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THE AEQUALIS4TCLF project: What do TCLF companies need in terms of education? You can help us!

Thursday, September 19, 2024 - 11:17English
On the 11th and 12th of September, Vilnius became the hub of innovation and collaboration for Europe’s textile, clothing, leather, and footwear (TCLF) industries. Representatives from 19 public and private organisations across eight countries — Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Serbia, and Slovenia — gathered to advance the game-changing Erasmus+ Blueprint AEQUALIS4TCLF project. This initiative is at the forefront of equipping Europe’s TCLF workforce with the vital skills needed to navigate the digital and green transitions that are reshaping the global economy.
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Step into the future of footwear with Shoe 5.0!

Thursday, July 11, 2024 - 14:05English
Step into the future of footwear with the groundbreaking Shoe 5.0 project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme. This visionary initiative recently received a prestigious gold medal at the EUROINVENT exhibition in Iasi, Romania, where it dazzled alongside 647 other innovative exhibits from across 34 countries. But what exactly does Shoe 5.0 offer that is turning heads in the industry? The consortium spanning Belgium, Romania, Italy, Portugal, and Spain recently gathered in Iasi, Romania, to map out the next frontier for European footwear. The goal? To equip the footwear industry with the skills and mindset needed to leap into Industry 5.0 - a realm where sustainability, technology, and human-centric practices harmoniously converge.
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VETting Green: Towards a Transparent Footwear and Textile Industry

Tuesday, July 9, 2024 - 15:43English
Last week, the Council of the European Union adopted its position on the “Green Claims directive”, which aims to address greenwashing and help consumers make better-informed decisions when buying a product or using a service. While waiting for the final discussions with the European Parliament in September and its consequent entry into force, companies should start preparing for the new legislation, which will oblige those wishing to commercialise their products using empty green marketing claims, to substantiate them with a minimum of requirements. Within the “EU Circular Economy Action Plan”, the already adopted “Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition” and the future “Directive on New Rules on Substantiating Green Claims”, addressing consumers and manufacturers respectively, intend to fight misleading green claims. If companies do not take the necessary measures to comply with such legislations, they can expect penalties ranging from the exclusions from procurements to fines of at least 4% of their annual turnover. To support textile and footwear companies to respect this new scenario, a group of consumers and industry associations in Europe is working under the Erasmus+ VETting Green project.
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A serious game going viral! The Erasmus+ SHOEGAME

Tuesday, July 9, 2024 - 15:21English
The first-ever serious game for the footwear industry has been recently launched and tried across Europe, and already counts with more than 5000 users. The video game, funded by the Erasmus+ ShoeGAME project and developed by partners from Belgium, Romania, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, aims to introduce children to the footwear industry through a challenging and entertaining methodology. The overall objective is to attract younger generations to footwear studies and professional careers. The ShoeGAME, best played on computers and tablets, lets players explore challenges and puzzles in different departments of a footwear company with economic problems. The game takes about 45 minutes to complete and consists of 25 mini challenges that teach about observation, strategic thinking and other soft skills. The better the players complete the challenges, the more the company’s performance indexes - money, staff, clients, and sustainability - grow, the more profitable the company becomes.
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NEW EUROPEAN INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE TCLF SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AT REGIONAL LEVEL – THE TCLF SKILLBRIDGE

Tuesday, July 9, 2024 - 14:54English
Today, EURATEX, COTANCE and CEC hosted the first TCLF SkillBridge Stakeholders Event, an important step towards forming regional skills partnerships by bringing together various stakeholders from industry, education, and public sectors in Europe. Co-financed by the European Commission, TCLF SkillBridge aims to establish and nurture regional partnerships between TCLF industries, regional authorities, and universities and VET providers. The project will target up to 25 European regions with a strong concentration of textile, clothing, leather or footwear industries. This regional focus will allow the development of specific action plans related to reskilling and upskilling, which meet the needs of each target region. The project will support the creation of such partnerships, facilitate community exchanges for knowledge sharing, and provide support to SMEs, enabling them to upskill and reskill their workforce in tune with the evolving demands of the industry.
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