I am part of a USDA funded grant team that has recently created a professional development series designed to help fashion educators get up to speed on climate change and learn how to educate for climate change in the fashion curriculum. Our new website is up and running and it is beautiful. ATHENAS is an acronym for Apparel and Textile Higher Education Nurturing the Advancement of Sustainability. We chose this acronym in part because the Greek goddess Athena was both the goddess of wisdom and of weaving. The logo for the project is Athena’s war helmet surrounded by stitches.
We want to arm teachers to prepare warriors of wisdom to increase the impact their students can have on the sustainability of a multi-trillion dollar global industry. The site has classroom activities, ideas for how to recruit students who are interested in learning more about the science behind the apparel and textile industry as well as valuable professional development units that can help educators at both the secondary and post-secondary levels learn more about climate change and fashion.