The Unwasted Forum, to be held in Opatija, Croatia from 16-18 May, 2025, will highlight the role of fashion in creating a sustainable future — by advocating for the recovery, reuse and regeneration of materials across all sectors.
This three-day international event will unite professionals across all sectors to connect, exchange good practices, and promote sustainable solutions with their regenerative practices. The initiative is committed to reducing waste and pollution, promoting responsible consumption, and fostering innovative, creative approaches to material reuse and their goal is to educate communities, influence policies, and inspire individuals to act towards a more sustainable society.
Concept
The Unwasted Forum will bring the circular economy to life with engaging, hands-on demonstrations that showcase the latest innovations in waste reduction and sustainability. Accessible and inspiring, these practical demonstrations will reveal how to turn waste into opportunity, driving impactful change and paving the way for a greener, more sustainable future. A highlight of the forum will see participants join local fishermen, divers, and NGOs on a boat trip to a marine pollution site. Together, they will retrieve discarded fishing nets from the Adriatic Sea, which serve as raw material for creating ECONYL fiber, promoting a circular economy where clothing remains a continuously renewable resource.
Mission
The Unwasted Forum is part of a longer-term vision that promotes environmental consciousness, conservation, and eco-friendly practices. The forum aims to organize events, workshops, and training to educate on reusing materials and minimizing waste through creative, regenerative practices and raise awareness about the environmental and the economic benefits of adopting a circular, eco-friendly approach to consumption.
The forum will support innovative projects showcasing effective reuse practices across sectors such as fashion, textiles, construction, and packaging and Work together to promote expertise, exchange ideas, and showcase groundbreaking innovations that advance sustainability. Work with a ‘c2c’ approach: community to community; consumer to consumer, citizen to citizen. The forum will ensure inclusivity with broad representation from countries and sectors, uniting leaders from governments, international organizations, businesses, academia, NGOs, artists, and civil society.
