Society of Dyers and Colourists to host international conference on circularity and sustainability

The Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC) is set to host its first — for many years — international conference in June 2024, which will see speakers discuss sustainability and circularity within the global textile coloration sector.  

Taking place on the 18-19th June 2024 at Manchester Conference Centre, the event is open to members and non-members of The SDC and aims to explore four key themes across its programme.   

Professor Calvin Wong, CEO & centre director at AiDLab and professor in Fashion at PolyU in Hong Kong, will deliver the keynote presentation in the ‘Artificial Intelligence in textile production’ stream. Raj Tanna, founder and managing director of the Schützen Group in Mumbai, India, will provide a keynote presentation for the stream ‘Reinventing dyeing and finishing’. While Gjuillaume Boissonnat, Chief Scientific Officer at PILI in France, will provide the third keynote on ‘Bringing natural into Manufacturing’. 

Surinder Chahal, vice president of customer alliances at Croda will be the final keynote speaker for the fourth theme which will focus on the 'Sustainable impact of textile dying on our world.’  

Renowned for its expertise in global education in the science of colour, the SDC has a truly international membership and is a centre for community engagement amongst the coloration industry. This event aims to bring this prestigious network of people and organisations together, to not only continue the conversation around circularity within the sector, but to also discuss pioneering sustainability innovations that can drive further change, as well as the progress required to help meet the textile and clothing needs of the world’s population. 

Dr Graham Clayton, CEO of The Society of Dyers and Colourists, said: “This global conference is being held as a result of feedback from members of the society, who are seeking more internationalism. The SDC continues to maintain its online meetings for webinars and committees as a way of convenience and minimising travel for its members. However, this event has been designed to address the need for in-person collaboration and the society hopes to deliver a conference that enlarges attendees' networks and knowledge, including those who already hold SDC Membership.” 

Prof Chris Carr, SDC president 2023-24 and professor in Textile Technology at the University of Leeds also commented: “The concepts of sustainability and circularity are not new but there are more contemporary ways of addressing them.  As a leading academic I see first-hand many industry issues and I invite those working in the sector to this conference to contribute to the discussion, help shape further change, learn and drive positive impacts on our industry and the world.” 

Commenting on the forthcoming conference, Susan Kay-Williams, upcoming SDC president for 2024-25 and chief executive at The Royal School of Needlework concluded: “This event will take place not long after I am officially appointed SDC president, but I am very aware its development has spanned the terms of office of the two previous presidents. This input makes the conference a fabulous opportunity to hear from the best-of-the-best and adopt innovations that arise at the interfaces of textiles, colour history, natural colorants and other developments such as Artificial Intelligence.” 

The SDC now invites abstracts for other presentations and posters under these four themes and details of how to submit details and be a speaker at the event are to be found on the conference website. 

To find out more about The SDC’s international conference, please visit www.sustcirc.org.