With Collective Impact methodology chosen as guiding force, we brought in 10 partners, all experts within their field, to tackle different challenges faced by waste pickers as had been identified through the ethnographic survey, with the objective of addressing several concerns together — not just water or education or work safety or earning capacity or housing & social security — but all of these. To provide waste pickers holistic solutions with equity and equitable access to outcomes by all populations as foundational benchmarks of the initiative.

We adopted the Collective Impact approach — a highly structured method to build a collective of community members, organizations, and institutions that advance equity by learning and working together — as it catered to all that we wanted to achieve, and provided the  collaborative framework needed to overcome complex socio-economic problems. 

‍As we successfully close the first phase of Saamuhika Shakti, and march strongly into the second phase this January 2024, we’re proud to report that our partners in Bengaluru, India, have not only demonstrated  that collaboration is possible, but have also showed that by working together, more is possible than the sum of its parts. 

However, we didn’t start this way. 

Our aim to shift power relations, create inclusive societies, and ensure equity for the long term required patience, adaptability, and continuous communication, as it is not easy to completely reimagine how different actors collaborate, that too in a system where too many organizations are used to working in isolation from one another. 

The work was not without challenges… Read the full story at saamuhikashakti.org

Unprecedented challenges also call for unprecedented efforts to tackle complex problems. Applying a systems change perspective allows actors as diverse as non-governmental organisations, businesses, and governments to create interventions that address the underlying root causes of complex problems and tackle the drivers of poverty and inequality.

What is systems change?

According to the Observatory of Public Innovation, systems change requires working across organisational boundaries and scales. By applying a systems lens to complex problems, organisations can map the dynamics of the system they’re trying to improve, explore the relationships between different actors in the system, and identify suitable interventions. The method requires a shift in mindset from linear thinking to embracing the complexity and interconnectedness of systems, individuals, and problems. 

“System change is about confronting the root causes rather than the symptoms by transforming structures, customs, mindsets, and power dynamics,” said Charlotte Brunnström, strategy lead at H&M Foundation.

Since 2020, the foundation has been implementing the so-called Collective Impact method, a highly structured collaborative model where a diverse group of actors come together in partnerships to solve complex social challenges. The aim of the method is precisely to achieve this deeper systems change, explained Brunnström.

“As a philanthropic foundation, we can engage in long-term initiatives that are not just about head-counting or finding a quick fix. And as a non-profit, we can engage in activities that focus on perception change and behaviour change, but also trying to change power relations and resource flows, which takes time,” she said.

How does the Collective Impact method work?

The CI method consists of a cluster of implementing partners each providing an intervention. Together, they provide a holistic solution to the primary actor – sometimes referred to as beneficiaries in other models – through deep collaboration coordinated by one, neutral backbone organisation.

In Bangladesh, for example, the H&M Foundation has set up a CI initiative called Oporajita – meaning “undefeated” in Bengali – to help prepare and equip women garment workers for the changes brought about by increased automation of the ready-made-garments, or RMG, industry. The livelihoods of women garment workers are particularly at risk. “The reason for this is two fold. Many women lack the necessary skills and are sometimes also illiterate. But the big problem is that there are a lot of deep-rooted stereotypes in Bangladesh, saying that women cannot work with advanced tech and that they aren’t capable of leadership positions,” said Brunnström. That’s why only providing skills training isn’t enough – the initative also works to change these harmful gender norms, but also to ensure women have access to childcare and create a decent work environment.

The Asia Foundation, as the backbone organisation, coordinates the efforts and communication between the 11 implementing partners which jointly offer interventions ranging from creating sustainable livelihood alternatives for unemployed workers to addressing gender-based discrimination and harassment. 

Another CI initative supported by the H&M Foundation is Saamuhika Shakti – meaning “collective strength” – in India, which works to enable informal waste pickers to have greater agency to lead secure and dignified lives. To many of India’s rural population who migrate to larger cities such as Bangalore in search of better economic opportunities, waste picking is often a gateway occupation until they manage to get settled and make more connections, explained Akshay Soni, the executive director of Saamuhika Shakti and a managing director at The Nudge Institute, the programs’ backbone organisation. 

Waste pickers also play a crucial role in ensuring materials such as plastics are recycled. Globally, only about 9% of plastic gets recycled. In India, that number is over 30%, and it’s mainly because of waste pickers, explained Soni. Despite their crucial role in the recycling ecosystem, their work is often met with stigma and prejudice from the rest of the population. 

Working with partners to offer a holistic solution

The benefits of the CI method lie in bringing together specialist organisations to jointly address a multi-layered, complex problem, explained Soni. Organisations that run all sorts of different interventions for a community rarely manage to scale because they are generalists. “And generalists who are doing a lot of different things are unable to lower the cost of the intervention on a per-person basis, to give a great ROI [Return on Investment] on philanthropic money,” he said.

Specialist organisations, on the other hand, look at one problem really deeply and “solve for it by uncovering the layers of the onion right down to the root causes,” he said. The CI method allows you to bring together a group of specialist organisations to solve for a single community, explained Soni. “So you’ve lowered the cost of the intervention by using the specialists and getting them to come together.”

“The CI method allows you to bring together a group of specialist organisations to solve for a single community”

Akshay Soni

In the case of Saamuhika Shakti, that means some organisations are focusing on providing vocational training and life skills for the waste pickers, while others are working to improve professional pride among waste pickers and to encourage Bangalore’s general population to respect and value waste picking.

When Sivalami was 13 years old, she used to go waste picking with her mother whenever the family needed some extra income. She has experienced the stigma that comes with the profession firsthand. “If it was a male who was waste picking, they [the community] would still have some respect for them. But because it was a woman leading the family and going waste picking, they would often accuse us of being thiefs, of stealing,” she said through a translator. 

However, she would also feel pride in ensuring the plastic she picked got recycled. ”The knowledge that when I pick up plastic, I’m making sure it’s getting made into something else. And if I don’t pick it up, it will just be there in the soil and not degrade for years and years,” she said.  

Sivalami stopped waste picking eight years ago when she got married, and now works as a community health care worker and has also participated in the tailoring classes offered by the Saamuhika Shakti initative.

The CI method also places a lot of importance on engaging directly with primary actors who have lived experience around the issues each program is trying to solve. During the design phase of the inititive, the backbone organisation ensure their needs and views are taken into account when creating each intervention. “They need to also be part of the solution,” said Soni.

Implementing the Collective Impact method

The CI method is built on a shared vision, shared agenda, shared goal, and unique metrics for each organisation, explained Brunnström. At the beginning of a program, all the implementing partners are convened by the backbone organisation to jointly develop this common agenda and metrics. The shared measurement system includes different indicators linked to each implementing organisation’s specific intervention, but also indicators that are linked to the common goal and the common agenda, explained Brunnström. 

This helps to track progress, but also to ensure mutually reinforcing activities, coordinate each partner’s activities, and encourage continuous communication so that everyone knows what others are working on. The evaluation of a CI initiative is not quantitative and simple, for example, counting the number of people engaged in an activity is not super important for us, added Brunnström. “We are more focused on other kinds of more long-term results such as changing policy, power dynamics, or resource flows.”

A key part of each CI initative is a strong and neutral backbone organisation – which is carefully selected by the H&M Foundation –  consisting of a local team dedicated to coordinating the work of the cluster. The backbone is not an implementing organisation itself but works like our extended arm in-country, coordinating the daily work of all the implementing actors, explained Brunnström, adding that it’s also crucial for fostering cross-sector communication. 

“The CI method is built on a shared vision, shared agenda, shared goal, and unique metrics for each organisation.”

Charotte Brunnström

One of their key responsibilities is to get actors within the cluster to collaborate. At the start, The Nudge Institute assumed that organisations would collaborate – but they did not, explained Soni. A lot of nonprofits have the so-called “not-invented-here-syndrome,” meaning they are often reluctant to implement other organisation’s interventions even if they might be effective, he explained. The CI method works to change that mindset and they ended up introducing collaborative KPIs to incentivize collaboration – and it worked, explained Soni.

“The backbone organisation plays this cohesive role because they have the overview of the entire program, they understand who’s doing what and how we can leverage each other’s strengths,” said Saurabh Dey, manager at the Circular Apparel Innovation Factory, one of 11 implementing partners in the Oporajita initative in Bangladesh as well as a partner in Saamuhika Shakti. 

“The backbone organisation plays this cohesive role because they have the overview of the entire program, they understand who’s doing what and how we can leverage each other’s strengths”

Saurabh Dey

Each implementing partner is responsible for or “leading” at least one workstream and is then encouraged to collaborate and support other organisations on theirs. The Circular Apparel Innovation Factory, for example, works on three different workstreams: identifying alternative employment opportunities with a circular economy lens, ensuring micro-entrepreneurs adopt circular practices, and promoting circular innovation in the textile R&D space, explained Dey. They lead the work on the first workstream and support other organisations in the cluster on the other two. 

To him, the greatest benefit of the CI method is “targeting an intervention based on a primary actor rather than focusing on a huge geography and [having] each organisation trying to come up with their own agenda…it allows you to ensure the primary actors get the holistic support they require,” said Dey. 

Lessons Learned from Collective Impact

One of the biggest benefits of the CI method is precisely the collaboration it encourages, but for that to work, funders need to be willing to invest in the added cost of a backbone organisation and also accept that not all impact will easily be traced back to each and one of the organisation. “Most philanthropic money globally is focused on breadth of intervention, not depth of intervention, which is where it starts to fall apart. So that is the problem of actually getting people to collaborate,” said Soni. 

Funders such as H&M Foundation have the opportunity to catalyze change and impact with big bets and collective actions. “As innovators, philanthropic organisations can test new ideas and adopt innovative approaches, so philanthropy should use these advantages to focus on the root causes of the current broken systems,” said Brunnström.

It’s also important to invest time and funding for everyone in the cluster to establish relationships and to build trust. “I think that’s a prerequisite for everyone to be transparent about the challenges that they’re facing, and ways to help each other,” said Brunnström. 

Together with the backbone organization we need to ensure coordination and accountability among all the members of the cluster and foster the trust needed to achieve long-lasting and collective change, she added.

What is Open Perspectives?  

Open Perspectives by H&M Foundation is an inspirational physical and digital face-to-face concept to share insights and learnings from our own work, from the textile industry and from others who inspire us. The overarching goal is to inspire others to contribute to the vision of enabling a more inclusive and sustainable fashion and textile industry.  

If you didn’t have the opportunity to watch the session live, you can find it in its entirety above.  

Transformative narratives can change the world

The event was kicked off by keynote speaker Per Olsson, Associate Professor and Deputy Science Director at Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, who shared his views on the power of discourse in shaping perceptions, and specifically, some the challenges that arise and must be faced head-on if we are to succeed.  

Per Olsson “Over time we have
been separating nature and people, but I think it’s fairly easy to mend;
I think we have it in us that we’re completely dependent on healthy ecosystems for our own health and survival. And it’s about life! The planet won’t die, it has gone
through several things for four billion years. Ultimately, the questions is, do we want to be
part of this journey with the
planet for longer?” 

“The planet won’t die, it has gone through several things for four billion years. Ultimately, the questions is, do we want to be part of this journey with the planet for longer?”

Per Olsson

After a short film showcasing a current exhibition at Fotografiska (in partnership with the H&M Foundation and Planethon) called The Echo Chamber by celebrated photographer Erik Johnasson – who through his work invites us to explore the power of perception – the stage was then given to our own Charlotte Brunnström, Strategy Lead for Inclusive Societies at H&M Foundation and Andrew Merrie, Head of Futures and Research Lead at Planethon. The discussion centered around the power of perception including themes concerning prejudice and how we overcome it, as well as looking at what we can draw on from the past to help guide us in creating a better future.  

Charlotte Brunnström “I want to stress the importance of being inclusive. I want to remind us all about the importance of being aware of the current power relations out there and constantly ask yourself, who’s invited to the conversation? Is there a diversity of backgrounds and competences? If we all do that we will surely make better decisions.”  

“I want to remind us all about the importance of being aware of the current power relations out there and constantly ask yourself, who’s invited to the conversation?”

Charlotte Brunnström

Before concluding remarks, an evocative and impactful video made our partner BBC Media Action (the BBC’s international charity using media and communications for good) who works with perception change in our project in India, was shown highlighting the negative perceptions and social implications that can arise from those simply earning a living and trying to contribute to a better society, in this instance, a more circular economy.  

Speaking to the sentiment behind this video, and in summing up the session,  Planethon’s Andrew Merrie commented that “There are so many groups of people that are invisible but could be invaluable. If we imagined creating an army of invaluables from all around the world, that would create a huge network of valuable people helping to create the future we say that we want. We often talk about the role of technology to be key to create a better future, but we need to bring human dignity at the forefront and we need to image how different groups of humans are part of creating the society we want.”  

Thank you to all those who participated in the event. 

Interested to learn more? Below you can find some interesting resources to dive deeper into some of the topics explored across Open Perspectives.  

• Planethon
• BBC Media Action
• The Echo Chamber

Since then, it has gone from mostly being used to assess potential negative impacts of large government projects to becoming an integral part of the work done by everyone from multilateral development banks and non-governmental organizations to social entrepreneurs and the private sector.

Despite its importance, measuring social impact is far from a straightforward exercise and more than 150 different methodologies have been developed for wide use, according to the Journal of Global Policy. More recently, many social innovators and the philanthropic donors that fund them have started questioning how to meaningfully measure the impact interventions – and funding – are having. To many in the social impact space, the current practice of impact measurement is coming up short, with too much focus being placed on the reporting of outputs such as the number of women reached by a skills training program or the number of jobs created by a startup. 

The complex challenges facing the world today require interventions that go beyond band-aid solutions to tackling the root causes of poverty or inequality by actually changing the system that upholds them in the first place. And trying to measure it requires a totally different approach – and mindset.

“Complex issues like systems change are context-sensitive. We
all have intent, but there is no recipe for systems change. So when you’re in a game of systems change, you’re in a game of maybe. We improve the probability that we can get an outcome, but there’s nothing guaranteed,” said Mark Cabaj, an expert in social innovation, strategic learning, and evaluation and the president of the consulting company From Here to There.

H&M Foundation spoke to Cabaj about why many organizations still struggle to measure systems change and why organizations should go beyond just tracking outputs if they want to contribute to lasting change.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

For organizations looking to achieve social impact, it’s easier to collect low-hanging fruit and strive for easily quantifiable impact – such as the number of mosquito bed nets handed out – than to tackle the root causes of poverty or inequality. But why is it important to also measure deeper systems change if more organizations are to take on this challenge?

It’s a classic challenge showing how it’s easier to default to tracking outputs and just assume that something magical will happen. It’s natural behavior ever since we started normalizing logic models and results frameworks. I’m really interested in measurement, but I’m very cautious about measurement because it’s only one small part of evaluation. I think we have obsessive measurement disorder – we follow the principle that it’s really important to focus on outcomes and outputs. The question is, when do you go beyond simply tracking outputs? How do you do it in a feasible way? And how do you actually get measurements that mean something?

“I’m really interested in measurement, but I’m very cautious about measurement because it’s only one small part of evaluation.”

Mark Cabaj

There are even cases when measurement isn’t necessary. Take vaccination campaigns – if you follow a logic model that lays out the outcomes and research has already shown that vaccines reduce COVID-19 cases, you might not have to measure all of the outcomes. Why would you track a first principle there’s already evidence for? Instead, you might want to evaluate the quality of the implementation of the campaign or see which communities you might be missing.  We should in principle measure impact, but depending on the strategy and the existing evidence base, it may not be a good use of time and resources.

How can funders who want to see at least some feedback on the impact their money is having approach impact measurement? 

The challenge of philanthropy is investing in social innovators and wanting to get some kind of feedback about whether your dollars are making a difference. But it actually takes a lot of expertise and resources to do impact measurement well. When we started doing evaluations in the 1970s and ’80s, we had big think tanks and research institutes trying to track outcomes with a lot of expertise and money. 

And then there was this accountability shift and instead of financing these think tanks and having them do the evaluation, we downgraded the responsibility of tracking impact to non-governmental organizations and those doing the work. While NGOs are mostly really good at what they’re doing, they hardly ever get resources to do decent tracking, and almost never have the required expertise. We don’t have the infrastructure for NGOs to properly measure impact and we need to invest in their capability to do so. 

I spent my whole life trying to track outcomes. And sometimes I’m so desperate to find out, but there’s actually no feasible way of knowing the impact. But that doesn’t mean I would not invest in an idea that logically seems good. For example, I would invest in almost any clever communication campaign that focuses on the beliefs of those reluctant to admit climate change is real. It’s probably not going to be possible to know the exact impact of that work, but it’s still worth spending money on it and it’s the right thing to do. 

You mentioned that measurement is only a small part of evaluation. So what else goes into impact evaluation if done well? 

Good evaluation of systems change actually starts by asking questions about strategic learning. Let’s say a farmer growing coffee beans only gets $9 dollars a day, so what are we learning about the systems that prevent him from earning more? Strategic learning is when you intervene, you get feedback on the outcomes, and then you ask ‘What are we learning about the nature of the problem we’re trying to address and the strengths and limitations of our strategy?’. 

Most evaluations are not used, and that’s partly because we’re data and measurement-rich, but sense-making and use-making poor. Our sense-making processes aren’t very good and we don’t pay attention to how we facilitate the insights gathered from evaluation to make actual changes because we turn it into a measurement exercise. 

“Most evaluations are not used, and that’s partly because we’re data and measurement-rich, but sense-making and use-making poor.”

Mark Cabaj

When I read a report, I have three questions: what is the change, how do they describe it, and is there at least enough sense-making to provoke me into agreeing or disagreeing? Then the next question is, ‘So what now? Tell me the implications of the things you measure.’ That’s when it starts bridging into the zone of usefulness. Without it, it’s just noise.

There’s been a recent shift towards international organizations focusing more on addressing unequal power structures to shift power to local organizations and communities. But how do you measure and quantify something as complex as power? 

Tracking change – particularly power and systems change – almost always requires mixed methods, meaning qualitative and quantitative, because there are no narratives without numbers and no numbers without narratives. So one of the challenges of the evaluator when looking at something like shifting power is to ask: ‘What does that outcome look like? What do you mean by power? And how is it shifted?’ 

There’s this instinct and an impulse in a group to say we want to change power, and the evaluator’s job is to help people make that explicit and say ‘Well, what does it look like? What’s the theory of change?’. So we actually have to help people sharpen up what they mean by these outcome statements, and then we can do something about it. Just saying what you mean by power is a very useful exercise for innovators.

Measuring long-lasting and meaningful systems change might seem like an insurmountable task to many organizations, especially in the beginning. So where do you start?

First, you need to ask what system you’re trying to change. If it’s the health system, for example, how big is that system, is it the health system in Nepal, or across the planet? Or is it just in one city? Then you want to consider the characteristics and try to describe the system as much as possible. How is it behaving now? And how do you want the system to change and behave after your intervention? 

“For systems change, you have to be able to handle ambiguity and have a tolerance for risk, and you have to be able to accept failure.”

Mark Cabaj

You also need to consider that systems change happens through little tipping points – slowly, but then suddenly. And everyone wants to be that tipping point, that last snowflake to break the branch. But it’s difficult to know how much of that “tipping” you’re responsible for. Consider your ability to create the conditions for systems change without ever pretending that you will know for certain that you’re gonna be the last snowflake to break the branch, but you can track to what degree you’re adding on snowflakes.

And so when people say I want systems change but I want predictable outcomes, my response is always ‘Get out of that game, you won’t handle it.’ Go take on simple things like vaccination rates, you can handle that. For systems change, you have to be able to handle ambiguity and have a tolerance for risk, and you have to be able to accept failure.

Explore how a shift in our worldviews could open new paths to a brighter future and be a key enabler in creating a more inclusive society – and textile industry. How can we expand our horizons and catalyse a positive future?

Welcome to Open Perspectives by H&M Foundation!

For registration and more information, please visit the digital LinkedIn event here.

“H&M Foundation provided us the space and flexibility to apply new ways of working and to learn more about what’s needed to advance progress towards sustainable, safe and universal water, sanitation and hygiene. In addition to reaching over 400,000 people with water, sanitation and hygiene, the external final evaluation found that we had helped to strengthen the systems required to keep services running, hygiene behaviours reinforced, and reach everyone with WASH in all four countries”, says Hannah Crichton-Smith, Senior Advisor for Systems Strengthening at WaterAid. “It also found that we had successfully captured and shared lessons to advance WaterAid’s and the wider sectors’ understanding of how to apply systems strengthening approaches in practice.”

“H&M Foundation provided us the space and flexibility to apply new ways of working and to learn more about what’s needed to advance progress towards sustainable, safe and universal water, sanitation and hygiene.”

Hannah Crichton-Smith

The final evaluation of the programme helped to consolidate lessons learned and produced a number of recommendations for how WaterAid can advance the application of systems strengthening approaches to achieve SDG 6, clean water and sanitation for all.

“The most significant example is how the reports have informed our new global strategy which was launched in February last year (2022) and which places systems strengthening as our core approach – emphasising the importance of evidence, analysis, collective action (partnerships and alliances), working at national and sub-national levels, learning, innovation and adaptation”, says Hanna.

WaterAid has adapted some of the tools piloted in the SusWASH programme to support country teams to design their new country-level strategies and programmes. They are also exploring new ways to monitor and evaluate their projects and contribution towards achieving SDG 6 and are working to embed the programmes’ lessons and recommendations into new staff inductions and training.

Sunglasses made from packets of chips sold out in a blink of an eye

Ashaya are recycling innovators with a pioneering social-impact-first approach. They have managed to recycle one of the most unrecyclable materials; metalized multi-layered plastic packaging (often used for food and snacks) and turn it into new commercial products, while also employing and upskilling waste pickers throughout their processes. Their first products included a new brand of sunglasses, called Without. The sunglasses were launched in BETA mode on Feb 16th, 2023, with the goal of selling 500 products in 3 months. Impressively, the product went viral and they sold out their first batch in just 6 days. Having sold close to 1000 products, the BETA mode was closed on March 20th. ”We are now working on upgrading the sunglasses, adding colours and designs and releasing the next version hopefully by June 2023.” says Anish Malpani, Founder of Ashaya. ”We are also exploring other products like lamps and premium furniture, but that’s in the early stages. In the long run, we will hopefully start selling materials B2B – that’s the most viable way of scaling up our enterprise so that more waste can be recycled and more waste pickers can be employed.”

”In the long run, we will hopefully start selling materials B2B – that’s the most viable way of scaling up our enterprise so that more waste can be recycled and more waste pickers can be employed.”

Anish Malpani, Founder, Ashaya

Phool’s leather from discarded temple flowers gains traction

Phool (the Hindi word for flower) is an Indian biomaterial company based in Kanpur that has developed an alternative to animal and plastic leather (‘Fleather’) using discarded temple flowers that would otherwise have been thrown into the Ganges river. Simultaneously Phool is creating valuable employment opportunities for a marginalised community, so far employing over 163 female ‘flowercyclers’ from waste picker communities who collect waste flowers. In time, they hope to employ 5,000. A justified ambition, given that they recently partnered with PVH Corporation, the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, in a pilot to make fleather bags. And already more brands from different industries are showing great interest. 

Reti Ecotech are getting ready to hit the market

Old clothes can do a lot of things – being converted into bricks and furniture is one of them! Bengaluru-based start up Reti Ecotech aims to collect and convert end of life-textiles into bricks and panels, thereby redirecting tonnes of waste cloth from landfills. As winners of Techtonic in 2022, Reti Ecotech have now joined Social Alpha’s program, to receive support in their lab-to-market journey. Jahnavi Rao, co-founder explains, We are growing our team and our capacity, working on improving our product and delving into a market strategy. Some interesting pilot projects with potential customers are being are being prepared now. It’s an exciting phase of our journey, and we’re getting to learn a lot.”

”We are growing our team and our capacity, working on improving our product and delving into a market strategy. Some interesting pilot projects with potential customers are being are being prepared now.”

Jahnavi Rao, Co-Foundaer, Rei-Ecotech

Padcare scored a blank check on TV show Shark Tank India

Padcare Labs has created an automated hygiene management system that can break down disposed sanitary pads into cellulose and plastic that can then be upcycled into new products. At the same time, they contribute to safeguarding women, changing attitudes around menstrual hygiene, all the while incorporating and employing waste pickers throughout their operations. 

Earlier this year, Padcare Founder and CEO Ajinkya Dhariya was one of the contenders in the popular TV show Shark Tank India, where he presented the idea of Padcare to a panel of potential investors. Amazingly, one of the investors, Peyush Bansal, presented Padcare with a blank check, giving the team the opportunity to considerably boost their operations. 

Ajinkya Dhariya tells us:

”Post Shark tank, we are receiving a lot of inquiries from all over India, we are now expanding to 4 more cities. We received inquiries from varied strata – Government – Supreme Court of India, Local Municipal Corporations from  various cities (Approaching for a city level projects) and various Corporates , Housing Societies and Education Institutes. We have also observed reduced sales cycle time indicating that people are better able to trust the brand. And we have been receiving multiple inquiries from around the globe.”

“Post Shark tank, we are receiving a lot of inquiries from all over India, we are now expanding to 4 more cities. (…) And we have been receiving multiple inquiries from around the globe.”

Ajinkya Dhariya, Founder and CEO , Padcare Labs

The two new partners are Stichting Enviu Nederland (Enviu) and Intellecap’s Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF). Together with the existing collective, they will include waste workers already within the Saamuhika Shakti program into two work streams:

• A micro-entrepreneurship model on textile waste
• A circular B2B linen enterprise

“Our goal is to generate additional income streams through textile waste”, says Maria Bystedt, Strategy Lead, H&M Foundation. “Historically there has been minimal income opportunities for waste pickers in textiles, mainly because of the lack of interested buyers. Through this initiative, we are promoting inclusive circularity and improving waste pickers’ livelihood opportunities. This involves setting up grassroots waste enterprises that are managed by waste pickers, establishing connections to resellers and recyclers, and educating the public on proper handling of their textile waste.”

Manjula, Nadiya and Radhika are all involved in waste picking and part of Saamuhika Shakti.

India accounts for 8.5% of global textile waste generation. Out of total textile waste circulation in the country, domestic post-consumer collection contributes 51%, 42% comes from pre-consumer sources, and 7% is imported post-consumer waste. Furthermore, it is estimated that up to 25% of fabric is wasted during the cutting process in apparel production. Innovations in textile waste management are emerging, but as of yet, the economic value chain bypasses the waste picker. 

This new setup within H&M Foundation’s initiative Saamuhika Shakti is contributing to a larger multi-year textile-recycling program across India, adding on a social perspective, ensuring that the voices of waste pickers are part of the equation. The larger program is also seed funded by IKEA Foundation.

“Our goal is to generate additional income streams through textile waste. Through this initiative, we are promoting inclusive circularity and improving waste pickers’ livelihood opportunities.”

Maria Bystedt, Strategy Lead, H&M Foundation

“At Enviu, partnering with Saamuhika Shakti allows us to collectively work towards creating better economic opportunities while addressing systemic challenges, and social issues and creating a circular fashion ecosystem. By joining forces, we strive to create a more dignified future for waste pickers and contribute to building a sustainable world.”

Jiska Coppoolse, Program Lead, Enviu

Multiple challenges to address and support

Over the past years, we have seen progress where social sustainability has become a more integral part of how businesses work today. However, the RMG industry in Bangladesh still has several challenges to address.
As a philanthropic foundation, H&M Foundation finds, funds and facilitates disruptive innovations, initiatives and research. Our mission is to enable an inclusive and planet positive textile industry, and we use our unique role to identify gaps and opportunities in the textile industry and bring people and innovation together. We are committed to support the Bangladeshi RMG industry’s future evolution with the aim to prepare the women garment workers for a future defined by automation.

A holistic systems change approach

To prevent the women from being pushed out of the industry, they need to be prepared for a future where they can work successfully alongside automation and AI. This future work requires not only the right preconditions at the workplace but on a household and community level as well. If the women are to participate in up and reskilling initiatives to be part of the future labour force, other challenges in their lives also need to be addressed, such as access to subsistence, security, health or childcare.

This demands a holistic approach to the challenges, collaboration between diverse stakeholders towards the same goals and a collective understanding of who is living in poverty, how that poverty is experienced and the underlying causes. Governments, non-governmental organisations and philanthropic organisations working with these women need to have a multidimensional view of poverty which implies that poverty not only means lack of material resources, but also lack of power and voice as well as lack of opportunities and choice.

Fundamentally changing the system requires a systems change approach. Systems change is about addressing the root causes of social problems, which are often difficult and embedded in networks of cause and effect. To achieve this, current power relations need to be shifted and policies, practices, and resource flows need to address the underlying factors rather than the symptoms. Marginal improvements in just some areas won’t change the root of a problem. However, no actor can solve these challenges alone. Systems change requires that all actors play their part, and here we as a foundation have a unique role to play by being a non-profit and utilising philanthropy to create change. We have the fortunate opportunity to fund long-term social initiatives with a holistic mindset and try new methods and solutions, that could be too risky for for-profit actors.

Oporajita – undefeated

With all this in mind, H&M Foundation has initiated and funds Oporajita – a USD 9,4 million collective impact initiative equipping women garment workers for the future in Bangladesh. Oporajita brings together a diversified group of stakeholders which are working collectively to ensure that women garment workers have access to the relevant working skills and competences needed for their future of work, while operating in an environment that is enabling and inclusive of their opinions and choices. Together with our partners we are catalysing women career progression to make the transition towards a circular fashion and textile industry just, fair, and inclusive. The activities within the initiative are designed, implemented, and evaluated together with the women garment workers themselves. Our collective impact initiative provides access to clean water facilities, hygiene practices and health services, gender-sensitive digital financial literacy as well as promoting gender-inclusive practices. And at community and household level, we are providing parenting support and childcare, as well as education to their children, with a special focus on girls´ STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.

“I have never run a tablet, and I have never used a touch phone,” is a common answer among the sewing operators in the RMG industry. Society’s perceptions such as “a woman’s income is only a backup, not a family’s main income” or “women are homemakers and should stay at home” disrupt women’s career development just as much as lack of adequate education.

This initiative aims to confront and challenge stereotypes and misconceptions around what women are capable of. Especially when it comes to women and high technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership positions. Women enter the garment industry with a target, planning to exit when the family is economically stable, when they’ve earned enough to build a house, when their children are grown, or when they’ve saved enough money. Men, on the other hand, plan to continue working in the industry and aim for career development. Inside the factory, women workers hardly see any women working as supervisors or in senior positions, so it doesn’t occur to them to become supervisors. It’s very difficult to be what you can’t see and that is why women roles models in leading positions are crucial.

Therefore, our partners within Oporajita identify knowledge gaps, cultural beliefs, and behavioural patterns that may act as barriers or provide opportunities to positively influence the broader community regarding women’s role in the workplace. We do this through social media campaigns, talk shows and radio drama. At household level we provide trainings with couples on marital communication, gender roles and decision-making; as well as creating women, couple, and family-friendly spaces to address gender-based violence.

Beyond this, we are establishing a mentor network of women leaders at garment factories to inspire potential women workers to pursue managerial and supervisory roles. Gender-based discrimination and harassment at the workplaces are tackled through gender-responsive human-resource management developed via our Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Assessment Toolkit. With this, the management, supervisors and the Worker Protection Committees, Anti-Harassment Committees and trade unions are provided training on gender discrimination and gender roles.

In addition to providing capacity training such as soft skilling (i.e. leadership skills, teamwork, time and conflict management) and technical skilling (i.e. how to handle high technology), we are putting effort on the full spectrum of the women’s physical, social, emotional, behavioural, and personal journeys.

In parallel, Oporajita collectively pushes boundaries through innovation. We run an innovation challenge, with the aim to fund gender-sensitive pilots that increase the competitiveness of the Bangladesh RMG sector while simultaneously increasing the employability of women workers. Women entrepreneurs are provided bootcamps with incubation support, and we arrange conferences in which diverse RMG stakeholders meet and decide on inter-linkages and collaborative actions.

The time is now

As Bangladesh is making its way into the fourth industrial revolution, this could be a unique time for the women working in the garment industry to play a central role in bringing about the transformation the sector needs. When women thrive, whole communities and countries thrive. But economic resilience is not possible until she can make her own decisions about her life and future. By working collectively, we can holistically address challenges to women’s future employment opportunities – and achieve transformative change for the industry and the people working within it. The time is now.

Specifics – Oporajita

• Financial Support: 98,000,000 SEK (9,4 million USD)
• Period: 2022 — 2024
• Countries: Bangladesh
• Focus Areas: Inclusive Societies
• Partners: CARE Bangladesh, Center for Communication Action Bangladesh (C-Cab), Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF), FSG Inc, International Development Enterprises (iDE), LightCastle Partners, Save the Children Bangladesh, Shimmy Technologies, Sweden, Swisscontact, The Asia Foundation, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), WaterAid Bangladesh and ygap

430 million people globally are working in the textile industry and 75% of garment workers are women. And as new circular value chains emerge, even more people get involved in this massive industry. Building social inclusion along the value chains of fashion is crucial, but no actor can do it alone.

To equip women with the best possible opportunities to grow and to lead their own lives, we need the women themselves to engage from the very start in creating the blueprint of an inclusive future. They are the ones with the lived experiences of the deeply rooted injustices that upholds the current social structures around women.

Creating an ecosystem for change

The current status for women around the world, and also in the fashion industry, is connected to multi-layered interconnected challenges that need to be addressed simultaneously. We need to take on a holistic approach to the complex human systems we live in – where a coalition of actors with different expertise come together and leverage each other’s strengths.

The H&M Foundation is currently driving two Collective Impact initiatives in India and Bangladesh where a network of local experts, non-profits, for-profits, governmental bodies, and knowledge partners are working closely alongside women, learning and acting together to promote equity. As part of our strategy, we also make sure to support our partners in integrating gender components in all phases of their activities.

“We are here to break the systemic barriers to gender equality and promote social inclusion. Imagine the effect it would have if industry actors came together to create a future that is equitable and inclusive.”

Fernanda Drumond, Strategy Lead, H&M Foundation

Seeing is believing

The ambitions of the projects we run are to challenge current systems and in order to do so, we are convinced we also need to address the narrative around it. This is why one important part of the work that we do is to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions around what women are capable of.  For example, our partner C-CAB (Center for Communication Action Bangladesh) carries out a perception change campaign in the broader community in Bangladesh about women’s roles in career, technology and leadership, in order to improve retention and increase the share of women in technology and leadership roles in the Ready Made Garment sector.