Ever thought about where your clothes are made? What they are made of? Our amazing team of Future Problem Solvers can tell you all about it. For the past year, the four girls – Piper, Zoe, Alyssa and Carissa, now in Year 9, have painstakingly managed their project “Project Triple F – Fighting Fast Fashion” to raise awareness about the growing issue of fast fashion and the scourge that disposable fashion is.
The team began its problem solving in 2017, devising a way to educate and solve this important issue. Their initial report examined fast fashion in detail, outlining why our society must do more to buy ethical clothing, manufactured under legal conditions and with a view to long term use.
Victorian State Final
Before we knew it, the project was entered into the Victorian State Final, further reports were written and our entry, complete with documentary evidence was sent off to adjudicators. A month later, we were delighted to learn that the team was invited to the National Final in October 2017 in Sydney. After much planning and more dedicated commitment and work on the project, we flew to Sydney to participate in the Australian Final.
Judging in Sydney was intense. It involved a one hour interview with the judges as well as setting up a “fairlike” display with interactive videos, brochures and other marketing information. Alongside this, a comprehensive report about the issue, and what the team was doing to solve the problem was also produced.
International Final
After our return from Sydney, the team was delighted to receive an invitation to the International Final of Future Problem Solving at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. This has meant a huge amount of work – meeting stakeholders, setting up website and Instagram accounts, discussing the project with key community leaders, such as the CEO of Boroondara Council and members of the NAB transformations team. It has meant hours of extra research and time – we have held community BBQ’s to raise funds and awareness, now have a logo to support our awareness campaign and will head off in June to take on other teams from across the globe.
The Future Problem Solving Team Fighting Fast Fashion competed in the International Championships held in the USA earlier this year. 10 countries, 1600 students, 80 teams and our 4 Strathy students came second in the world! We couldn’t be more proud!
