This project empowers university students and faculty across Europe, Turkey, and India to advocate for—and actively implement—sustainable and ethical procurement within their institutions, focusing on university merchandise such as clothing and accessories. Through cross-continental collaboration, hands-on learning, and direct supply chain interventions, the project addresses environmental and social impacts of current procurement practices by promoting regenerative agriculture, fair labour, transparent sourcing, circular economies and innovative product development. The Green Silk Road has been partnering with regenerative value chain initiatives such as Raddis Cotton for many years as well as delivering international education programs.
This project is a unique combination of the two: world class social entrepreneurship as well as hands-on learning for the industry shapers of tomorrow. Universities are invited to integrate existing and new curriculum and scholarship and merchandise vendors are invited to join the consortium as supply chain partners.
Project Goals
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Awareness & Advocacy: Raise awareness among students and faculty about environmental, social, and economic dimensions of university merchandise procurement and the cotton textile industry at large.
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Capacity Building: Equip student groups to effectively advocate for policy changes towards sustainable sourcing.
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Knowledge Exchange: Facilitate collaboration between universities, faculty, and supply chain experts across continents.
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Experiential Learning: Provide immersive experiences through study visits to regenerative/agroecological sites and ethical factories.
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Resource Development: Produce advocacy materials, toolkits, and policy templates to foster broader institutional adoption.
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Supply Chain Innovation: Develop sustainable, transparent supply chains delivering regenerative university merchandise, including sourcing raw materials, scaling processing capacity including post consumer circularity and co-designing attractive product ranges for “plug-and-play” adoption by university vendors.
Is your University ready to join this movement for value chain based action learning?
Get in touch today and let's make it happen!
