In recent decades, the fashion industry has become aware of the pressure and concerns of the public regarding climate change and the impact of production processes on people, other living creatures and the planet. Environmental movements have been preaching about many environmental problems since the 1960s, and clothing companies began to introduce environmental practices in their operations in the late 1980s. In the fashion industry, they began to think about how to design and develop clothing and fashion products that will have as few harmful agents as possible, both for living beings and their environment. This has also been one of the factors in the last decade that contributed to the emergence of sustainable fashion. Sustainable fashion design is based on the combination of ecological and ethical principles with innovative design, the introduction of innovative and intelligent materials, minimal waste, and greater aesthetic, functional, and emotional value of clothing that lasts longer and require minimal maintenance. Sustainability can be implemented in various stages of the textile and fashion industry, from production to consumption. Today, various sustainable fashion strategies can be observed. Sustainable fashion-related content is also included in the curriculum for the subject of home economics in elementary schools. Home economics is taught in all parts of the world. In most cases, the term “home economics” is used, but in some countries, other names also appear. Home economics provides students with a rich insight into the areas of food, nutrition, health, family, finance, and sustainable resource management. The emphasis is on active learning through problem-solving and decision-making. Students develop practical skills through practical experiences, both individually and in groups. In the master's thesis, we analysed Slovenian and foreign curricula for the subject home economics or comparable subjects, with the aim of creating guidelines and contents in the field of sustainable methods, which would make sense to include in the curricula of the subject home economics. The content analysis of the curricula has shown that, compared to foreign curricula, there are very few written goals and contents in the field of sustainability. Additionally, foreign curricula place a greater emphasis on an individual’s sustainable behaviour in relation to textile management. Both Slovenian and foreign curricula recommend the use of an interdisciplinary approach or cross-curricular connections, practical work methods, activities, and projects, as well as group learning formats. We also found that in Slovenia, sustainable fashion content is only taught in the 5th grade, whereas in some foreign curricula, it appears in various grades and is progressively expanded over the years. As a result, we proposed contents, goals, concepts, methods, and forms of work, as well as cross-curricular connections that could be included in the curricula for the subject home economics. A proposal for a spiral upgrade of the teaching of sustainable fashion content is also given, following the example of the foreign curricula, especially the Australian and Canadian (British Colombia and Manitoba) curricula, which cover the largest content related to sustainable fashion.
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