Following the success of Fairtrade Towns in the UK (where communities can be accredited for supporting consumption of Fairtrade goods), the Fairtrade Foundation launched certification schemes for schools, and colleges and universities. This initiative has been hugely successful: there are over 4,000 schools and well over 160 universities and colleges registered. Moreover, Wales and Scotland have gone further to work for independent recognition as Fair Trade Nations on the back of these various social certifications, and the phenomena has spread internationally to Europe and beyond.
There is no doubt that these certification programs have done important work to draw attention to the continuing issues of international trade justice: which, while previously marginalised as a concern of the developing world, has recently been highlighted in the fallout over proposals for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – TTIP. However, there are now important questions to be asked in UK Further and Higher Education, as well as by members of the fair trade movement, about the focus of the Fairtrade Colleges and Universities programme. Two key questions in particular are: how should we define what we accept as fair trade activity, and on what basis should an institution concerned with research and/or teaching be acknowledged as making a notable contribution to the fair trade movement?
