Project Name: Circular Economy in Bangladesh’s Garment Industry (CREATE)

CREATE is a ‘Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ funded project which endeavors to examine the circularity shift in apparel Global Value Chains (GVCs) and the challenges and opportunities it presents to Bangladesh’s apparel export industry. The project aims to adopt a multi-scalar approach to explain the drivers and obstacles to building a circular apparel industry considering apparel supplier firms’ capabilities and business strategy, buyer-supplier relations, and the ecosystem of the industry.

• Project Leader: Dr. Mohammad B. Rana, Associate Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark
• Faculty Members involved from AUST:
• Dr. Md. Amanullah, Adjunct Faculty of MBA Program, AUST; Former Dean, Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, AUST
  • S.M. Shafiul Alam, Professor, School of Business
  • Nanznin Sultana Chaity, Associate Professor, School of Business
• Total Project Budget: 11,999,518 DKK (about 1.7 mil USD)
• Project Period: September 2022-August 2027
• Funder: Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
• Project Partners

1. Aalborg University Business School, Aalborg University, Denmark. (LEAD)
2. Copenhagen Business School (CBS)
3. The University of London, SOAS
4. The University of Essex
5. Access to Innovation, Denmark
6. Global Fashion Agenda, Copenhagen
7. Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, (Coordinating Partner).
8. Department of International Business, The University of Dhaka
9. Institute of Business Administration, The University of Dhaka
10. Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)

Expected Project Outcome

• 3 PhD double degrees at Dhaka University (DU) and AAUBS/CBS and 2 PhD course modules taught at IBA
• 3 Article Development Seminars at DU and AUST
• 2 research seminars to discuss findings with the wider faculty of AUST and DU
• 1 Joint academic conference between DU and AUST to showcase the findings of CREATE
• A ‘Centre for Circular Economy (CE) and Sustainable Development’ as a collaboration between DU, AUST, and BGMEA, which will build inter-university linkages to increase research on CE and initiate national innovation systems.