Country Road has announced the grant recipients for the second year of its Climate Fund.
This year, four pioneering projects have been selected to drive positive climate solutions within the fashion industry, with the grant winner from the fund's First Nations pillar going to Mimal Women Rangers with $51,400 in grant funding.
In 2022, Country Road announced Australia's first fashion industry Climate Fund, pledging $1.5 million over three years in grant funding towards projects that drive positive climate solutions.
The Country Road Climate Fund's primary mandate is to invest in projects with a positive climate impact that directly or indirectly reduce greenhouse gas emission in the fashion industry supply chain. The Fund recognises that climate outcomes can be achieved through nature-based, circular, First Nations-led and innovative solutions.
The Fund is also targeted at investing in projects which align with one or more of the following pillars: biodiversity, First Nations-led projects, circularity and innovation.
Funding will support the Mimal Women Rangers and Elders in the Mimal Land Management area (Central Arnhem Land) and Wugularr/Beswick. Alongside their critical climate and conservation work, many of the women rangers and Elders are expert weavers and are culturally responsible for passing this traditional practice down to the younger generations.
The project aims to enhance their relationship with the Djilpin Arts Centre by enabling access to different remote areas of Country. On these trips, the women and Elders will harvest pandanus and dyes for their weavings, and if necessary, also conduct cool burns to protect the land from wildfires.
The initiative strives to support traditional weaving practices, generating income for the women and preserving cultural heritage. Furthermore, many of these trips will also be built into the Learning on Country Program at the Bulman School, guaranteeing that the younger children have as much exposure to the complexity and value of the practice as possible, and understand how intimately the practice interacts with caring for Country.
Mimal Land Management Aboriginal Corporation's chief executive Dominic Nicholls said for the women, caring for Country and creating woven items are complementary activities—traversing the landscape to source pandanus and plants for dyestuffs allows them to monitor the threat of bushfire, conduct cool burns at the appropriate timing and keep an eye on wildlife.
"Mimal's long-term goal is to sustain the relationship with Djilpin Arts beyond the grant period so that women from the Bulman-Weemol communities have consistent access to the regional fashion and arts economy," he said.
The 2024 finalists were selected by an assessment committee comprising of industry specialists across the four Climate Fund pillars.
This year the judging panel included Yatu Widders Hunt, general manager Cox Inall Ridgeway; Dr. Carter Ingram, managing director Pollination; Fabia Pryor, brand sustainability manager Country Road and Aleasha McCallion, strategic projects manager Circular Economy Transitions and co-founder Circular Economy Textiles Program, Monash Sustainable Development Institute.
Speaking to her involvement on the assessment committee, brand sustainability manager at Country Road Aleasha McCallion said all of the Climate Fund recipients clearly reflect exceptional innovation and dedication to sustainable and circular solutions in Australia. McCallion also shared how the fund strives to support local grassroots community and industry collaborative projects.
"Country Road's Climate Fund is demonstrating leadership and a clear commitment to supporting—and importantly, directly funding—local grassroots community and industry collaborative projects which have impact. All of the Climate Fund recipients clearly reflect exceptional innovation and dedication to sustainable and circular solutions in Australia which connect our close relationship with fibre, textiles and fashion, back to the health and wellbeing of people and planet," she said.
Having launched Australia's first fashion industry Climate Fund in 2022, committing $1.5 million in grant funding over the first three years to projects that mitigate climate change and build climate resilience across four key pillars - Biodiversity, Innovation, Circularity and First Nations – Country Road is eager to be both apart of and fund a positive shift in the industry.
Country Road is proud to support local partnerships with Australian farmers, manufacturers and First Nations communities.
Country Road has partnered with the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation (DAAFF) since 2020, navigating ways to support meaningful pathways for emerging Indigenous talent. Through this partnership Country Road proudly supports Country to Couture, an annual celebration of First Nations art and design talent, and the National Indigenous Fashion Awards (Fashion Designer Category), with the winner going on to undertake a 12-month mentorship with the brand.
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