We were delighted to be able to host the International Congress on Organic Cotton "From Fashion to Sustainability", which was organized as part of the UN Year of Natural Fibers 2009. The congress was coordinated by Helvetas in collaboration with international partners and took place from September 21 - 25, 2009 at the Casino Kursaal in Interlaken, Switzerland. Below you can find a detailed documentation of presentations held during the event.

Throughout the congress, blogs were written and short videos of interviews were conducted. Try it out, it's a great ressource:

• You can find the Organic Cotton Blog directely at http://ocplatform.wordpress.com.
  
• On the blog, you can also find a series of 'blips' - see them all at http://helvetas.blip.tv
  
• Twitter was used to post links and quotes from the different sessions.
  

Opening

Value chain and partnership models

Corporate Social Investment

Financing organic cotton production and trade

How to manage organic cotton production

Local organic cotton processing

Business partnering with farmers - how to build partnerships?

Sustainable consumption and production, Marrakesh

Global context of organic cotton production

More political support for organic and fair trade - existing instruments & remaining gaps

Sustainable public textile procurement

Origins of the most important on-product labels

Future of chemical criteria: Advanced discussion

Supply-chain ethics: Social and Fair Trade explained

Organic cotton and GMO

Environmental aspects in wet-processing

Good marketing & good communication

Organic cotton & climate change

Developing local & regional markets

Knowing the impact of organic cotton production

Consumer awareness and platforms

Which certification program and label to choose?

Results and secrets from the day