DESIGN4CIRCLE: Identifying necessary skills to support circular economy in the textile industry

Waste and pollution from the production of textiles and clothing have become a critical global issue. With only one percent of fibres being recycled, our current ‘linear’ model is outdated and unsustainable. There is an urgent need to adopt innovative strategies to transform the industry into a circular-fit framework.

The project Design4Circle – Innovative design practices for achieving a new textile circular sector – was launched in December 2018 to create an innovative training curriculum to meet the needs of designers in the textile and fashion industry. The objective is to motivate designers from the textile sector to design products that will reduce their environmental impact during the product’s life-cycle, while developing new and innovative business models within the principles of circular economy. In order to achieve such purpose, a Strategic Partnership under the Erasmus+ programme has put together 6 organisations from 6 different countries combining complementary expertise in the different fields of the proposed project: two Universities experts in textile design and technologies: RTU, Latvia and TUIASI, Romania; one company expert in circular economy and new business models: ECORES, Belgium; and three business associations and VET providers that support different sectors of the textile industry through a strong expertise in eco-design: TTA-TC, Macedonia, AMUEBLA, Spain and CTCP, Portugal.

In the initial phase of the project, 29 European companies from 7 countries have been interviewed to identify how their circular economy strategy was implemented. Company representatives were asked to analyze different skills and competencies necessary for the successful implementation of their circular business models. In parallel, 29 higher education institutes and training experts were interviewed to understand which skills and competences are emphasised in their circular economy related training programmes.

The second consortium meeting, took place on 23rd of May in Brussels and was hosted by circular economy expert Ecores (Belgium), during which the information collected was analysed. The conclusions will subsequently be used to finalise a report on the skills needs of the textile industry in terms of circular economy. At the same time, good practice cases will be prepared to be included in the future training content developed during the next phase of the project.

More informationwww.design4circle.eu

Contact and press enquiry:

Dana BEĻAKOVA Dizaina tehnoloģiju institūta direktore Materiālzinātnes un lietišķās ķīmijas fakultāte Dizaina tehnoloģiju institūts Ķīpsalas 6-215, Rīga, LV-1048Dana.Belakova [at] rtu.lv +371 26356510www.rtu.lv