University supports garments industry research

The University of Derby is supporting a research project, which aims to promote more responsible business practices in the garments industry.

The project, Transforming Responsive and Relational Autonomy in the Garment Sector of the UK and Bangladesh (THRREADS), is seeking to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability in the ready-made garment and fashion sector in Leicester and in Bangladesh and improve autonomy in the workplace.

It involves a team of researchers from the University of Derby, University of Essex, Manchester Metropolitan University and Universal College Bangladesh, and is supported by £645,000 funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.

Over the next three years, the team will develop a Leicester Accord to ensure economic, social and environmental justice in the industry for the workers, employers and other stakeholders.

The accord will be modelled on the Bangladesh Accord, which was developed following a factory building collapse in Bangladesh in 2013.

Professor Samsul Alam, Professor in Sustainability and Accounting at the University of Derby, who is co-ordinating the university’s involvement in the project, said: “Although there is still much to be done in Bangladesh to introduce more responsible business practices and to build its reputation, the accord is an important step in the process and is a good example of what we could achieve in Leicester.”