MORE and MORE and MORE: Change in clothing volumes and wasted textiles

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 13. October 2025

Hybrid seminar Thursday, 6th of November 2025, 13:00-17:00 CET.
OsloMet, Pilestredet 35 / Online.

We cordially invite you to the combined end seminar of the CHANGE and Wasted Textiles projects.

The title and the illustration of the seminar are inspired by the book «More and More and More: An All-Consuming History of Energy» by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, which describes how energy innovation has not led to energy transitions, but rather the use of more and more and more energy. We found this to be a suitable title also for a seminar that concludes two projects, which have studied the drivers of the increasing volumes of clothing from two different angles.

The seminar will be chaired by Prof. Kate Fletcher, MMU, and Jens Måge, SirkNorge and present central findings from both projects, ranging from historical knowledge to contemporary consumption and political implications of the research, through to following and future research.

While the final programme is still in the making, we invite you to save the date.

You can sign up by clicking here (nettskjema.no).

Use this link to add to your calendar.

Follow the event on Facebook here (Facebook.com).

Preliminary programme

13:00 – Welcome
13:05 – CONTEXT
13:25 – NEW KNOWLEDGE
16:00 – OFFSPRING
16:20 – Mingling and refreshments

 

re-(t)exHile / Oslo – textile art, responsibility and global waste

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 9. October 2025

Exhibition and seminar, 17th of Octobre 16:00-19:30, 18th of Octobrer 2025, 12:00 – 17:30
Deichman Library, Bjørvika, Oslo

A powerful art project that stitches together stories of fashion, environment and colonial structures.


re-(t)exHile is an international artistic research project that investigates the consequences of the global textile waste crisis. The project started in Lagos and has since grown through collective sewing and textile installations in Slovakia, Chile – and now Oslo.

In October, the project will come to Deichman Bjørvika in collaboration with KORO, with an installation and an international seminar. Here, the audience is invited to reflect on fast fashion, overproduction and Europe’s role in the global flow of used clothing. The artwork is expanded through collaboration with students from KHiO and volunteers from diverse backgrounds. The project concludes with a performative intervention in Oslo City Hall, where textiles from all the project chapters are gathered – as a visual and symbolic gesture against the recurring colonial patterns in the fashion industry.

A project by Maria Alejandra Gatti, Martinka Bobrikova, Oscar de Carmen and Anto Lloverasre-(t)exHile is an international artistic research project that investigates the consequences of the global textile waste crisis. The project started in Lagos and has since grown through collective sewing and textile installations in Slovakia, Chile – and now Oslo.

In October, the project will come to Deichman Bjørvika in collaboration with KORO, with an installation and an international seminar. Here, the audience is invited to reflect on fast fashion, overproduction and Europe’s role in the global flow of used clothing. The artwork is expanded through collaboration with students from KHiO and volunteers from diverse backgrounds.

The project concludes with a performative intervention in Oslo City Hall, where textiles from all the project chapters are gathered – as a visual and symbolic gesture against the recurring colonial patterns in the fashion industry.

A project by Maria Alejandra Gatti, Martinka Bobrikova, Oscar de Carmen and Anto Lloveras.

Organisert av KORO.

Program

Friday 17th of Octobre

16:00 Welcome by KORO and Erik Kaspartu

16:10 Introduction to re-(t)exHile and round table conversation

17:00 Lecture: Making fast fashion out of fashion – Ingun Grimstad Klepp

17:50 Lecture and documentary: Sowing imagination – Andrei Fernandez

18:40 Lecture: The violence of donated clothing – Sunny Dolat

19:00 Film screeing: Delivery Details – The Nest Collective

19:20 End

Saturday 18th of Octobre

12:00 Welcome

12:05 Lecture: Responsible Consumers and the Environmental Impact of Fashion – Outi Pyy

13:10 Workshop: Broken No More: The Art and Joy of Repair – Marium Durrani

14:50 Lecture: Congruence of Cloth – Kallol Datta

15:50 Lecture: Displacement grammars – Rodolfo Andaur

16:40 Round table conversation with all guests, moderated by Kwame Aidoo

17:30 End

Click here to read more about the event (deichman.no).

Nordic-Baltic Textile Circularity and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 26. August 2025

Webinar 5th September 2025, 10:00–12:30 CET

The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia invites you to a webinar.

What is the status of textile circularity in the Nordic-Baltic region, and how could Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) help accelerate collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of post-consumer textiles?

What lessons can be drawn from early national efforts in Latvia and the Netherlands – and which pitfalls should be avoided?

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Panel I: Textile circularity in the Nordic-Baltic region With contributions from Pirjo Heikkilä, Kaj Pihl, Rudrajeet Pal, Viktorija Nausėdė and Kerli Kant Hvass, PhD. Moderated by Dace Akule.

Panel II: Towards effective EPR in the Nordic-Baltic region Featuring Piret Otsason, Mairita Luse, Aistė Rakauskienė, Janine Röling, Jens Maage and Traci Kinden. Moderated by Kerli Kant Hvass, PhD.

Closing reflections (13:20 EET / 12:20 CET) By Betina Simonsen, CEO of Lifestyle & Design Cluster (DK).

Register here: https://lnkd.in/dShwbGrs

How to speak so policymakers listen?

tobiasson on 10. June 2025

Friday 27th of June 2025 Time 11 -12:30

11th International Degrowth Conference 
Sophus Bugges hus, Campus Blindern, Oslo

Sharing experiences of trying and failing to transform EU legislation in setting an upper production/import limit in rich countries – drawing on the case of clothing and textiles.

Chair of session Kate Fletcher

Organised as an interactive session of mutual learning and exchange about attempts to transform policy around setting upper limits to production/import of goods in rich countries, this session will invite dialogue between activists, community organisations, academics and more. The session will begin with a presentation about the experiences of clothing and textiles researchers and their dialogues with policy makers in the EU to limit production/import volumes. The session will then open to the floor, with discussion not limited to the case of clothing and textiles, to share the experiences of others’ policy dialogues in different contexts. Discussion may include: the type of language and terminology used, different ways of framing discussions, the channels that have proved effective, preferred approaches, among others.

This session links to the conference theme by sharing practices and actively linking degrowth theory and priorities to action for transformed futures.

Format of the session:
Presentation: 25 minutes – Professor Ingun Grimstad Klepp, SIFO, OsloMet and Tone Tobiasson, reflecting on the work with policy as part of the research project CHANGE

Facilitated discussion open to all attendees: 45 minutes

CISUTAC Sustainability Forum #1: Engaging citizens in sustainable consumption of textiles and textiles waste separation

tobiasson on 24. April 2025

poster for event

Online webinar May 13th 11 – 12:30 CET

The CISUTAC Sustainability Forum’s new webinar series is designed to inspire dialogue and share practical knowledge for a more sustainable textile sector. Sessions will bring together experts, innovators, and changemakers to explore actionable strategies for closing the loop and promoting circularity across the textile value chain. Professor Ingun Grimstad Klepp will participate in the first edition, taking place on 13 May and hosted by ACR+ (Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management). This session will focus on key findings related to textile waste collection. Also explored will be real-world case studies from across Europe and examining how citizen behaviour can directly impact waste prevention.

Agenda

  • 11:00-11:05- Welcome & Introduction | Serena Lisai, ACR+

PART 1: ENGAGING CITIZENS IN TEXTILE WASTE SEPARATION

  • 11:05-11:15 – The role of Local and Regional Authorities in engaging citizens to sort textile | Jean-Benoît Bel, ACR+ 
  • 11:15-11:25 – Engaging inhabitants in high-rise building in textile waste separation: the experience of Gothenburg | Sandra Alm, City of Gothenburg 
  • 11:25-11:35 – Discussion and Q&A

PART 2: ENGAGING CITIZENS IN SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

  • 11:35-11:45 – Understanding consumer behaviour to drive change | Ingun Grimstad Klepp, clothing research group at Consumption Research Norway (SIFO)
  • 11:45-11:55 – Redirecting communication towards circular alternatives: UNEP principles for sustainable fashion communication | Minori Lee, UNEP 
  • 11:55-12:05 – How to influence citizens’ textile behaviours | Martyn Lowder, WRAP 
  • 12:05-12:20 – Discussion and Q&A
  • 12:20-12:30 – Closing remarks

Click here to register.

4th International Artefacta Conference: Resolutions

Kinga Zablocka on 12. January 2025

Conference, 13-14 February 2025

University of Helsinki, Finland

The conference will be organised on 13th and 14th of February 2025 in Helsinki, Finland and the conference venue is in the Main Building of the University of Helsinki, right in the centre of the town. They keynote speakers; SIFO’s own Ingun Grimstad Klepp will speak on “Product attachment in politics and wardrobes” and Professor Daniel Miller from University College London will be holding a talk about “What kind of person is a thing?”. The talks will be held on Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th respectively.

Programme can be found here (University of Helsinki webpage)

Post growth (?) fashion webinars

tobiasson on 29. November 2024

Dec. 13th 2024 15-16 CET (3-4 pm)
and
Jan. 16th 2025 15-16 CET (3-4 pm)

Two consecutive talks by Consumption Research Norway SIFO at OsloMet
First one with Prof. Ingun Klepp and Tone Tobiasson and in January Kate Fletcher.

December 13th: Prof. Ingun Klepp, Professor at the National Institute for Consumer Research, and Tone Tobiasson, Author and journalist, from Oslo, Norway. One of the most passionate and influential tandems in the textile research / policy space, with a long track record of pioneering research projects that changed our understanding of the use phase of garments, post consumer textile flows and plastification of fashion.

There is a cap for 100 people to attend each webinar. To attend, RSVP through the associated link to get a calendar invite.

January 16th. Kate Fletcher is one of the most renown sustainable fashion researchers. Her work, including that on systems change, post-growth fashion, fashion localism, decentering durability, Earth Logic and nature relations both defines and challenges the field of fashion, textiles and sustainability. She has written and/or edited 13 books available in eight languages, and in 2022 she was identified by author Margaret Atwood as a visionary. Kate is a co-founder of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion. Her most recent work is about design, clothing and nature.

There is a cap for 100 people to attend each webinar. To attend, RSVP through the associated link to get the calendar invite.

– The futures we IMAGINE

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 30. October 2024

The IMAGINE project invites you to its end conference and exhibition!

When: December 10th – 15th 2024
Where: Litteraturhuset, Oslo

Join us to explore visions of the future through the lens of eating, dressing and moving in inspiring talks, works and conversations on December 10th.

And visit the exhibition from December 10th – 15th.

For tickets for December 10th, follow the link here.

Program December 10th

08:30 Doors open

09:00 Velkommen // Mads Bruun Høy

Nye måter å forholde seg til fremtiden på // Nina Heidenstrøm

Mellom katastrofe og utopi. Norske dagdrømmer om livet i fremtiden // Audun Kjus

Forsvinningspunkter – fortellinger om fremtider // Heidi Dahlsveen

The power of imaginaries: imagining futures of consumption // Dan Welch

Dyr i byen – En forfattersamtale om klimaromanen Dyr i byen // Marte Wulff

Future Imaginaries in Art, Policy, and Business: The Dominant and Marginal Voices // Justyna Jakubiec, Rick Dolphijn, Virginie Amilien, Lisbeth Løvbak Berg

11:30 – 12:30 LUNSJ

A story of human and technological coming togetherness // Märtha Rehnberg

Velkommen til utstilling og workshop // Marie Hebrok, Dan Lockton, Femke Coops

14:00 Exhibition Opening

14:30 – 15:30 Workshop

14:00 – 17:00 Exhibition

DESIGNA — International Conference on Design Research

Erlend Hua Lun Kok on 2. October 2024

Clothing researchers Ingun Grimstad Klepp and Kate Fletcher will be part of opening the DESIGNA – CITIZENSHIP International Conference on Design Research in Covilhã Portugal the 24th and 25th October by presenting in the first plenary session at 10:30. Their talks are outlined below.

Multispecies citizens, clothing, design and nature – Professor Kate Fletcher

Ecological emergencies are intensifying to the point of earth system collapse. Fashion clothes and the systems that create them are deeply implicated in these emergencies. Garments are entangled with consumerist ideologies, with individualism, excess and wastefulness. They are also predicated – in the Modern West – on the notion that humans are separate from, and above, nature and that nature and its resources are for human’s unlimited use. Breaking with this approach, in this talk I will explore design themes and actions of nature relations, drawing on stories from my work with clothing. I will explore extending ideas of citizenship to include the greater-than-human world, the role of limits and direct sensory experience of the body in design.  

Clothing consumers as citizens, and the role of design – Professor Ingun Grimstad Klepp

The image of consumers is far from the one of citizens, but all of us are both. In this paper I will explain how I as a consumer researcher understand the deep conflicts in this image and how it impacts the possibility of finding more sustainable solutions. As an guest in the design family I will explore the challenges at the border between consumer research and sustainable design and with that acknowledge both the great potential – and limitation of designing clothes for citizens

For more information regarding the conference, click here.

Wild Dress

Erlend Hua Lun Kok on 26. April 2024

Image credit: Charlie Meecham

Launch: Hawkwood May Day Festival
Monday 6 May 2024 12-5pm
Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking
Pianswick Old Road
Stroud GL6 7QW

Wild Dress, a collection of my stories about clothing and the natural world was first published in 2019 by Uniform Books. The collection is about life, living and dressing in entanglement with ecological systems, recognising that these things – clothes and nature – cannot be separated. Written and spoken by Kate Fletcher, Wild Dress is created with immersive sound designer Carolyn Downing and director/dramaturg Zoë Svendsen.

Now Wild Dress has been transformed into an immersive sonic artwork in a collaboration between the theatre maker and dramaturg Zoë Svendsen, award-winning sound artist Carolyn Downing and me. 

The core of the artwork are five sonic pieces, geolocated in woods around Hawkwood House, and accessible through the app Echoes. Here audiences can move through the woods and listen to delicately crafted audio pieces. The simplicity of walking and listening, experiencing the woods and experiencing stories of clothing and nature has a beautiful symmetry, the pieces feeling like an extension of body-land. They are available in the grounds of Hawkwood until at least the end of summer 2024. A map of the zones for each of the stories is below.

The Launch day also layered many other elements. There was a rail of clothes ready to be borrowed, each with different affordances impact the experience of moving and listening, and a cassette tape describing the features on hand.

There were two Saori looms hosted by Nicola and Ali from Stroud-based Wayward Weaves and Periscope respectively, and after listening, the audience was invited to weave some ‘fabric’ with natural materials gathered from the woods. The weave became a recording of a day’s worth of conversations about clothing and the living world, interlacing one with the other.

And there was the remarkable performer Tamzin Griffin who told excerpts of stories from Wild Dress and a later book Outfitting (2022). I watched, mesmerised as she filled out the words and extended them, and they became alive different to and apart from me. It was an honour to witness, a privilege, and personally very affecting. 

Huge thanks to all those who supported on the day and across the years that this has been in development: Metis, ArtsAdmin, Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking, Arts Council England.

How to participate

To experience Wild Dress you will need to bring a smartphone and your own
headphones. You will also need to download the ‘echoes’ app, which is free: this can be done in advance. Please see here for further details: https://metisarts.co.uk/wild-dress/listening