Successful Project Completion at the seventh Fashion DIET
Transnational Meeting at the University of Education Freiburg
The seventh transnational meeting (TM) of the Fashion DIET project was held on the 21st and the 22nd of July 2023 at the University of Education Freiburg. With this last meeting, the Erasmus+ project will come to a successful conclusion after running for three years.
Prof. Dr. Anne-Marie Grundmeier (Germany), project coordinator and organiser of the meeting in Freiburg, welcomed the consortium members to the TM. When the most important milestones achieved so far were presented by each partner university after the start of the meeting, it could already be stated that the ambitious project’s intellectual outputs (IOs) will all be achieved by the end of August 2023. First, the ESD module with a total of 42 lectures on various sustainability topics in the context of fashion and textiles was completed. Secondly, the development of the e-learning and information platform Glocal Campus as well as the creation of the fashion and textile database F+TD were accomplished. Furthermore, the third IO, the teaching and learning materials, linked to selected lectures of the ESD module and geared towards secondary and vocational school education, are now also close to completion.
Figure 1: The Transnational Meeting of the Fashion DIET project at the University of Education Freiburg was officially opened by Prof. Dr. Anne-Marie Grundmeier.
The focus of the seventh and last face-to-face meeting was not only on the project results but also on the timely and administrative fulfilment of a successful project. To do this, the partners had to agree on deadlines when the necessary documents for reporting had to be made available. In this context, the team also discussed the topic of budgeting and reporting.
Progress was also achieved in the completion of the ESD manual. While the English version has already been laid out and printed, the versions in the national languages German, Romanian and Bulgarian are nearing completion. In addition, the English version has been published via the OPUS PHFR platform. Moreover, successful multiplier events were carried out at all partner universities in the last few months, which were attended by numerous guests. These events also underline that the project has had an enormously positive impact through its dissemination activities.
Figure 2: Group photo of consortium members from Romania and Bulgaria. Left to right: Prof. Dr. Mirela Blaga, Prof. Dr. Manuela Avadanei, Prof. Dr. Zlatina Kazlacheva and AP Dr. Petya Dineva.
To get new ideas, the work was briefly interrupted by a walk through the campus of the University of Education Freiburg and a visit to the Dean of the Faculty of Science, who took time for a lively exchange with the guests. After the lunch break, the consortium members presented and discussed the teaching and learning materials they had prepared. The first day of the TM ended with a walk through the city of Freiburg to capture sustainable fashion and everyday culture.
The second day of the TM dealt with the status, access, feedback and continuation of the platform Glocal Campus and the F+TD database. The focus was on the topic of navigation from the perspective of the target group. Users from the areas of higher education or from secondary or vocational schools should easily find their way around to the 42 lectures and the aligned teaching and learning materials. It was also decided to include the Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC) for the use of the Open Educational Resources (OER) on Glocal Campus. With these latest updates, every partner university is encouraged to promote the Fashion DIET OER materials via the Glocal Campus link to their target groups and networks. With the integration of the F+TD database into various courses during the next winter semester at Reutlingen University, a continuation of this portal can also be assured.
To ensure a sustainable impact beyond the end of the project, measures were discussed and upcoming tasks and responsibilities were defined with regard to the project goals and sustainability.
Figure 3: The Fashion DIET team enjoyed a short rest in the garden of a repair café during the AIFORIA Future Fashion walk.
The meeting in Freiburg ended with a reflection on the experiences of the partner universities. All consortium members considered the project to be very successful, despite adverse external circumstances such as the corona pandemic, the cyberattack on PHFR and the war in Ukraine. This can also be seen in the excellent project management. The contributions of all consortium members and the good working atmosphere were positively evaluated. In good spirits, the consortium members took part in the AIFORIA Future Fashion walk through the city of Freiburg, visiting some sustainability-oriented companies and celebrating the end of the successful project with a final joint dinner.
Fashion DIET consortium, July 2023
