Tamara Ustenko (Lamanova)

My name is Tamara and I am a third-year student at Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design. At the university, I am engaged in research work on the prospects for the use of textile waste recycling innovative technologies in Ukraine and I have published two research papers on this topic.
With my social project “Designer Products from Recycled Textile Waste” I was the Ukrainian winner in the Creative Spark Big Idea Challenge organised by the British Council. In fact, I received two awards: Social Impact category country winner and Ukrainian People’s Choice winner. I represented my country in Great Britain and my project received the International Public Voting Award at the Big Idea Challenge in Oxford. I also had the chance to win the All-Ukrainian contest “Being Clever is Fashionable”.
I was a finalist of the Imagine Europe contest “My vision of Europe in 2050” in 2019. Furthermore, I participated in the UGRAD programme funded by the U.S. Government and in the Ukrainian scholarship programme “Tomorrow.UA” of the Pinchuk Foundation.
I was invited to participate in projects organised by Erasmus+, such as “СULTRURAL LAB III” in Poland, «Keep Moving Forward – Become an Entrepreneur» in Georgia, and “Green Steps for Social Change” in Spain.
As a speaker I took part in the Kyiv-Tex & Fashion International Conference and the Creative Enterprise Ukraine programme of the House of Europe.
As a journalist, I have worked at “Ivona.bigmir.net” and “Designers.ua” fashion online magazines.
I am creating clothes & accessories from textile waste under the brand name “TOMA&NINA”. My mission is to make our generation seriously think about the global challenge of environmental pollution by industrial waste.