Image: Francesco Mazzarella
We’re pleased to share that Dr Francesco Mazzarella (Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at CSF) has been awarded funding from Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) for the next iteration of Making for Change: Waltham Forest. The project so far has included a programme of community engagement, educational and design research activities grounded on the themes of makers, fellowships, and radicals, using fashion as catalyst for change in the borough, with long-term legacy. The support of the Knowledge Exchange (KE) Impact Fund from HEIF will sustain the legacy of the project, with a focus on Fashion Futures 2030 (FF2030) – a research project initially commissioned by the V&A, led by Professor Dilys Williams. This was subsequently developed into two online toolkits, both supported by C&A Foundation:
A toolkit for businesses: developed by CSF’s Knowledge Exchange team in collaboration with Forum for the Future
A toolkit for educators: led by CSF’s Education team
What’s next for Making for Change Waltham Forest?
Throughout the coming months, using the funding secured we’ll be delivering Continued Professional Development (CPD), to train 80 teachers from targeted Colleges in using and applying the teaching toolkit for 16–18 year olds. Alongside this, we’re delivering CPD workshops as a form of business support for 7 fashion SMEs based in Waltham Forest. The aim is to foster a sustainable and innovative fashion industry in Waltham Forest, in line with the vision of the Fashion District. Utilising the FF2030 toolkits with businesses and teachers in Waltham Forest as part of our upcoming knowledge exchange and educational activities, will simultaneously allow us to gain insights that can enable further development of the toolkits.
More about the FF2030 toolkits:
Fashion Futures 2030 – Teaching Toolkit for 16–18 year olds – A teaching toolkit designed for UK school teachers working with 16-18 year olds, including a range of learning tools and resources for students to develop their understanding of sustainability and critical thinking skills. This research-led toolkit for schools was developed for 16-18-year old students to develop sustainability knowledge and critical thinking skills by responding to future scenarios based on environmental, social, cultural and economic agendas. It was piloted with 18 students from Waltham Forest College and offers a 12-week programme to explore issues around the lifecycle of fast-fashion items and envision alternative possibilities for a more sustainable fashion system.
Fashion Futures 2030 –Toolkit for Educators and Businesses – Designed for industry professionals to engage in critical thinking skills and strategic decision making through exploring four future scenarios that can inspire and inform their practice. Launched at Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2019, where international educators applied the toolkit – it offers pathways for industry and educators which have been designed to be flexible enough to be planned and delivered as an hour-long ideation session, a one day workshop, or even a learning module.