India Exploring Avenues for a Sustainable Fashion

Industry – Internship Opportunities

Dates to be confirmed for April 2020

Sustainable Fashion │ Women in Business │ Waste/Pollution │Workers’ Rights │Consumer Advocacy │Collaborations

“Fashion has power, the power to change lives. The lives of farmers, spinners, weavers, printers, tailors, designers and many more who have invisibly woven their souls into what we wear.” (Upasana)

Join us on a journey through India exploring fashion through a sustainability lens, a philosophy of design that can be supported indefinitely and carefully considers environmental impact and social responsibility. Immersed in the vibrant culture and traditions of the sub-continent, our focus will be on mutual cross-cultural exchange and experiential learning. The aim of the trip is to re-imagine current notions of fashion and strip it back to what it is in its original form – embedded with tradition, craft, culture and personal expression.

Over 10 days we will travel from Kolkata in the north with its hipsters, intellects, sweat shops and slums, to Auroville in the south, the international city dedicated to peace sustainability and divine consciousness. We will look at both the good and the bad sides of the industry visiting sweat shops, factories, fashion outlets and talking with workers, artists and activists. We will discuss workers rights, fashion waste production, women’s empowerment, and farmer suicides. All this whilst exploring the rich and colourful textile traditions of India that date back to the Indus Valley civilisation.

CERES Global Internship opportunities:

CERES Global are offering a number of internship places in 2019/20 for post & undergrad university students. As a requirement of the internship, students will undertake pre-departure, in country, and post trip activities.

This internship would involve:

Pre-Departure – Work with CERES Global to identify a relevant research topic based on the upcoming international engagement and in response to community needs in country. This phase will require planning, meetings, and activity conducted on site at CERES, as well as home based research.

In Country – Engagements with our partner organisations requiring thoughtful contribution to discussion, cultural consideration, sharing our CERES story, documentation and data collection.

Post trip – Reporting on the international engagement, findings, recommendations, and details on issues explored and the various needs of communities to meet challenges. This could be in the form of a practice guideline, video, a story, a fact sheet, media release or other medium.

In designing your specific internship, we encourage you to contact CERES Global and we can meet to explore your study interests and skill set to ensure you’re gaining the most from the experience, and that you’re adding real value to the program partners and beneficiaries.

Project 1: Sustainable Fashion Education Fact Sheets

This project will involve research into the impacts of the fashion industry and what actions we can make as individuals to reduce our impact. This research will then be compiled into an educational fact sheet, social media story, and blog to be shared across the CERES Global media channels.

Project 2: Story Telling and Media

For anyone with a flair for storytelling and communications this project will involve documenting and telling the

story of the trip (or a particular idea/aspect of the trip) through written piece, podcast, social media, film or

photography.

Trip Themes:

Sustainable Fashion: An opportunity to celebrate how locals are addressing the social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry in India. What are businesses and organisations doing to ensure that workers have decent work conditions and secure livelihoods? What methods are being adopted to ensure that products are being made ethically and with minimal waste and pollution? What role does fashion play in preserving Indian textile and handicraft traditions?

Women in Business: The fashion industry can be a powerful tool to promote the empowerment of women through business. How are women becoming economically self-reliant and able to start their own businesses? What impact does it have on women’s families and communities when they are successful in business?

Social Enterprise: Social enterprises have the capacity to address environmental and social issues related to the Indian fashion industry. What problems are these social enterprises trying to solve? How are they solving them?

Pollution: The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries of our time. What impacts is this pollution having on local rivers, water supplies, food production, health of animals and people? How can this be prevented or addressed?

Workers’ Rights: Who are the people that make the clothing that we wear. To what extent do Indian fashion workers enjoy their rights? What sorts of working conditions do they experience? What is in place to ensure that workers are given fair and decent work? Are workers operating in safe conditions? Are they being paid fairly? Is child labour being made to make fashion products? What is being done to protect children from child labour?

Consumer Advocacy: Consumers play an important role in influencing businesses and governments to ensure that fashion workers are treated well and that the environment is not damaged by the fashion industry. What are the attitudes and behaviours in relation to consumption of ethical fashion products? What campaigns are being run to promote sustainable fashion?

Waste: Every 10 minutes 6 tonnes of clothing goes to Aussie landfills. What is the role and responsibility of the fast fashion industry in addressing this problem? Is upcycling, re-using having a positive impact?

Collaborations between India and Australia: Explore emerging collaborations between Australian designers and India’s textile artisans. How does the fashion industry connect people in Australia to people in India? What stories can be shared? How can fashion contribute to building positive connections between our two countries?

Please note: internship projects can be designed to meet specific student needs. We are open to your ideas about projects to ensure that they match your interests, skills and study requirements.

Accommodation: Accommodation is as far as possible in twin-bedded rooms (sharing with a participant of the

same gender). It is in modest, comfortable hotels, guesthouses or guest rooms with our partner organisations. When in villages or small towns on project visits, accommodation can be basic but comfortable.

COST: $1650 for 10 days This price includes all internal transport, meals, accommodation, the purchase of carbon credits to offset airline travel, administration and project running costs. This price does not include flights to and from India. Participants can expect to spend just a few more rupees on items of a personal nature. Grants may be available to TAFE and university students. Please contact your TAFE/ university regarding travel grants and OS-help options.

Flights: Arrival at Kolkota’s International Airport and departure from Chennai’s international airport.

Visas: All trip participants will need to obtain a Tourist Visa for India. This can be obtained in advance. Further

details can be found here: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/index.html

A note before travelling with CERES global: Remember, this is not a tour and our facilitators from CERES are not tour guides, but facilitators or enablers – working alongside you to achieve insight and understanding of the communities we visit, and to engage discussion within the group and with community members on social and environmental issues. It is expected that you will show some initiative and make a contribution to the journey, through sharing of your own knowledge and experience, and working within the group to ensure a cohesive and insightful experience is shared by all. Most of all, enjoy this trip and embrace India, there is an incredible energy within the culture that is warm and welcoming, vibrant and alive! Step out of your comfort zone and into a world like no other. Be prepared to walk through a journey you will never forget.

CERES Global Trips aim to engage participants with the issues of development both overseas and in our own countries whilst enjoying the richness of their cultures and the wisdoms they can add to our understanding of sustainable wellbeing. For more information visit: http://ceres.org.au/global/

For any questions and for more information contact the CERES Global Team

Email: global@ceres.org.au Phone: (03) 93890183 Web: http://ceres.org.au/global