Fashion Values: Society (FutureLearn)

Fashion Values: Society (FutureLearn)

Examine the relationship between fashion and society, using fashion activism to challenge social injustice. Understand the links between fashion and society through a range of perspectives. Fashion and society are deeply intertwined through everyday actions, behaviours and business models, and can be both empowering and exploitative.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

On this four-week course from London College of Fashion, you’ll explore how fashion can paradoxically be a force for societal good, creating agency, collaboration, dignity and distinction between people, or a cause and perpetuator of injustice.
Social injustice in and through fashion is experienced widely and can perpetuate inequality and exploitation. By the end of this course you’ll understand how activism can be used to challenge this and be inspired by intersectional perspectives from activists around the world, learning from historical and contemporary case studies and resources.
You’ll explore the process of change in relation to fashion and society, exploring various models that provide ways of thinking, feeling or working towards change. You’ll learn about where power lies to create change and to challenge social injustice in fashion. You’ll examine many approaches to and models of activism, as well as the importance of resilience.

Use design thinking to develop fashion activities and behaviours that contribute to social justice
You’ll be supported through the design thinking process to define a specific problem and generate ideas in response to the question: ‘How will we use fashion activism to challenge social injustice?’

Respond to sustainability challenges with London College of Fashion
This course is led by fashion and sustainability experts from Centre for Sustainable Fashion and shares knowledge from world-leading fashion practitioners and researchers.
With over 85,000 learners on our FutureLearn courses to date, you’ll gain valuable insights from fellow fashion and sustainability changemakers worldwide.

What topics will you cover?

  • Fashion and Society
  • Social Justice, Power and Change
  • Activism and Fashion
  • How will we use fashion activism to challenge social injustice?

Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Identify social injustice in fashion from intersectional perspectives
  • Explore ideas of power and change
  • Engage with historical and contemporary fashion activism that challenges social injustice in fashion
  • Practice design thinking to develop, prototype, evaluate and communicate fashion activism that can challenge social injustice

Who is the course for?
This course will empower learners with the tools to address challenges facing fashion today.
This includes students, sustainability professionals, fashion and business professionals, educators, designers, strategists, and communicators.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

The Great Sustainability Transition: Global Challenges, Local Actions (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Leiden University

The Great Sustainability Transition: Global Challenges, Local Actions (FutureLearn)

Discover how global environmental crises are connected, their impacts, and how to take action in your local community. Learn from experts in environmental science at Leiden University. We are living in an era of unprecedented environmental change. As a result, we are experiencing biodiversity loss, climate change, and overuse of freshwater resources, to name just a few. All of these affect fundamental ecosystem processes, causing change on a local and global scale. On this four-week course from Leiden University, you’ll learn how these huge environmental crises are interconnected and how they impact our planet.

Jan 16th 2023
4 Weeks
Explore How Farmers Produce Food Sustainably (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Reading,EIT Food,EIT

Explore How Farmers Produce Food Sustainably (FutureLearn)

Gain an understanding of sustainable food production and the challenges that farmers face to offer a sustainable food supply. Build your knowledge of the processes used by farmers and food producers. On this course, you’ll gain a better understanding of where our food comes from, how it is produced, and the associated environmental, social and sustainability challenges for farmers.

Jan 2nd 2023
3 Weeks
Sustainability Through Film (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
INTO FILM

Sustainability Through Film (FutureLearn)

Engage and empower your students when teaching sustainability, using film analysis and basic filmmaking principles. Use film and filmmaking to provide meaningful lessons in sustainability. Film is an engaging way to reach young people on any topic or subject, bringing important topics to life and adding context to learning. With that in mind, Into Film presents this two-week course showing you how to teach learners aged 5 to 19 about sustainable practices using short films.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Climate and Energy: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Glasgow,CIVIS

Climate and Energy: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (FutureLearn)

Explore climate change issues from an interdisciplinary perspective to find innovative solutions for a better future. Gain interdisciplinary skills for climate change solutions. On this four-week course, you’ll join educators from ten universities on a virtual field trip to a remote Swedish island to gain perspectives on climate and energy from a multitude of disciplines.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Medical Equipment Donations to Low Resource Settings (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
St George's, University of London

Medical Equipment Donations to Low Resource Settings (FutureLearn)

Learn how to plan a medical equipment donation to a low-resource setting that's appropriate, sustainable, and has a real impact. Navigate the pitfalls of planning and organising donations of medical equipment. Unavailability of essential clinical equipment can be a serious problem in low-resource settings. On this course, developed in collaboration with the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET), you‘ll learn best practices in planning a donation of medical equipment to a low-resource setting.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
How to Drive Sustainable Healthcare: Educate, Engage, and Empower (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University College London

How to Drive Sustainable Healthcare: Educate, Engage, and Empower (FutureLearn)

Understand how healthcare impacts the environment and gain the skills to drive sustainable change within your healthcare setting. Discover the importance of sustainability in healthcare. Though healthcare systems play a vital role in society, they also have a considerable environmental impact. As we face the climate crisis, we must identify ways to reduce this impact. On this three-week course, you’ll discover how healthcare systems negatively affect the environment and what you can do in your healthcare setting to mitigate this. With this understanding, you’ll gain skills to promote sustainability and improve the health of your patients and the planet.

Jan 29th 2024
3 Weeks
Teaching Climate and Sustainability in Primary Schools: An Outdoor Learning Approach (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Reading

Teaching Climate and Sustainability in Primary Schools: An Outdoor Learning Approach (FutureLearn)

Build your confidence teaching climate and sustainability outdoors and develop ideas to implement in your school. Discover the importance of climate education and outdoor learning. Children around the world are demanding comprehensive and up-to-date education on climate and sustainability. Most teachers agree climate change education should be compulsory in schools, yet many feel ill-equipped to teach it.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Transforming Urban Mobility: Components of Transport Planning for Sustainable Cities (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University College London,Transforming Urban Mobility Initiative - TUMI,GIZ

Transforming Urban Mobility: Components of Transport Planning for Sustainable Cities (FutureLearn)

Examine how different types of public transport can be employed to make urban transport more sustainable. Discover how urban transport can be made more sustainable. Good transport systems and projects are critical to the development of sustainable cities. On this course, you’ll consider the Avoid-Shift-Improve (ASI) framework – particularly the ‘Shift’ and ‘Improve’ dimensions – as key components of a sustainable urban mobility strategy.

Self Paced
5-12 Weeks
Farm to Fork: Sustainable Food Production in a Changing Environment (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Queen’s University Belfast,EIT Food,EIT,University of Turin

Farm to Fork: Sustainable Food Production in a Changing Environment (FutureLearn)

Understand how food goes from farm to fork: explore food security, supply chains, food production and agriculture. Discover food supply chains from farm to fork. How does food reach our plates? How is the food industry changing? What threats are there to food supply chains? How can we build a sustainable food industry? Get answers to these questions and more with this course that explores food and agriculture in the modern world.

Jan 2nd 2023
4 Weeks
The Ideal of Self-Governance: Public Policy Beyond Markets and States (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
King's College London

The Ideal of Self-Governance: Public Policy Beyond Markets and States (FutureLearn)

Learn how non-traditional forms of governance can help to make modern societies greener, safer, and more prosperous. Explore the opportunities and limitations of citizenship in the 21st century. On this course, you’ll explore a range of institutional responses to social problems. Using real-world examples, you’ll discover the role and vibrant world of citizen action groups, community businesses, local governments and public entrepreneurs.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Introduction to Sustainable Practices in Food Service (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
International Culinary Studio

Introduction to Sustainable Practices in Food Service (FutureLearn)

Create a more sustainable food service business and make a difference to your bottom line, your stakeholders, and the environment. Improve your sustainable practices within your organisation. Sustainability isn’t just about ‘greening’; sustainability actually means ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.’ On this course, you’ll look at general global sustainability concepts, issues, and concerns, before focusing on sustainability specifically within food service and what you can do to reduce your impact.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Tackling Environmental Challenges for a Sustainable Future (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of York

Tackling Environmental Challenges for a Sustainable Future (FutureLearn)

Discover how environmental research can inform how we respond to and solve the major global environmental issues of today. Explore sustainable solutions to environmental issues like changing glaciers. Our energy use is unsustainable, we’re producing waste plastic that’s endangering oceans, and large parts of the natural world are disappearing. We know our planet is facing huge environmental challenges, but what are we doing to solve them?

Self Paced
4 Weeks