7: Education for Sustainable Development and Peace in Fashion and Apparel in Sri Lanka

This chapter explores how higher education institutions (HEIs) collaborate with businesses in the apparel sector in Sri Lanka to design relevant curriculum to develop the current and future talent pool for the apparel and fashion industry. In particular, it interrogates whether and how Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG12) Responsible Consumption and Production is integrated in the different areas of higher education: campus, curriculum, and culture. The chapter follows two HEIs in Sri Lanka, one a government-funded institute and the other a privately owned academy, and compares and contrasts their approach to education in sustainability and reflects on the merits of each approach. This chapter aims to understand the role of businesses and higher education in bringing back values of sustainability and responsible consumption and pushing the learning and innovation in this area in the students of apparel manufacture and fashion design.