Graduation Research

This MSc thesis project investigates the phenomenon of rebound in relation to the Circular Economy (CE) through qualitative inquiry. The rebound effect, known originally from the energy efficiency literature, occurs when improvements in efficiency or other technological innovations fail to deliver on their environmental promise due to (behavioral) economic mechanisms. The main findings include realizations about the low to nonexistent awareness of this effect amongst organizations, and the identification of specific and general instances of rebound effects in the fashion industry.

Read the publication on ScienceDirect.

Period: September 2018 – March 2019

This MSc thesis project studies opportunities of local production networks for the textile- and apparel industry in the Amsterdam metropolitan region, based on circular economy principles. The potential for local waste to be converted into wearable fibers and textiles will be explored. Additionally, possibilities for value chain alternatives that could close the material flow whilst providing circular textiles will be investigated.

Period: November 2018 – June 2019

This MSc thesis project explores opportunities for inter-organizational learning between SME’s and multinationals in the fashion industry. As a mature industry the fashion industry currently experiences lock-in; an inability to adopt to change. External pressures like global warming and rising criticism from consumers make that actors in the textile industry need to reorganize themselves. Start-ups, SMEs and corporates are starting inter-firm innovation collaborations. The project investigates how they learn from each other and what they learn to become more explorative, dynamic and adoptive to external changes.

Period: September 2018 – April 2019

Four Bachelor students of Management Studies are writing their Bachelor thesis for Fashion Made in Holland (FMIH). FMIH's goal is to revive the Dutch fashion industry. Dutch designers are very well-known in the world, but in the past decades, we have outsourced the production of clothing to other countries. Nowadays an average piece of clothing travels 1900km before it arrives in the hands of the consumer. At the same time, fashion academy graduates often cannot find a job. FMIH wants to stimulate local production and employment and decrease the environmental impact.

Period: November 2017 – January 2018

Website: http://www.fashionmadeinholland.nl/

For her Master’s thesis in International relations, a student is using ethnographic research to investigate how circularity is evolving in both “practices” and “discourses” within the Dutch fashion industry. Questions are: Who are the leading actors and why? What stories do they tell each other and, in doing so, what discourses are created? What “best practices” can we define and are there any tensions between the discourses and practices?

Period: November 2017 – April 2018

A MSc student in Marketing & Consumer Behaviour wrote her thesis on potential strategies to positively influence Dutch students’ purchase behaviour of sustainable clothes. In two consecutive quantitative studies a total of 308 students were reached. The results showed a positive relationship between the attitude, perceived norm, personal agency and perceived customer value. The thesis contributes to previous studies by shedding light on consumers’ purchase behaviour of sustainable clothes.

Period: March 2017 – January 2018

In his Master’s thesis, a student in Management Studies investigated the best practices for a circular fashion industry in Indonesia. The fashion industry in Indonesia is currently focusing on themes like water, security and alternative biodegradable materials. The Indonesian Fast Forward programme’s vision of the future is to create a fashion industry in which creativity, commerce and the environment are on par with each other. This thesis project included a comparative case study of the 17 main companies in the field of circularity in fashion in Indonesia. The result was that collaboration and transparency are key themes for the sector to develop to the next level of circularity.

Period: September 2017 – March 2018

The aim of this project was to investigate the use of semantic web technologies to increase collaboration across the Circular Economy. The investigation focused on developing an approach for the conversion of material passports into Linked Data representations. Three scenarios were developed: for food, buildings and fashion. Results indicate that actors and products can be connected and meaningful answers can be obtained for circular collaboration patterns. Expected users of this data model are: umbrella organizations and governments wishing to accelerate the Circular Economy, businesses and consumers wishing to find circular trade partnerships.

Period: May – November 2017

This MSc thesis project studies the role of business, government and knowledge institutions in the creation of regional hubs within the Dutch Circular Textile Valley (DCTV). As an analytical model the triple helix model is often used to explore the roles of different stakeholders in innovation processes. The project specifically focuses on the roles of stakeholders in the DCTV Hub in the region of Gelderland, such as companies, local and provincial government and knowledge institutions such as ArtEZ University of the Arts and Wageningen University & Research.

Period: September 2018 – April 2019

This MSc thesis project focuses on political consumerism, or ‘’voting with your dollar’’, which is a way for consumers to have an influence on the current fashion system. Sustainable clothing consumers in The Netherlands aim to change the fashion system by avoiding certain stores (boycotting) and supporting certain stores (buycotting). Bloggers use the discursive strategy of blogging without being too ‘’preachy’’. The results of this research contribute to the holistic understanding of the behaviour of sustainable consumers, and give insights in the theory of political consumerism.

Period: September 2018 – March 2019