Towards COP22: Who is Aina Pujol , the Switcher who participated to the COP22 Youth Event in Istanbul? Read her story

Turkey, the Host Country of the Barcelona Convention COP22, organized a Youth event (16-17 November) to provide a platform for young people to exchange views for a healthy Mediterranean for the benefit of present and future generations.

The Switcher Aina Pujol, based in Barcelona, joined the other young people from all over the Mediterranean in Istanbul to speak up for the Mediterranean Sea, to share their own story and to suggest sustainable solutions for the future of the region. The outcome of this event will be presented to the COP22 Ministerial session (9 December), serving as input to the high-level deliberations.

Aina Pujol recently joined the community of the Switchers, as ske kick-started her own initiative after a moment of reflection on our way of consuming fashion.

She came to a realization during the COVID-19 lockdown: fashion needs to become more sustainable. During her career as a pattern designer, Pujol’s local fashion company was purchased by a large group of investors, which led to a new, “fast fashion” business strategy. Pujol grew disillusioned. “This was my first contact with the fast fashion industry, and I realized that I did not want to be a part of that,” she explained.

Since then, Pujol has bravely started up her own fashion house: Hügel, a proudly “slow fashion” oriented business. Hügel pushes back against harmful practices of the global clothing industry by using sustainable materials, such as leftover fabrics and eco-friendly colour dyes. Hügel also conducts stringent quality control checks to ensure that all clothes last for many years.

You can read her whole story among many other inspiring stories and get to know more about her initiative in the Switchers platform: https://www.theswitchers.eu/en/switchers/spanish-designer-eco-dying-sustainable-fashion/

You can also follow closely what will happen during the COP22 thanks to the hashtag #COP22Med and have more information on the UNEP/MAP website https://www.unep.org/unepmap/events/meeting/COP22-Barcelona-Convention-Mediterranean

Be curious, surf between inspiring stories from other Switchers in the platform and see which initiatives are near you: https://www.theswitchers.eu/en/

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