Sustainable Supply Chains in Sri Lanka

Joanne: Sustainability and design have been my passion for a long time. But I did not have a network to exchange with. So when I heard about the ASA programme, I thought that would be a good opportunity to connect and gain broader knowledge.

Jessica: I completed my studies in fashion management in Munich this march. My teacher, Claudia Schwarz, told me about the ASA programme. The issues that caught my attention were sustainability and community engagement. I thought ASA would be a good opportunity to actively engage in this field and also to start to make a change.

Insha: To give more you have to connect more. That is why, I saw ASA as a good opportunity to be able to network with a lot of like-minded people from all over the world.

Jessica: Our main goal is to implement a sustainable supply chain between Sri Lanka and Germany, connecting local artisans around Colombo with partners in Germany. What the artisans are struggling with is that their economic stability is more or less gone. This is connected to political issues, for example the Easter bombings of 2019 and the Covid-pandemic as well as the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. What the artisans need is work: Therefore, we decided to approach concept stores, interior designers, and sustainable warehouses in Germany that could be interested in the products from Sri Lanka. On the long run our goal is to move past the economic value and create a value for the communities as well.

Insha: I used to go in the community centres we are working with quite often. So one thing that I noticed, is that we have to think about their well-being. Keeping the communities interested is the hardest thing. We want to create awareness for the value that their products have. It is important to keep the interest alive, especially focusing on the younger generation. Our primary research is focused on that.

Jessica: If you look at other industries, for example Bangladesh, India and Cambodia: They are producing in a way that is unsustainable for the environment and the people. I am talking about health issues, mentally and physically. The artisans that we are working with are not exposed to such factors. So we really have to re-establish that kind of working in our world. You cannot have environmental sustainability without social sustainability, because it starts with the habits that people have.

Joanne: At first, I was a little sceptical about the project. Working with the German team, I was worried about possible cultural gaps and differences. That was my initial fear. But, I think the best part about us, is that we were able to understand each right away. Even though we had some challenges in the beginning, just like some smaller miscommunications, we really grew as a team.

Insha: We were familiar with working online, since our studies is completely remote as well. But the setting was different. Within this project we really had to interact with each other. I give a lot of credit to ASA with the tutorials and the sessions we had. That really broke that barrier and made us familiar with each other. We all came to the realisation that we feel the same.

Jessica: The biggest gift to me was that I met my team. We are just the same people at different places. We have the same motivation and the same passion for fashion and sustainability.

Insha: Since it is an online project, I am the only one of us being in Sri Lanka at the moment. And of course there were some challenges through the current situation. For example sometimes I am sitting in the dark with no electricity.  But we did not want it to be an excuse. We worked around it and we worked together as a team. The harder the situation got, the more we thought, that we need to do this for the communities. That kept us going.

Joanne: For me it is definitely learning from each other. We come from different backgrounds and share our information and that is the best thing that came out of this.

Insha: So the learnings come from the tutorials and the project itself. Through the tutorials, apart from development politics, I really learned how important it is to represent yourself and be yourself no matter where you are. I never had the confidence to voice my thoughts and ideas. It really helped me to develop myself personally. We are really happy that we could do this project. The people that are not safe need it more. Through the online platform, we are still able to contribute something. It opens up borders and possibilities to people that are otherwise not reachable.

Jessica: My outcome is that I gained confidence. This process continued within our team and our team meetings. It gave me more strength just to be myself and to continue in what I am doing. Of course, digital encounters always lacks of human connection. Yet through this project, we really came close to a real experience. I am just grateful that we did it. From a personal stand point and that is also thanks to ASA, we know for ourselves that we want to keep going working with each other.