CCI Flagship Projects Sub Page

Flagship Project 1:

IMPACT+ Environmental Index Measures Promoting Assessment and Circular Transparency in Fashion

The IMPACT+ Network have been awarded £1.9million from UKRI in the Fashion and Textiles Circularity Programme: NetworkPlus. Over 24 months, the team will assemble critical knowledge across academia and industry to improve the collation, analysis and assessment of environmental impact across the fashion and textile value chain.

Project Summary

Current understanding of environmental impact assessment in the fashion and textile industries is limited. Long, complex, global supply chains make traceability and ground truth impact calculations impossible, with current measurement tools often calling on unreliable collation methodologies, segregation of the value chain and utilisation of intangible indices. Unregulated self-reporting across the industry has resulted in unverified and unpredictable information being publicly communicated, with much industry and policy action being based on this untrustworthy data.

The vision for the IMPACT+ network is to acknowledge and address shortcomings in current assessment practices measuring environmental impact. Assembling critical knowledge from the scientific community, juxtaposed with design capabilities, the project will question the reliability, authenticity and useability of environmental and social assessment methodologies and critically analyse established indices and certifications. Critically, it will build a world-leading multi-stakeholder network, encompassing all voices within the fashion and textiles value chain (designers, brands, manufacturers, retailers, textile recyclers etc.) to strive for transparent and accurate impact assessment of products, processes, and behaviours.

The development of IMPACT+ network will have extensive impact beyond academia and will embed research into the development of solutions regarding the way sustainability is measured and perceived from multiple stakeholder perspectives. Additional impact activities will encompass the development of the IMPACT+ Innovation Forum, a multi-channel platform to facilitate non-specialist audiences to engage with public dissemination events through public lectures and a circular fashion seminar series. The aim of societal engagement is to enhance consumer knowledge, influence purchasing, use and disposal behaviours, and connect non-academic communities to academic research studies.

Network Leadership Team

Dr Alana James – Assistant Professor in Fashion and Sustainability Northumbria University
Dr Anne Peirson-Smith – Professor in Fashion and Sustainability Northumbria University
Dr Anil Namdeo – Professor in Air Quality Management Northumbria University
Dr Kelly Sheridan – Assistant Professor in Forensic Science (fibres) Northumbria University
Dr Miranda Prendergast-Miller – Assistant Professor in Environmental Science (terrestrial environments) Northumbria University
Dr Thomas Stanton – Research Fellow in Environmental Science (aquatic environments) Loughborough University
Dr Matteo Gallidabino – Assistant Professor in Forensic Science (data management) Kings College London