Academic Workshop on ‘Circular Economy in Bangladesh’s Apparel Industry’, Organized at Aalborg University Business school.

On May 24, 2024, CREATE Project, in collaboration with the Sustainability Lab at Aalborg University Business School (AAUBS), has organized a paper-development workshop titled “CIRCULAR ECONOMY TRANSITION IN BANGLADESH’S APPAREL INDUSTRY: MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES.” The event was funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) under the Grant CREATE_21-10-AAU. The workshop was inaugurated by Allan Næs Gjerding, section leader at AAU Business School. Mohammad Rana, CRETATE Project Leader, has presented a brief overview of the textile waste value chains in Bangladesh and the challenges associated with circular economy transition. The day-long workshop was organized at AAUBS for physical attendance as well as on ZOOM. This has enabled researchers from the global North and the South to present papers that they have planned, and exchange ideas and critical thinking on research-problem and method.

Patrick Schroeder, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House, UK, has presented a keynote paper titled- “A Circular Textile Policy Roadmap for Bangladesh – Initial Ideas by the SWITCH2CE Programme’. He is working in UNIDO’s SWITCH2CE project in Bangladesh.

Total eight papers were presented. The following researchers and research assistants have participated in the workshop and presented papers: Lindsay Whitfield (CBS), Olav Jull Sørensen (A2I), Mohammad Rana (AAUBS), Abu Sadat M. Sayem (MMU), Matthew Allen (MMU), Patrick Schroeder (SWITC2CE), Yimei Hu (AAUBS), Daojuan Wang (AAUBS), Mohammad Hasan Imam (AAUBS), Faik Hamza Faruqui (AAUBS), Mohammad Amanullah (AUST), Imranul Hoque (AUST), S.M. Shafiul Alam (AUST), Mojibur Rahman Thakur (CREATE), Sarah Mirza (CREATE) and Syed Alimul Islam (CREATE).

The workshop concluded with a Q&A session, group photos, and coffees. This has marked a significant step forward in the dialogue and collaboration between the researchers from the Global North and the South with an aim to transitioning Bangladesh’s apparel industry towards a circular economy.