CULTIVATING SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITY IN THE CLASSROOM

By Saran Davaajargal

THE CREATIVE EXPRESSION OF HUMBER COLLEGE’S core values is manifested throughout the campus community. In particular, the value of sustainability—one of Humber’s six core values—is expressed in a myriad of ways, from program curriculums to student-led volunteering to collaboration with global partner institutions.

In this article, we’d like to shine the spotlight on a series of Humber-led sustainability case studies developed by Rossie Kadiyska and Vladimira Steffek, faculty members in Humber’s Fashion Management postgraduate certificate program. Rossie and Vladimira are researchers and educators who are passionate about teaching and promoting sustainability inside and outside of the classroom.

United by their shared passion for fashion and sustainability, Rossie and Vladimira started collaborating in 2019 when Humber introduced Fashion Innovation and Sustainability as part of the Fashion Management program.

Rossie and Vladimira's collaborative endeavour was ignited by three main questions: How can classroom learning be more fun and interactive? How can students be offered a global and cross-disciplinary opportunity? How can sustainability be communicated in an impactful way?

As the team started reviewing existing literature from leading publishers, they found that there was a lack of sustainability-focused case studies. To address the gap, the team decided to create case studies based on examples of local entrepreneurs taking innovative approaches to sustainability in fashion.

Reflecting on the motivations for undertaking the project, Vladimira stated:

— VLADIMIRA STEFFEK, PROFESSOR, FASHION MANAGEMENT PG CERTIFICATE, HUMBER COLLEGE

Asked about the goals and challenges of the project, Rossie responded:

— ROSSIE KADIYSKA, PROFESSOR AND PROGRAM COORDINATOR FASHION MANAGEMENT PG CERTIFICATE, HUMBER COLLEGE

SEED AND CULTIVATE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION FUNDS

Rossie and Vladimira decided to create their first case study on KLWD, a Toronto streetwear brand, in 2019 by applying to the then-Teaching Innovation Fund (TIF) enabled by the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at Humber. The team was able to successfully create the case study, which paved the way for four additional rounds of TIF-funded case studies covering a wide range of areas from sustainable denim and bespoke tailoring to Indian fusion wear and sustainable furniture.

In 2021, TIF was restructured into the Seed and Cultivate Research and Innovation Funds to better address the needs of Humber’s growing community of researchers and scholars.

Here is a video of Rossie and Vladimira giving a brief overview of the case studies: youtube.com/embed/03BMTDJUPEA

Through the case studies, the research team sought to explore how to better prepare students for their future careers while developing their innovative thinking, creativity, engagement, and satisfaction with the learning experience. The pedagogy framework used in the case studies—which epitomizes Humber Learning Outcomes (HLOs)—is based on six main pillars:

• Interdisciplinary learning

• Internationalization at home

• Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)

• Systems design thinking

• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The case studies brought together students from various disciplines such as fashion management, fashion communication, furniture design, arts management, and public relations. Through exploring the case studies collaboratively, the students developed their knowledge of sustainability in fashion and applied the principles of circular economy and systems design thinking in reallife cases. By doing so, they learned to view the fashion industry through a new lens and developed their own suggestions and ideas on fostering sustainability in the fashion industry.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person class sessions in 2020, the research team quickly pivoted and adjusted to the new reality by viewing the virtual environment as an opportunity. Thanks to the virtual environment, the team’s subsequent case studies became interdisciplinary, collaborative endeavours conducted in partnership with Senac University, Brazil and Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Asked about the importance of the interdisciplinary approach to collaboration, Rossie and Vladimira responded:

— ROSSIE KADIYSKA, PROFESSOR AND PROGRAM COORDINATOR FASHION MANAGEMENT PG CERTIFICATE, HUMBER COLLEGE

— VLADIMIRA STEFFEK, PROFESSOR, FASHION MANAGEMENT PG CERTIFICATE, HUMBER COLLEGE

Rossie and Vladimira believe deeply in the importance of sharing their findings and insights with the wider community beyond Humber. All the case studies developed are open resources available to all who are interested. The team’s first case study, KLWD: Launching a Streetwear Start-up, has recently been published on Bloomsbury Fashion Central. The second case study about a sustainable denim company is scheduled to be published in Fall 2022.

The case studies have successfully received an eCampus Ontario grant, which enabled the project team to create an instructor’s manual and a student manual, as well as an immersive design thinking experience created through collaboration with the private provider Artha Learning. The immersive experience, which has been designed to be used in the classroom, recently won a Gold Hermes Award at the Hermes Creative Awards for creative professionals.

Garima Gupta, founder and CEO of Artha Learning, shared the following about the collaborative endeavour:

— GARIMA GUPTA, FOUNDER AND CEO OF ARTHA LEARNING

Additionally, Rossie and Vladimira recently presented their research at the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI 2022) conference hosted by Nottingham Trent University in the UK.

Here is a brief introduction video of the immersive design thinking experience created by the project team in collaboration with Artha Learning: (youtube.com/embed/19OUDPMHTGM)

Having successfully developed five case studies, Rossie and Vladimira are not planning on stopping anytime soon. They recently received a SoTL Cultivate fund of $10k, which they are using to create two new case studies about an Indigenous-led business and a local textile manufacturing facility using sustainable technology.

Reflecting on the connection between EDI and Indigenous learning in the case studies, Rossie states:

— ROSSIE KADIYSKA, PROFESSOR AND PROGRAM COORDINATOR FASHION MANAGEMENT PG CERTIFICATE, HUMBER COLLEGE

Rossie and Vladimira have many fruitful plans for the future ahead, including: collaboration with another industry partner to tackle real-life business challenges related to sustainable fashion; submitting their third case study to Bloomsbury Fashion Central; and presenting at the Global Fashion Conference in Germany later in the year. Their future plan is to expand the case studies to be a comprehensive and open-access repository that different universities around the world can collaborate on and learn from.

In the first case study, the research team sought to understand the youth consumer market and its contributions in the fashion industry by analyzing KLWD, a Toronto streetwear brand founded by Stuart St. Hill. The case study was conducted using the lens of Theory U—a systems design thinking/change management method—as well as interdisciplinary learning, EDI, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals #8 (decent work & economic growth), #11 (sustainable cities & communities) and #12 (responsible consumption & production). The case study KLWD: Launching a Streetwear Start-up is currently available on Bloomsbury Fashion Central.

Inspired by the success of the first case study, the project team applied for their second SoTL grant to conduct a case study with Simply Suzette, a sustainable denim brand owned by Ani Wells, a Humber alum.

The case study became an interdisciplinary endeavour of collaboration with FMCA faculty members Annette Borger-Snel, Professor & Program Coordinator, PR Grad Certificate program, and Anne Frost, Professor & Program Coordinator, Arts Administration & Cultural Management.

In addition to the interdisciplinary collaboration at Humber, the research team also partnered with Luciana Chen, Professor & Program Coordinator, Production Design Graduate program, Senac University, Brazil, and her students. The case study was taught in the classroom with the participation of 29 students from Humber and Senac over a period of six weeks.

The research team has compiled the results and successfully submitted the case study to Bloomsbury Fashion Central. The case study is scheduled to be published in Fall 2022.

Senac student Poliana Santos who participated in the case study states:

— POLIANA SANTOS, STUDENT AT SENAC UNIVERSITY (SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL)

Humber student Anju Kallikattu Sebastian also shares:

Spurred on by the collaboration with Senac, the project team decided to further extend their international network by partnering with Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in the UK. As part of the project, Humber’s Fashion Management students collaborated with Mary-Ann Ball, Senior Lecturer, Nottingham School of Art and Design and NTU’s Fashion Communications students.

The project team provided consulting services to Nicholas Simon Tailoring, a luxury tailoring brand based in the UK. Over the course of four weeks, the team created a strategy for targeting the business customers and enhancing the brand’s online presence.

Here is what a Humber student shared about participating in the project:

—KULPREET, STUDENT AT HUMBER COLLEGE

For their next case study, Rossie and Vladimira decided to collaborate with Sana Sapra, a Humber alum and the founder of Folklore, a sustainable fashion brand that celebrates the Indian culture of traditional craftsmanship. As part of the case study, the research team conducted an in-depth study of Folklore’s market position. It sought to understand how Folklore’s Indian fusion wear impacts Canada’s fashion scene.

The project was also a collaborative COIL endeavour with Nottingham Trent University’s International Fashion Management students.

Watch Sana Sapra introduce Folklore and discuss her passion for sustainable fashion in the following video:

Mehakpreet Kaur, a Humber student who participated in the project, shares:

— MEHAKPREET KAUR, STUDENT AT HUMBER COLLEGE

CASE STUDY 5: WYRTH & DIKTA: FURNITURE FOR A BETTER FUTURE

For the fifth case study, Rossie and Vladimira decided to broaden their study subject from local apparel businesses to home furniture companies. The project team collaborated with Dikta, a Brazilian furniture company, and WYRTH, a Canadian furniture company owned by Humber alum Rachel Benitah. With participation from students in fashion design, furniture design, public relations and fashion management, the project was a COIL collaboration with Senac University in Brazil. Using systems design thinking, the students studied the role home fashion plays in the evolution of the furniture industry.

The project team found that teaching sustainability using local case studies developed students’ engagement with their learning and helped them to be innovative and proactive while planning for their future. The project team concluded that the teaching materials allowed students to relate, observe and provide innovative solutions through applying their knowledge in real-world settings.

The project team introduces case study #5.

Here is what Meghan Myhal, a Humber student, shared about participating in the project:

—MEGHAN MYHAL, STUDENT AT HUMBER COLLEGE

Senac student Julia Yukimi Sato Kameda stated the following about their participation:

— JULIA YUKIMI SATO KAMEDA, STUDENT AT SENAC UNIVERSITY (SÃO PAULO – BRAZIL)

The researchers would like to thank Senior Dean, Alvina Cassiani, for spearheading and inspiring the fashion innovation and sustainability stream at Humber and for her continuous support and dedication for sustainable fashion.

Alphabetized by last name

Humber College

Rachel Benitah, Annette Borger-Snell, Deanna Ceelen, Renata Comin, Alanna Fairey, Anne Frost, Ginger Grant, Senay Habtu, Anouchka Huq, Peter Madott, Heidi Marsh, Somera Muzaffar, Cam-ly Nguyen, Laura Page, Sana Sapra, Bruce Sinclair, Sofiia Sopelnyk, Rebecca Trautwein, Brendan Wehby-Malicki, Siobhan Williams

Senac University, Sao Paolo, Brazil

Luciana Chen, Leandro Mastropasqua, Myrna Nascimento

Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Mary-Ann Ball, Elizabeth Bolt, Teresa Dymond, Amy Johns, Michael Marsden

Industry Partners

Stuart St. Hill, Founder, KLWD Veronica Hinterregger, CEO Dikta, Brazil

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