Project title: Upcycling clothes and mind
Project Acronym: UCM
Project start date: 01.11.2021
Project end date: 01.05.2024
Duration: 30 months
Project ID: KA220-ADU-000026873
Coordinator of the project: HochVier – Gesellschaft für politische und interkulturelle
Bildung e.V.-Germany
Partner organisations:
uniT GmbH -Austria
Eco Logic-Macedonia
AMARELARTE – associação cultural e recreative – Portugal
SIHTASUTUS TARTU LOOMEMAJANDUSKESKUS – Estonia
Context/Background
The project combines ecological learning and the development of environmental awareness with a new approach to fashion. It must be considered that the Clothing Industry is – after the oil industry – the second largest polluter worldwide. At the same time, fashion is a booming industry with almost unlimited growth. The subject of fast fashion and mass production is an issue with a worldwide impact. It is a highly relevant thematic and since it has a close connection to problems such as climate change and environmental issues, in general, is of high concern. Such an Issue is not only of European interest but also is of crucial concern for other parts of the world such as Africa and Asia regarding the production and disposal of the non – sustainable clothing items. Considering the worldwide impact that non-sustainable clothing has and the absolute importance to search and find alternatives, it is of great importance that non-governmental organizations receive a better understanding and education about the thematic. It is particularly crucial to take up action at this time not only for environmental reasons but also for economic and cultural ones. The business with sustainable clothing and upcycling would be an adequate opportunity to gain financial means with already existing and used materials.
Target group:
The main target group is educational trainers. The aim is to improve their competencies and gain more knowledge in terms of sustainability and the clothing industry.
Objectives:
The main objectives of this project are promoting sustainability and inclusion in adult education, improving the competencies of educators and other adult education staff and gaining more knowledge in terms of sustainability and the clothing industry. While there already is notable knowledge and experience present in that aspect, it always of all partners’ interest to gain new ideas and methods in the context of adult education. The project is a valuable opportunity, to gain an even better understanding of creative, innovative, and practical teaching methods, especially in terms of the relevant subject that is sustainability.
Results:
The workload of those Project Results will be divided up into five work packages. The first Project Result will focus on designing a Pilot Project of Workshop spaces that deal with the matter of sustainable clothing and concentrate on the aspect of upcycling. The organizations will work closely with young adults, older people, and migrants on the impact of fashion production on the environment and strategies such as upcycling to address this. A further Project Result will reflect and analyze those results that were produced in PR1 and out of that a Collection of Best Practices, that can be developed. In order to disseminate and present this outcome appropriately, a website and a fitting online brochure will be produced. The Online Brochure will aim to make the experience of the work transferable through the brochure. Those offered materials should make people want to offer the workshop formats. Project Result 3 will be a Peer-to-Peer Learning Model. Young adults, in particular, communicate a lot on the internet, and on social media. The project makes use of this. It develops materials (film clips, photos, short texts) with the young adults involved that can be shared via the internet. In this way, the acquired knowledge is passed on among peers. For this purpose, a model is systematically developed by reflecting and systematizing the experience gained in the first series of workshops and testing it again in the second workshop round. Furthermore, to this, another Project Result will offer two different training modules for adult educators and artists. This will have amongst other things the goal to have a long-lasting impact beyond the end of the project. For the last Project Result, an artistically designed journal will be produced. This will present the project, the results of the activities, and the learning experience of the workshop participants in the form of texts.
