Returning for its second year, Future Citizen is uniting youth climate action across the UK, combining creativity and sustainability across a jam-packed programme of events. Future Citizen is a week of action, harnessing the power of education by uniting with places of learning for 11-23 year olds to share knowledge, inspiration and ways to take fashion action for the next generation of citizens and consumers. Connecting schools, colleges, universities and other education settings across the country, Future Citizen invites participating organisations to host one or a number of activities to engage with their students, other local places of learning or their wider community.

The Future of Sustainable Fashion

Kickstarting activities focused on celebrating creativity, connection and community within the sustainable fashion space, Just Sust Festival took place at Brimscombe Mill in Stroud at the end of February. The perfect introduction to Future Citizen, Just Sust Festival featured a packed schedule of events throughout the day including textile demonstrators from skilled local makers, workshops on mending, stitching, reworking and creative upcycling, repair groups and sewing circles, it showcased the best of local creativity in Stroud and the local area. Just Sust will be returning to Sustainable Fashion Week later in the year as our Stroud Hub so keep your eyes peeled for what happens next!

Looking ahead to March, Birmingham Metropolitan College will be featuring student work in an exhibition at the Sutton Coldfield campus from a recent industry-linked project that explores alternative materials and sustainable-centred design thinking.

Bath Spa University will also be celebrating student work from their Fashion Marketing and Management BA course on Thursday 19th March. Held in partnership with Future Fashion Works and A Single Thread CIC, the evening will feature a showcase of films from the final year students.

Lidia Russo, a Masters Degree student from Falmouth University, is hosting multiple events including a charity shop ‘forage’ to encourage conscious consumption and creative reuse; a styling and upcycling session inspired by the nature walk and, a film screening of Woman Grows Jeans followed by an open discussion about fashion, care, and sustainability.

Sustainability and Creativity

Catwalk shows galore are taking place throughout the week! Glasgow Kelvin College Students Union is hosting a sustainable fashion catwalk show from the campus clothing bank in a showcase of creativity and innovative styling.

Stokesley School and Sixth Form are hosting a fashion show on Thursday 19th March to launch their preloved boutique which promotes sustainable fashion and provides students outfits for proms and other formal occasions such as dances, parties and interviews. The local community has been key in providing stock for the boutique in a brilliant showcase of the power of community organisation in sustainable fashion action.

Based in the Isle of Wight, New Carnival community group will be continuing their ongoing programme of workshops with the ‘Isle of Creativity’ group to produce outfits for their upcoming ‘Trash to Trend’ fashion show, taking place later in April.

Students at Bishop Auckland College will be hosting a mending circle where young people can share practical sewing and mending techniques in a great example of student-led sustainable action.

Showcasing innovation and pushing the conversation around sustainability forward, Circular Fashion Incubator CIC is hosting the International Circular Fashion Week Conference across 16-17th March in Leeds. Through panel discussions, exhibitions, workshops, live showcases, performances, award ceremonies, and pop-ups, the conference highlights groundbreaking circular models, materials, and ideas that challenge the status quo. It also offers meaningful opportunities for international networking, cross-sector collaboration, and real-world impact.

Essential Skills For The Next Generation

Carmarthen School of Art (Coleg sir Gar) is hosting multiple events across the Pibwrlwyd and Jobswell campuses for students to engage in clothes swapping, upcycling and repair workshops, zero waste pattern cutting lessons, and reusing scrap/ used denim for a creative project.

North West Regional College in County Durham is hosting a sustainable fashion competition for its students exploring the shirt-making history of the local area: Reviving Derry's Legacy: Sustainable Fashion with a Twist. The invitation is to honour this legacy by breathing new life into old, unwanted shirts through upcycling techniques.

Over at South Lanarkshire College, workshops focusing on upcycling and repairs will be running for students, covering basics mending techniques and using scrap materials plus a sustainable fashion quiz. Alongside this, the ‘Dress the Future Mannequin Challenge’ will be running, which asks different departments to create an outfit using preloved, donated or repurposed clothing from their College Way Market.

Promoting the circular economy, students at Arts University Plymouth will be hosting a clothes swap for clothing and accessories.

Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School will also be exploring how swapping and sharing clothing can reduce overconsumption with their clothes swap in Gloucestershire.

Returning for the second instalment of Future Citizen, the University of West England will be hosting a series of events for their students focusing on skills for the future such as sustainable printing, mending and swapping through their incredible Sustainability Hub.

Community Collaboration

Uniting places of learning with local makers and knowledge holders to share skills is a key tenet of Future Citizen and we have some brilliant organisations partnering with local schools and colleges. Shaykara London will be bringing their ingenuity to two local schools on 16th and 20th March which will combine discussion around fashion waste and overconsumption with a hands-on upcycling session.

The brilliant Everyone Needs Pockets is hosting a workshop for students at Frome College on Thursday 19th March.

Up north in Wirral, Jane Gordon of Crafters and Makers is hosting an after-school workshop focusing on visible mending and upskilling young people on how to use a sewing machine.

Sustainable fashion designer Lou Wild is hosting two events as part of Future Citizen within Bristol. Firstly, a fashion show will be taking place on Monday 15th March at the Swannery Youth Club showcasing student work. On Wednesday 18th March, Lou will be hosting a mending workshop with local organisation, Future Pages CIC, teaching 8-11 year olds sewing techniques with a sustainability focus.

Bricks Bristol will be running a basic mending workshop at St Anne’s house for their local youth group to empower them to patch and repair their clothing on 18th March.

Up in East Lothian, Fixing For A Future will be hosting their ‘Against Fast Fashion!’ workshops across secondary schools and libraries in the local area, facilitating necessary conversations around its impact on people and the planet.

In West Scotland, Oban Collective will be hosting workshops with high school students and primary school students to upcycle t-shirts and to create upcycled showstoppers for our sustainable, community fashion show, taking place in April.

Stay up to date with all of the amazing activities taking place by following our Instagram page for the latest on everything Future Citizen.

Interested in taking part? Drop us an email carly@sustainablefashionweek.uk

Future Citizen Is Back for 2026!

Carnival, Creativity and Climate Action