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LIM College, Fashiondex, and the Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College, Columbia University will host Conversations on Fashion, Passion and Climate Action on November 19 at 3 p.m.

This virtual event will bring together an expert panel to focus on ways to educate, empower, and mobilize high school students around climate change, using fashion to connect the crisis with their lives.

“We want to communicate to students how fashion relates to climate change and is contributing to the acceleration of greenhouse gases, pollution, waste, and social inequities globally,” says Professor Andrea Kennedy of LIM College’s Fashion Merchandising department. Kennedy, who received a Zankel Fellowship from Teachers College for Climate Change Education, said that the climate crisis is a justice crisis and, “We can use fashion as an agent of change.”

This is the final installment of the 2020 Fashion and Sustainability Summit, a 20-week series co-produced by Fashiondex and LIM College. The panel will be moderated by Prof. Kennedy, and co-narrated by Rebecca Margolis, LIM College student and Fashiondex intern. Speakers include:

  • Kevin Bass, Programs Liaison of Education + Professional Development, CFDA
  • Kerry Bannigan, Founder - Conscious Fashion Campaign (supported by the United Nations Office for Partnerships)
  • Valerie Eguavoen, Founder - You Belong Now; Creator - On a Curve; Director of External Relations - Repairers of the Breach
  • Kevin Patel, Founder and Executive Director, One Up Action
  • Runa Ray, Creative Head and Founder, Runa Ray

“Climate change is a major threat and we must develop multiple entry points for youth to join the conversation,” says Dr. Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor and Program Director, Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College, Columbia University. “Climate change education happens in many places, not only in the classroom. The Center for Sustainable Futures is excited to collaborate with LIM College and Fashiondex on this event to explore the ways in which fashion could play a role in addressing and teaching about climate change.”