On January 16^th, AEI Tèxtils, the Catalan technical textiles’ cluster, as LIFE-FLAREX coordinator, participated in a workshop on innovation and strategy definition of chemical products’ management, organized by the Directorate General of Environment from the European Commission (DG-ENV) in Brussels.  

The workshop was led by the consulting firm Wood along with the Lowell center for sustainability from the University of Massachusetts. Several authorities presented the views of the Commission including the Deputy Director of DG-Environment, Joana Drake and the Head of the Chemicals Unit, Cristina de Avila.

The workshop started with some introductory presentations on experiences with substitution and/or elimination of hazardous chemicals in different industries and how they overcame their particular barriers for each case study. After the plenary session, the participants divided into working groups to develop a strategy framework focused on the opportunities of research and innovation that hazardous chemical substitution pose. At large, the main strategic goals pivoted around the communication and information sharing framework, the value chain cooperation and the different policy changes needed to favor risk-sharing and innovation promotion in this field.

The participant profile was diverse, coming from different industries including chemicals, textiles, coatings and others, representatives from the public sector and research centers from across Europe.