Sustainability & Circularity in Textiles: Future of Craft Value Chains

Tying loose ends

This pillar explores the intersection of traditional textile crafts, principles of sustainability and circularity. My work investigates how craft-based businesses, often operating with inherent sustainable practices, can adapt and thrive within a global push for more environmentally and socially responsible value chains.

I analyze the challenges and opportunities for integrating circular economy principles (e.g., waste reduction, material reuse, local sourcing) into the fragmented and informal textile value chains. This includes examining the role of technology in tracking materials, promoting transparency, and connecting artisans to new markets for sustainable products.

My insights aim to bridge the gap between high-level sustainability goals and the practical realities of implementation at the first mile, ensuring that efforts to promote circularity genuinely benefit, rather than burden, the craft communities. This also involves exploring policy levers and market incentives that can foster more sustainable practices across the entire textile ecosystem.

Key Themes:

• Integrating traditional craft practices with circular economy principles.

• The role of technology in enhancing transparency and traceability in sustainable textile value chains.

• Policy and market mechanisms to support small-scale sustainable production.

• The social and economic impact of circularity on artisan livelihoods.