On 5 November 2025, the All-Ukrainian Student Scientific and Practical Conference “Modern Challenges and the Development of Adaptive Fashion” was held at the Separate Structural Subdivision “Odesa Technical Professional College of Odesa National University of Technology”.
The Organising Committee was chaired by Liliia IVANOVA (Candidate of Technical Sciences (PhD), lecturer-methodologist, Acting Director of OTPC ONTU), with deputy chairs Yulian SULIMA (Candidate of Technical Sciences (PhD), lecturer-methodologist, Deputy Director for Academic and Methodological Work of OTPC ONTU) and Ihor BERKAN (Deputy Director for Practical Training of OTPC ONTU). The Organising Committee also included representatives of the Kyiv and Lviv colleges: Hanna SHCHUTSKA (Doctor of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Director of the Kyiv Professional College of Applied Sciences), Nadiia FADIEIEVA (Head of Practical Training at the Kyiv Professional College of Applied Sciences), Oksana SAKHNO (Head of the Technology Division at the Kyiv Professional College of Applied Sciences), Nelia KREDENETS (Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Honoured Worker of National Education of Ukraine, member of the Union of Designers of Ukraine, Director of the Separate Structural Subdivision “Lviv Professional College of Fashion Industry of KNUTD”) and Oksana KHODAN (Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences (PhD), Associate Professor, Deputy Director for Educational and Extracurricular Work of the Separate Structural Subdivision “Lviv Professional College of Fashion Industry of KNUTD”). The work of the educational event was coordinated by the lecturer-methodologists of the Subject Committee for Specialised Light Industry Courses of OTPC ONTU, Polina KUZNETSOVA and Svitlana LAPCHAK. The conference was held in a blended format and brought together young specialists and lecturers from nine leading educational institutions of Ukraine, uniting them around the strategically important topic of social inclusion.
Opening speeches were delivered by the heads of the co-organising institutions: Liliia IVANOVA (Acting Director of OTPC ONTU), Hanna SHCHUTSKA (Director of the Kyiv Professional College of Applied Sciences), Nelia KREDENETS (Director of the Separate Structural Subdivision “Lviv Professional College of Fashion Industry of KNUTD”) and Oksana KHODAN (Deputy Director of the Separate Structural Subdivision “Lviv Professional College of Fashion Industry of KNUTD”). The speakers stressed that adaptive clothing is not merely about functionality but is an “instrument for realising a person’s right to dignity, independence and self-expression”. It was emphasised that in today’s conditions, when Ukraine has faced unprecedented challenges related to rehabilitation and social integration, the development of inclusive fashion is gaining strategic importance.
Students from 9 professional colleges took part in the conference, including representatives from Kherson, Lviv, Rivne, Dnipro, Kalynivka, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernivtsi and Odesa. In total, 28 papers were presented, divided into three key sections:
Adaptive fashion as an instrument of social inclusion and self-expression
Creating adaptive clothing: the synergy of specialists and users
Technologies and innovations in adaptive design
The work of the young specialists demonstrated the synergy of design, technology and deep social responsibility, confirming the readiness of students to respond to modern challenges. All the abstracts of the papers were included in the electronic collection of conference proceedings, which will become a valuable methodological guide. The conference participants and their supervisors received Certificates attesting to their active participation and substantial methodological support, as well as the high-quality preparation of the students.
Upon completion of the productive work of the conference, the results and prospects for the further development of adaptive fashion in the educational process were discussed with the participation of Liliia IVANOVA (Acting Director of OTPC ONTU), Ihor BERKAN (Deputy Director for Practical Training of OTPC ONTU), and lecturers of Kalynivka Technological Professional College Nataliia KOLIADENKO and Anna MAIBA. The participants in the final discussion shared the view that the principles of inclusive design need to be integrated into educational programmes, and agreed to continue inter-college cooperation in order to train highly qualified specialists able to create clothing that ensures dignity and comfort for all sections of the population, especially in the conditions of wartime and the post-war recovery of Ukraine.