Degree projects for sustainable development
Here you find ideas for degree projects that we in Textile & Fashion 2030 consider has a direct benefit for sustainable development in the textile and fashion industry. The different ideas may be more or less suitable for a certain group of students, but within some ideas there are different angles and opportunities for several projects based on one idea.
Student
Submit a presentation of yourself, including in which education/ specialization you will do your degree project. Indicate which spread is of interest to you and briefly describe your approach to the idea. Send your presentation to the contact person specified in connection with the description of the degree project.
Company
Do you, as a company, want to get in touch with students who are going to do their degree projects? Then you are welcome to read more about this via the schools’ own collaboration pages.
- The Swedish School of Textiles (external link)
- Nordiska Textilakademin (external link, in Swedish)
Scholarship
Within Textile & Fashion 2030, there is an opportunity for students and researchers to make a request for a scholarship for collaborations outside the Nordic region that are linked to master’s work or conference grants in sustainable textiles. To make an inquiry, use the form for inquiries to Business Innovation, which is available on Smart Textiles’ website via the link Inquiries about projects – Smart Textiles (only in Swedish)
A maximum of 3 scholarships are funded each year. The maximum amount is 20,000 SEK. Decisions on granting the request are made on 2 occasions during the year, autumn and spring.
Available degree projects/thesis
Flame retardant viscose and aramid – a way forward to green and safe workwear?
Background
Flame retardant viscose and aramid fabrics are used as alternatives in work wear for firefighters. The flame-resistant properties are inherent for aramid, or added to the matrix for inherent flame retardant viscose and do not require chemical finishing and reimpregnation. However, the manufacturing of these fabrics causes potentially higher resource demand in the manufacturing phase.
A comparison of different options requires a life cycle (LCA) based analysis including raw materials, manufacturing of yarn and fabric, finishing and use phase with and without re-impregnation.
Aim
The aim of the project is to provide information about the life cycle of fabrics based on inherent flame retardant fibres vs fibres using flame retardant finishing. The results shall be used by a manufacturer of firefighter equipment to guide their development of future collections.
Use of results
The results from the project will give an increased knowledge of this type of textiles. LCA based environmental label (Environmental product declarations) require quantitative information for guiding decision makers in industry and authorities.
Contact
Mail to: Jutta Hildenbrand, RISE
Inherent fibers for flame retardant properties of textiles, which chemicals are used in manufacturing?
Background
Flame retardants are used in materials to prevent or inhibit the start of a fire and are for instance used in textiles and furniture for the public environment as well as in protective work wear. Flame retardants are often added to the finished material which mean that they can be washed out or migrate from the material during use. Many of the flame retardants used have been shown to be hazardous to human health and to the environment, several are also suspected to act as endocrine disruptors meaning that they may pose a risk to human health and to the environment. Commonly are brominated, chlorinated and/or phosphorus based flame retardants used in this way.
Nowadays are often inherent flame-retardant fibers used instead of treating the finished material with flame retardant chemicals. The protection in then built in into the material leading to a lower risk of migration, and hence a lower risk to exposure. However, there is not much information available about how these fibers are manufactured and about what chemicals that are used.
Aim
The aim of the project is to gather information about what type of chemicals that are used in the manufacturing of inherent fibers for flame retardancy of textiles. The chemical properties of these chemicals and their impact from an environmental and health perspective will also be investigated. It is also possible to include how these chemicals affect the materials from a lifecycle perspective.
Use of results
The results from the project will give an increased knowledge of this type of textiles. This knowledge will be used within the knowledge area Materials, Chemistry and Recycling to be able to guide the platform’s stakeholders in their work towards a more sustainable development within the textile- and fashion industry.
Contact
Mail to: Anna Strid, RISE
Mapping of different managerial roles impact on sustainable development in textile value chains
Background
Different managerial roles in the textile value chain will have different impact on sustainable development. Some managers have significant impact with accompanying responsibility and some only limited impact but can still actively contribute to the company’s sustainability efforts. The people who populates these roles have different priorities, skills and attributes. They are measured with different key performance indicators, incentivized differently, and different things helps them succeed. Each of them will meet different barriers that helps them scale up sustainability initiatives.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the managerial roles in a typical textile value chain’s and aims to identify key success factors for implementing and scaling sustainability initiatives. This will contribute to increased understanding of how to impact key managerial roles towards more sustainable textile value chains.
Use of results
The results of the thesis project will be used to design more efficient tools and methods for sustainable development in textile value chain.
Contact
Mail to: Jonas Larsson, The Swedish School of Textiles
