Recent research has proven that European textile use has the fourth biggest impact on the environment and climate change, after food, housing, and mobility. It is the third sector in terms of greater water and land usage, and the fifth in terms of primary raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions. It is deemed that every year, a typical European discards 11kg of textiles. Global textile output nearly quadrupled between 2000 and 2015, and apparel and footwear demand are anticipated to climb by 63% by 2030. Simultaneously to this unstoppable growth, damaging outcomes on resources, water, energy consumption, and the climate continue to worsen. The demand to tackle textile production is now more pressing than ever.
Aligned to the aforementioned, the ReFashion project, focuses on the creation and development of a new Vocational Educational Course and a corresponding Professional Skill/Competency profile in accordance with the European Credit System for Vocational, Educational System (ECVET), capable of assessing, identifying, and applying sustainable solutions, shaping a comprehensive sustainability strategy focused on more sustainable raw materials, and implementing circularity practices in textile products. The project consists of, an Educational Program, Educational Online Platform, an Online Course Training and a Consumer Guide. The new Educational Program will be tailored to the needs of Small – Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and will be provided for free through the use of innovative digital practices, while the ReFashion the e-Learning Platform will include the training material and interactive content. After that, the platform is going to be developed and published on the project webpage. When it comes to the Online Course Training, the goal is, to analyze and test the training content and features of the ReFashion e-learning platform, during the four pilot trainings in the countries of all partners. The piloting will take the form of blended teaching exercises, with feedback collected and used to improve the learning products. In terms of the Consumer Guide, its goal is to provide an informational guide for consumers that is easily accessible and understandable. The guide is expected to educate consumers for making more sustainable choices, changing habits and lifestyle.
Innovation Hive will undertake the coordination and development for the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) solutions like the project website, a section dedicated to consumers’ guidance, and the online training platform. At this point of the project’s implementation, the training curricula has been validated, the ReFashion Educational Online platform has been developed, and is ready to host the training materials that will be drafted in an innovative and interactive way.
In conclusion, the project brings together environmental and labor concerns to promote greener and fairer value chains across borders. As a result, the EU has to harmonize laws on extended producer responsibility for textiles and economic incentives to make goods more sustainable. Aligned to this the project will help SMEs and consumers to cope with the expected legal and market challenges in the fashion and textiles industry, by increasing their capacity and knowledge through awareness and education. If you are a fashion professional, enthusiast, or if you are trying to adopt a more sustainable way of living and want to include your fashion choices to that procedure, visit the ReFashion website, to access interesting news regarding sustainability in fashion and textiles: https://re-fashion.eu/
