably. Fashion also has a cultural aspect, easily recognisable by the fact that in past centuries the inhabitants of a region could be recognised by their traditional costumes, whereas today, at least the younger inhabitants of Europe, there is hardly any difference in clothing style. Be that as it may, fashion is and remains a topic that concerns everyone and influences all people worldwide.
Thus, the aim of the project is to make the participants realize that fashion is of course a means of self-expression, but it also defines group membership. Often it is also an expression of social and political circumstances, and last but not least the fashion industry itself produces needs that consumers can then satisfy with its help. Participants should critically reflect on the sustainability of fashion, with regard to production and distribution, but also their own consumer behaviour. Ideally, the project should develop ideas that could have a sustainable impact and improve the compatibility of fashion, fashion production and the environment.
Four secondary schools from Turkey, Italy, Spain and Germany are participating in the project. In addition to two teachers each, who are accompanying the mobilities, there are other supporters in the schools themselves to plan, support and implement the projects.
There will be a lot of work between the mobilities, so that for example in practical work such as designing and making clothes independently, neighbouring schools will act as supporters and help the groups. Extracurricular institutions, such as fashion chains, but also municipal institutions like the educational centre of the district of Wolfenbüttel are involved in the project design, but the know-how of parents is also needed. The age of the pupils is between 13 and 18 years.
The project starts with a visit of the teachers in Trabzon. Here the focus is on the organisation and final arrangements are made for the presentation of the projects and their results within the schools but also for the public, their evaluation and the methods necessary for this. There it is also determined which projects should have a more theoretical and which a more practical focus and where the cultural heritage or sustainability should be the main focus.
The second mobility to Spain deals with surveys among teenagers about the latest fashion trends and how these are implemented by a global player, namely ZARA. The question of whether globalised fashion is pushing smaller shops and designers to the sidelines and making them disappear is also a question to be answered. The third mobility takes place in Italy. There the participants can learn about the production of clothing. By cooperating with another local school that is specialised in fashion and design, the students will be able to work practically in this field and learn how modern design can also promote the recycling of clothing and thus have a sustainable effect. Besides the region of Puglia is famous for its traditional costumes (pizzica style).
The final mobility graduation will take place in Wolfenbüttel. The focus will be on project groups working on the economic, political but also scientific relevance of fashion in order to highlight possibilities for the recycling of garments or sustainable production. Scientific experiments with different yarns or fabrics can be used to investigate their effects on the environment and thus enable conclusions to be drawn about the ability to recycle clothing. Ideas for the sustainable use of fashion are to be collected and their implementation tested.
All mobilities will be accompanied by a group that will document the work processes, events and results on film. In addition to the development of creative elements in the film, this includes the scenic presentation of individual motifs and the planning and implementation of interviews. The practical work on costumes as well as the artistic design with different media require teamwork in multinational groups. The language of communication will be English.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 92038 Eur

Project Coordinator

IGS Wallstraße & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Istituto Comprensivo Commenda
• Tevfik Serdar Anadolu Lisesi
• Institut Ramon Muntaner