Sustainability brought into focus for textile specialists in the Highlands and Islands
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
As the topic of sustainability becomes increasingly urgent across all sectors, so does the importance of revolutionising approaches to working to address challenges posed by climate change.
As part of their year-round series of free events to help benefit creative and heritage economies in the region, Highlands and Islands creative support mechanism XpoNorth will offer a two-hour workshop providing attendees with an insight into the concept of the circular economy.
Focussing specifically on the textiles sector, which makes a significant contribution towards Scotland’s carbon footprint, the virtual session taking place on July 21 will create a dialogue around the advantages of circular strategies.
Introduced by Joan Johnston of XpoNorth, the event will be led by Helen Lavery, Regional Engagement Partner at Zero Waste Scotland, who will share her expertise on the topic.
The interactive format of the workshop will facilitate small-group breakout discussions amongst participants, prompted by a set of 30 ideas cards to inspire them to imagine alternative but attainable realities, such as how products themselves could be designed to fit recycling systems. A second breakout session will then use a structured toolkit and fictional scenarios to explore the ways in which businesses can be transformed from traditional to circular economies.
The session will finish with an overview of the Circular Textiles Fund, which is currently open for applications and closes on July 28.
Joan Johnston, fashion, craft and textiles sector specialist at XpoNorth, said: "With the threat posed by climate change increasing day-by-day, there has never been a more important time to take a visionary approach to running a business.
"This session will equip participants with the knowledge and confidence to think creatively about their ways of working and to begin to incorporate circular strategies into their business models, to the mutual benefit of both businesses and the environment."
