Climate Action Plan case study: Critical Climate Unit

BA Critical Practice in Fashion Media: exploring community and collective activism in fashion

BA (Hons) Critical Practice in Fashion Media at London College of Fashion (LCF) has developed a new unit entitled ‘Critical Climate’. The unit equips students with the ability to identify and respond to climate narratives and theories. Enabling experimentation with different forms of activism within the context of environmental justice.

In the unit, students work in groups to explore how online platforms enable community and collective activism. Activism that advocates for and facilitates social change. The unit embeds Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s Fashion Futures 2030 project scenarios. Fashion Futures 2030 is a project that re-conceptualises fashion in an ecological context.

As part of the unit, students’ proposals respond to one of the four scenarios:

• Living with Less: Nature-based and globally connected.
• Chaos Embrace: People-centred and governance re-invented.
• Hyper Hype: Technology paced and economically stimulated.
• Safety Race: Regionally located and culturally fragmented.

Through lectures and workshops, we guide students through climate-related issues, and their relationship to critical fashion media and communications. In groups, they map the climate issue to communities affected, whether local or global and develop a strategy to mobilise them. This involves identifying the most appropriate platform, channel, and tools to support the collective’s goal. They then devise a communication strategy to engage and mobilise community members. Exploring community design and formation as a powerful means of activism in society.