The Warp and the Weft

More Fair Trade events at the Oxford Botanical Gardens coming up….

A series of events promoting ethical and Fairtrade fibres and clothes, organised in partnership between students from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art and Trading for Development, a local, ethical fashion business. The events celebrate International Year of Natural Fibres, 2009 and to raise awareness of Fairtrade and ethical fashions options.

The partnership has organised a series of events during Oct & Nov 2009 including an exhibition of fibre-inspired artworks. A plant fibre trail around the Garden, a family-friendly fibre afternoon and a final, celebratory knit-off open to everyone!

Monday 26th October – Sunday 8th November

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The Warp and Weft family fibre afternoon

Use dyes from garden plants to make some groovy tie-dyes and try your hand at weaving with various fibres.

Wednesday 28th October, 1.00pm–4.00pm
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The Warp and Weft Knit-Off

Join us for a fun, freeform knit off. Bring your own projects, or learn to finger-knit, plait and card weave.

Saturday 7th November, 1.00pm–4.00pm

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Exploring the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap at Fair Trade Futures

The Fair Trade Futures conference is approaching fast (Saturday 7th November) – and we’re getting more confirmed speakers all the time.

After hearing from a range of key speakers in the morning, for the afternoon of the conference we’ll be opening the floor to anyone who wants to lead a conversation session on a key topic in Fair Trade. You can bring your ideas along on the day, or suggest it in advance via a comment on this blog.

One session we hope will be taking place is with Dr. Dorothy Maxwell, Technical Director at Global View Sustainability Services and, on behalf of DEFRA, behind the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap.

The Sustainable Clothing Roadmap is a voluntary clothing industry initiative involving over 300 companies along the clothing supply chain, co-ordinated by Defra to provide a platform for an integrated approach to improving the environmental and ethical performance of clothing. While it originated in the UK – it has linkage with Asia (especially China and India), EU and USA to date as most UK consumed clothes have a global supply chain. The aim is to drive sustainability from retailers down through the clothing supply chain and fast track best practice through establishing sound science based evidence, prioritising actions (short to long term) and providing a platform for industry best practice cases in order to catalyse change throughout the sector.

So if you to explore the linkages between Fair Trade and Sustainable Clothing initiatives – and to get into conversation with Dorothy and others with shared interests – make sure you’re registered for Fair Trade Futures.

Knitting and Weaving Global Networks: Fabulous Fair Trade Natural Fibres

For National Knitting Week, Oxford’s own Judith Condor-Vidal will be running a series of special events at the Oxford University Botanical Gardens. Read on to find out more…

Knitting and Weaving Global Networks:

Fabulous Fair Trade Natural Fibres

Date of Event:- 17 & 18 October

Time of Event:- 2-5pm

Run by:- Judith Condor-Vidal, member of the Oxford Fair Trade Coalition

Place of Event:- OXFORD UNIVERSITY,BOTANIC GARDEN ROSE LANE There is an entrance fee £3 to the gardens – the event is free.

Tel No of Place:- 01865 286690

Tel No Before Event:- 01865 558114

Email for Event:- judith@tradingfordevelopment.co.uk; info@tradingfordevelopment.co.uk

Aim for Event:- 2009 is UN Natural Fibres Year Come and celebrate! Exhibition of Fair Trade Natural Fibres (wool, alpaca, silk, organic cotton,…) and work by producers affiliated to WFTO, World Fair Trade Organisation. Bring your knitting needles, be inspired, send messages, patterns. Learn&share dreams! HAVE FUN

Fair Trade & Digital Media

Example of a mobile phone application showing a 'Fair Tracing' supply chain.

n a world of global communications networks – what does the future of Fair Trade look like?

At the Fair Trade Futures conference in Oxford on the 7th November that’s one of the themes we’ll be exploring with a session on Digital Media and Fair Trade, and with a number of social media session planned for the afternoon of Open Space discussions.We’re also hoping to bring social media into the heart of the programme, with blogging, twittering and video interviews taking place at the event.

In the Digital Media & Fair Trade slot we’ll be hearing from the team behind the recently completed Fair Tracing project that has been exploring how digital technologies can be used to capture the entirity of the supply chain story of a product.

Plus we’ll be hearing a panel of social media experts who have been using the internet to raise awareness of social causes and important issues, and we’ll be reflecting on what social media means for producers, promoters and consumers of Fair Trade.

If you are interested in what digital media means for the future of Fair Trade – then we’d love to have you as part of our shared discussions. You can find out more about the Fair Trade Futures conference and book a free place at the conference here.