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Smart Regional Investments in Textile Innovation

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Smart Regional Investments in Textile Innovation

Context

Today, the textile and clothing industry counts 143,000 companies, mostly SMEs, employing 1.3 million people (5% of EU manufacturing employment) generating a turnover of EUR 147 billion (3% of EU manufacturing value added) widely spread across the EU. However, a substantial portion of (mostly lower added value) textiles and clothing consumed in the EU is produced elsewhere in the world, often in Asia, taking advantage of very low labour costs. Disadvantages of this model include long-distance vulnerable supply chains, poor working conditions in "sweat-shops", and high environmental costs.

Looking at the share of the partner and observer regions in the general employment in the textile and clothing sector, they constitute a total of 28% of employment in the textile industry and 23% in clothing, which makes the partnership an important player in the modernisation of the sector in Europe.

Year established: 2016

Regions (lead and partner)

  • Leading regions: North-East Romania (RO), Valencia (ES)
  • Partner region(s): Auvergne Rhone-Alpes (FR), Catalonia (ES), East Netherlands (NL), Emilia Romagna (IT), Hauts-de-France (FR), Liberec (CZ), Norte (PT), Overijssel (NL), Piedmont (IT), Toscana (IT), Västra Gotäland County (SE), West Flanders (BE)

Mission

The Partnership's mission is to bring together stakeholders from the textile, clothing and related industries (companies, research, education, public bodies and agencies) in a joint effort to develop and implement strategies and projects meant to facilitate and accelerate the emerging industrial renewal in traditional manufacturing regions across Europe.

By 2025, textile industry, including fibre-based materials, clothing, home and technical textiles, should be a strategic EU industry sector providing innovative and competitive products enabling personalised and attractive solutions.

Objectives

The Partnership is co-developed by member EU regions with an active participation in textile industry, involving the full quadruple helix of players, so to better connect regional authorities with industrial interests and needs.

The Partnership aims to strengthen the regional innovation capacities, to facilitate investment in open innovation infrastructures or new technologies, and to establish effective collaboration between EU actors, so to offset the risks and costs associated with long-distance supply chains.

Main activities

The Partnership employs a value chain approach along related priority domains of smart specialisation in member regions with the aim to create an investment pipeline of mature projects relying on new cross-sectoral industrial value chains developed by multiple stakeholders, so to achieve lasting improvements, in areas like:

  • Advanced manufacturing technologies for cleaner, less labour, resource intensive and circular production systems;
  • The aim of the thematic platforms is to foster inter-regional collaboration around smart specialisation priorities and modernisation along global value chains.
  • IT&C and Big Data analysis for process effectiveness, systemic design, enhanced involvement of the consumers (co-design, personalisation and servitisation of textile products);
  • Development of new sustainable products able to provide personalized solutions adapted to tomorrow's market demand.

Organisations involved

Belgium

  • Centexbel (BE)
  • POM West Flanders (BE)
  • Kenniseconomie Cluster Nieuwe Materialen (BE)

Czechia

  • ČTPT (CZ)

France

  • Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (FR)
  • Techtera (FR)
  • Région Hauts-de-France (FR)
  • EuraMaterials (FR)

Italy

  • ART-ER (IT)
  • Regione Piemonte (IT)
  • Città Studi Biella (IT)
  • POINTEX – Textile Innovation Cluster (IT)
  • UI BIELLA (Unione Industriale Biellese) (IT)
  • NTT - Next Technology Tecnotessile (IT)
  • OTIR Textile & Fashion Cluster (IT)

Portugal

  • CITEVE (PT)

Romania

  • North-East Regional Development Agency (RO)
  • Technical University “Ghe.Asachi” of Iasi (TUIASI) (RO)
  • Reginnova (RO)
  • Katty Fashion SRL (RO)

Spain

  • Government of Catalonia - ACCIO Catalonia Trade & Investment (ES)
  • Textils.CAT (former AEI Textiles) (ES)
  • FITEX / MODACC (ES)
  • LEITAT (ES)
  • TEXFOR (ES)
  • ATEVAL (ES)
  • Institut Valencià de Competitivitat i Innovació / IVACE (ES)
  • AITEX (ES)

Sweden

  • Region of Västra Götaland (SE)
  • Smart Textiles cluster - University of Boras (SE)

the Netherlands

  • Oost NL (NL)
  • Region of Overijssel (NL)

Other

  • European Textile Technology Platform (Textile ETP)
  • EURATEX

Shared smart specialisation areas

  • Textiles (high-tech processes and applications; technical and functional textiles; digital fashion);
  • Environment (circular economy);
  • IT&C (AI, ML, Industrial Modernisation (e.g., digitized textile technologies; industrial design; automation, robotisation, mass custom solutions).

Related projects

  • SmartX: SmartX aimed to boost smart textiles innovation to develop an end-to-end smart textiles manufacturing value chain in Europe and help drive promising prototypes faster to market. https://www.smartx-europe.eu/
  • GALACTICA: GALACTICA: GALACTICA project aims to support the creation of new industrial value chains around textile and aerospace sectors based on advanced manufacturing. The vision is to drive cross-sectoral innovation to boost new market opportunities, revenues and improve productivity. GALACTICA will facilitate the uptake of advanced manufacturing technologies as part of the digital transition of the textile and aerospace industries. https://galacticaproject.eu/
  • TEX4IM: Tex4IM, the European long-term partnership for Industrial Modernisation of the Textile and Clothing sector, brings together the main European textile-based clusters with the aim of setting up new co-operations by enhancing innovation capacities, business models, knowledge, skill levels and other key competitive factors at the basis of the future of European Textile-clothing sector. https://tex4im.b2match.io/
  • REGIOGREENTEX project (1 Jan 2023 - 31 Dec 2025), developed within the Interregional Investments for Innovation Programme, Strand 1a, Topic Green Manufacturing: brings together 43 partners including regional clusters, innovation agencies, RTOs, associations and industry (SMEs) to invest into innovative solutions for textile circularity and to develop regional textile circularity hubs across Europe. https://euratex.eu/news/projects-recycle-textile
  • TEX-DAN: TEX-DAN aims at the uptake of technologies at SMEs for improved circularity in the textile and fashion (T&F) value chains through transnational collaboration in the Danube Region. https://interreg-danube.eu/projects/tex-dan

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