A Blueprint for Behaviour Change: Value & Sustainable Fashion (Online)

This is a hybrid event. To join on campus, access tickets here.

This workshop introduces a philosophical framework for addressing the persistent gap between sustainability values and fashion consumption behaviours. Participants will explore the foundational stage of moral decision-making: understanding how individual values form, evolve, and influence our choices. Drawing on World Values Survey data and value change theory, alongside naturalistic approaches to moral reasoning, we'll investigate why people hold different sustainability priorities and how these differences shape fashion consumption patterns. The session will provide participants with conceptual tools to understand the complex relationship between personal values and sustainable behaviour, offering insights relevant to researchers, industry professionals, and students interested in behaviour change and ethical consumption. 

Alice Paisley-Carruthers is a researcher specialising in the philosophical foundations of sustainable behaviour change, with particular focus on fashion consumption. Her work integrates moral philosophy and systems thinking to address the values-action gap in sustainability. Alice's research examines how evolving societal values can be systematically translated into authentic consumer behaviour through philosophical reasoning infrastructure. She recently presented her research at the Yale Sustainable Fashion Research Conference 2025, exploring the transformative potential of providing consumers with transparent, values-aligned decision-making tools that honour individual circumstances while supporting collective progress toward sustainability. 

The Talking Through F/fashion seminar series provides a collaborative and intellectually rigorous forum for interdisciplinary researchers to explore how fashion shapes the narratives through which individuals and communities construct their personal and collective identities. These seminars showcase both established and emerging scholarship, encompassing diverse historical periods, geographical contexts, and methodological approaches—from empirical studies to theoretical frameworks and practice-based research. Our goal is to foster international dialogue and partnership among scholars interested in examining and critically engaging with fashion's role in identity formation and storytelling. The seminar is hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University’s F/fashion Narratives Research Group.