Two cities, two very different tenders, but one thing they have in common: Innovative processes demand significantly more sustainability than before. The city of Trier strategically addresses several product groups at the same time, municipal companies in Constance combine criteria on several levels of textile production and care.
Aspiring apparel technical assistants will learn everything about a sustainable fashion industry in the workshop project ‘Active for human rights in fashion’.
Gisela Burckhardt addressed critical questions for FEMNET to Zalando and Hugo Boss at their shareholder meetings in May 2022. Both events took place virtually, which prevents critical inquiries. Overall, both companies remained very inconclusive in their responses.
In view of a legal regulation for large companies to comply with their due diligence obligations from January 2023 (Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, LKG), the question arises as to what role voluntary measures such as the Green Button or the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles (Textile Alliance) could have in the future.
In the ballroom, the community tent of the Fairquer initiative and the student council of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, found the supporting program of the Recruiting Messe MG is attracting instead. On 20 May 2022, FEMNET was able to design a workshop for the students, which included not only an input on the content of the supply chain, but also an action workshop to develop their own options for action.
With more than 220 civil society networks, individual organisations and trade unions from all over the world, we are addressing the European Parliament and the EU Member States today with a joint statement. Whether from India, Brazil, USA, China or Bangladesh, all drawing organizations have one thing in common: They are calling for a strong EU supply chain law. Only a strong EU supply chain law can effectively improve the conditions for people, the environment and the climate along global value chains!
In small steps back into classroom teaching - the annual training for the FEMNET speakers took place in hybrid format this year. In a two-day event, new educational approaches were taught.
In blue skies and sunshine, the exchange tables were moved to the courtyard of ZeSaBo on 23 April 2022: Volunteers from the Bonn local groups of Greenpeace and Amnesty International, in cooperation with FEMNET, invited to the second change of clothes at ZeSaBo. The action attracted many people who brought well-preserved, no longer beloved clothes and found new favorite parts between the clothes racks and jeans stacks.
Exhibition, performance, fashion show and talk – on Sunday 24 April, this year’s Rana Plaza Memorial Day, the highlight of the FEMNET #eintshirtzumleben campaign took place in the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum (RJM) in Cologne. The heart of the event was the exhibition of the 19 T-shirt artworks of well-known artists, such as Vera Lossau, Lilla von Puttkamer, Pipilotti Rist, Frank Schätzing or Willi Reiche. Art instead of consumption was the motto of the campaign and at the same time the conclusion of this successful event day.
The joint commitment to improved complaint structures in spinning mills and the promotion of stakeholder dialogue continues. The Tamil Nadu Alliance Initiative started its second phase in November 2021. Now the main focus is on around 40 spinning mills in the four districts of Coimbatore, Dindigul, Erode and Tiruppur.
In addition to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and FEMNET, the four alliance companies Tchibo, the Otto Group, KiK and HUGO BOSS AG are once again participating in the project. As in the first project phase, the local NGO SAVE organizes the implementation on site.
Rising numbers of infections and renewed lockdowns in the Indian state caused delays. But now the project is gaining momentum and the first training sessions and factory visits could take place.