Or what we have to learn from The commons
I recently learned about a new fashion activist group called Fashion Act Now vis a vis Clare Press’ podcast Wardrobe Crisis. Born out of Extinction Rebellion, they are calling for radical changes in how we approach and define fashion. To this end they’re hosting this virtual discussion bringing leading thinkers and doers from various fields together. The focus is on the idea of “the commons” and how it relates to fashion.
Wondering what the commons is?
A commons arises when a community treats a resource as a shared wealth. There’s no common’s without commoning: the process of community participation. It’s a thriving alternative to capitalism that puts human wellbeing and the planet above profit. So we ask, is the commons the answer when it comes to degrowing fashion?
The commons is less about ownership as we usually understand it than about stewardship. Ask indigenous peoples if they “own” the land and they will reply that the land owns them. So how can we adopt and adapt this idea to improve our relationship with the planet?
From FASHION ACT NOW
We are incredibly excited to bring together:
- David Bollier, author, activist and consultant who has spent 20 years exploring the commons, writting countless books and co-organizing pioneering international conferences and strategy workshops. He’s the author of Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Commons. He’s the co-founder of the Commons Strategies Group and Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics. His most recent book is The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking.
- Ana María Durán Calisto, Ecuadorian architect, urbanist, educator and writer, who founded Estudio A0 with her partner in Quito, Ecuador and challenges the status quo and the spatial and environmental paradigm for urbanization in South American cities, developing environmentally responsible design and construction systems. Her expertise is in urbanisation in the Amazon Basin.
- Dave from One Army, dutch industrial designer and founder of a community that creates projects that tackle global problems. One Army are “a global movement of peaceful sapiens dedicating their lives to serve and protect planet earth” and are the creators of Fixing Fashion, Precious Plastics and more. We think Fixing Fashion is a wonderful example of the commons providing answers for the fashion and growth conundrum.
This conversation will be moderated by Bel Jacobs, writer, speaker and campaigner on the climate emergency, animal rights and alternative fashion systems. She’s the co-founder Fashion Act Now and founder of Fashion in Schools. She’s campaigned for Extinction Rebellion and Animal Rebellion and is a former Style Editor for Metro.
TUESDAY APRIL 26th on ZOOM
1 PM EST, 6 PM BST
REGISTER HERE!
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