Discovery workshops to support the development of a ToC for a sustainable apparel ecosystem
Role: Facilitator
#Design research, #Strategic design
Background
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), now known as Cascale, embarked on the development of their Theory of Change (ToC) framework. This involved the articulation of their impact goals and outcomes, a critical step in aligning organisational efforts and charting a path towards sustainable change. These goals and outcomes were to be presented and workshopped during the organisation's annual gathering, facilitating collaborative input and refinement from key stakeholders.
Objectives
My work focused on gathering input from diverse groups of SAC members to gain insights into several key areas:
- Understanding how members perceive SAC, including their perceptions of its mission, values, and effectiveness in driving sustainability in the apparel industry.
- Identifying the factors that facilitate or hinder the attainment of SAC's impact goals from the members' perspective.
- Exploring ways in which SAC could better support its members in achieving their sustainability objectives, whether through providing resources, tools, training, or fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing among members.
Methodology
I designed and facilitated a total of eight discovery workshops, each tailored to one of SAC's five distinct member categories: manufacturers, brands, retailers, service providers, and affiliates.
At the outset of each workshop, we delved into SAC's overarching value proposition and elicited participants' expectations surrounding it. This was followed by a brief presentation from SAC’s strategy team that outlined the organisation's three impact goals:
- combatting climate change
- achieving a nature-positive future
- fostering decent work for all
Participants then engaged in lively discussions on the drivers and barriers associated with each impact goal. These conversations culminated in a prioritisation exercise, wherein participants identified specific actions that SAC was best positioned to undertake. This exercise facilitated strategic alignment of SAC's initiatives with the needs and aspirations of its diverse member base, thereby fostering collaborative efforts towards sustainable transformation within the apparel industry.
Results:
The findings from the discovery sessions, together with insights from member surveys and conversations with member-facing staff provided a basis for developing SAC’s ToC (high level below).
