Fighting Fast Consumption

From Fast to Circular Fashion

Fashion is a booming industry in the Netherlands, with over €17.1 billion spent on clothes each year. A significant portion of this is spent on fast fashion brands like H&M, Zara, and the ultra-fast fashion brand Shein.

Consumers enjoy the benefits of these clothes —we dress to impress, to feel good, and to protect ourselves. However, the negative effects, such as pollution and the strain on resources, are felt in the producing countries, as well as in the countries where we dispose of our clothes. Transforming the fashion industry from a linear to a circular model requires changing the entire value chain and the behavior of all stakeholders, including designers, suppliers, producers, brands, and consumers.

By embracing circular fashion, we can create a more sustainable future, where clothes are made to last, and the impact on our planet is minimized. Are you ready to be a part of this transformation? 

What will you learn?

The overall aim is to provide students with the knowledge and skills related to value chain analysis and sustainable consumer behaviour in the fashion industry. 

• You will analyse the value chain of the fashion industry with regards to its resources, the production of garments, consumption and disposal.
• You will learn about circularity and theories for changing behaviour.
• You will research consumer behaviour in the fashion industry (desk research, and a wardrobe audit). You will analyse the data and use the results to design a behavioural intervention. You will design an experiment to test the intervention and validate its effectiveness.
• You will learn how to function effectively in an international and interdisciplinary environment.
• You will be exposed to the practical issues in the fashion industry through field visits and guest lectures.

What will you do?

• Workshops and lectures: Besides a number of key workshops, you can choose also workshops from the Semester 6 base.
• Behaviour observations at retailers
• Attend symposia and conferences
• Field visits (for example Textile Museum in Tilburg)
• Weekly coaching sessions
• Personal development through reflecting on social, economic and environmental dilemmas regarding sustainability.

Who will you work with? (Participating programmes)

You will work together with students from International Business (MKT), Bedrijfskunde, Global Marketing & Sales, Creative Marketing & Sales, Marketing of Social Business and SportMarketing & Sales.

You will work on issues such as:

Changing behaviour of consumers and retailers. You participate in the National Wardrobe audit (in collaboration with 10 other HBOs and the research centre business innovation).

The results are used to design an intervention at the consumer or retail level to help change behaviour such as:

• Designing a tool that helps consumers to decide what the sustainable impact is of a garment.
• How to organise garment repair in such a way, that more garments are repaired?
• Developing a sustainable customer journey in a retail store.
• Developing disposal strategies that contribute towards circular goals relating to sustainable materials, reuse and recycling.

Knowledge output

The interventions students develop and validate will be compiled in a Fighting Fast Consumption Intervention Manual targeting different aspects of the value chain and employing different circular strategies.

Costs

You need a licence for this programme. You can buy this at https://www.surfspot.nl. The cost for this is €12.