Cascale recently joined a first-year course at the Parsons School of Design, part of The New School, to engage the next generation of designers on sustainability systems and supply chain realities.
The February 12 session took place within “Sustainable Systems,” a foundational course reaching all first-year Parsons students, approximately 1,300 students annually. Joleen Ong, Cascale’s senior director of brand and retailer membership, presented to the class. She introduced Cascale’s role as a global alliance convening brands, retailers, manufacturers, and stakeholders to drive measurable progress across the consumer goods value chain.
Students then presented findings from a traceability assignment that challenged them to map an item back to its factory and material origins.
The exchange underscored the growing interest among emerging designers in advancing sustainable design approaches in the existing and future sustainability landscape. Questions from students covered topics related to systems change, Cascale membership, NGO stakeholder engagement, and access to the Higg Index.
Since 2014, Parsons has required students to take sustainable design curriculum. As part of this focus, Parsons faculty is exploring ways to embed more sustainability coursework into the core and advanced curriculum. As a starting point, Cascale has been invited to participate as a recurring guest contributor in this required course, as well as others.
Shaping upstream talent entering the apparel and footwear industry is a powerful opportunity to embed systems-level sustainability from day one. Today’s students are tomorrow’s sustainability leads, sourcing managers, and Higg Index users. By connecting early with future practitioners, Cascale looks to strengthen the foundation for credible measurement, aligned standards, and collective action across the industry.
