- The NextFashion LATAM-EU Mission has been all this week in Spain, with meetings in Madrid, Alicante and Valencia and Catalonia to inquire about future collaborations and participation in European projects.
- The mission is part of the initiative «Sustainability in the Fashion sector for its internationalization» financed by the European Commission within the Triangular Cooperation Program Adelante 2, with a total budget of 182,696 euros.
- This study visit is part of the strategic line NexTextileGeneration of the Finnova Foundation, which includes initiatives and projects that work for the textile industry and sustainable fashion.
The textile industry confederation Texfor has received today the NextFashion Latam-EU Mission, formed by 21 entrepreneurs from Colombia and Peru, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota, the Sustainable Fashion Cluster of Peru and the Finnova Foundation. EU-LATAM funding for business cooperation and possible future collaborations and participation in European projects were the focus of the networking morning at the headquarters of this institution in Sabadell.
Monica Olmos, Operations Director of Texfor, and David Allo, Sustainability Director, in charge of the delegation in their last stage of a one-week visit to Spain and of presenting the opportunities that the confederation has for the ecosystem and the textile industry, the creation of synergies and the strengthening of cooperation. Luz Villalta, head of Texfor’s Internationalization area, was in charge of organizing the event.
CircularInnoBooster Fashion and Textile
During his speech, Allo highlighted the success of the European project CircularInnoBooster Fashion and Textile (F&T), a COSME project of the European Union to transform companies in the fashion and textile industry into sustainable, circular, and regenerative companies. With a duration of 2 years, it has a budget of 1,128,000 euros, 75% co-financed by the European Commission. The project is made up of an international consortium led by the European Institute of Design (IED), together with Texfor, Circulab, Finnova and The Circular Project with HumanNation. The project created the CirCoAX accelerator programme, an incubator that aims to transform companies in the fashion and textile industry into sustainable, circular, and regenerative businesses. The eight-month acceleration program provided 30 consortia (#CirCoAX30) from across the European Union committed to circularity with funding, training and further activities to develop their ideas.
Scalable project
The European project CircularInnoBooster has many possibilities of being scalable both at European level with the Nextextilegeneration initiative, a platform that gives visibility to the 4 COSME projects that share the same objective of transforming fashion and textiles, and in Latin America with Adelante Ventana 2, an initiative that, together with the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá and the Sustainable Fashion Cluster of Peru, aims to promote sustainability in the fashion sector for its internationalization, through a program of cooperation activities.
Acció’s business strategy
Continuing the morning’s agenda, the Director of Foreign Investment at ACCIÓ, Isabel Carranza, shared the business strategy of this entity and the vision it can contribute to this Mission with the priority cooperation programs it manages in terms of technological transformation and sustainability, including the Next Generation European funds.
Adrián Noheda, EU Project Officer at Finnova, also spoke, identifying some sustainability, digitalization, eco-design, circular economy, and social innovation projects based on European funds. An example of these is the EU-LAC Digital Alliance, a digital transformation initiative with an initial contribution of 145 million euros from Team Europe, of which 50 million euros from the EU budget is earmarked to boost digital cooperation between the two regions.
The meeting ended with a Networking Speed Dating session where representatives of the Colombian and Peruvian entities met with Spanish companies in the textile sector to exchange best practices, establish contacts and plan future collaborations within the ecosystem. These companies have great representation and level in the industry, some of the invited companies were Augusto Bellini, Dobert Textile Group. Fantexfil, Hilaturas Arnau, Hilaturas Jesús Rubio, Intexteis, Scavini, Textil Olius and Textil Settam.
Getting to know the experience of other companies and stakeholders
The main objective of this trip is to learn first-hand about the experience of companies and stakeholders in Spain and to identify potential partners for companies in the fashion sector in Colombia and Peru. Throughout the week, the entrepreneurs will meet with institutions, associations, companies, and research centers to learn about the sustainable, eco-design and circular economy practices implemented by the Spanish fashion sector.
«This visit aims to achieve business cooperation between Latin America and Europe to promote social innovation, internationalization, sustainability and circular economy in the fashion and textile sector, the second most polluting industry in the world», says Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova. «The NextFashion LATAM-EU Mission seeks to establish future collaborations in order to participate in new European public-private partnership projects on cultural cooperation, innovation, energy transition and circular economy such as AL-INVEST Verde, Horizon Europe and Euroclima+, among others», adds Revuelta.
The visit meets the objective of the Adelante 2 program and is very much in line, in the European context, with the celebration in 2023 of the European Year of Skills, where the European Commission encourages the promotion of lifelong learning, in this case of innovative initiatives with a strong impact on the Agenda2030 in the fashion and textile sector.
NexTextileGeneration
The NextFashion LATAM-EU Mission is also an important contribution to the work of the NexTextileGeneration strategic line, which includes initiatives and projects that work in favor of the textile industry and sustainable fashion. One example is the CircularInnoBooster Fashion and Textile project, completed in November 2022 and co-financed by the European Commission under the COSME program with a budget of 1,128,000 euros.
The aim of this project, carried out by an international consortium led by the European Institute of Design (IED), together with Texfor, Circulab, Finnova and The Circular Project with HumanNation, was to transform textile and fashion companies into sustainable, circular and regenerative enterprises.
The project has many possibilities of being scalable both at European level with the Nextextilegeneration initiative, a platform that gives visibility to the 4 COSME projects that share the same objective of transforming fashion and textiles, and in Latin America with Adelante Ventana 2. So much so that this project was presented as an example of good practice at the last SME Assembly held in Prague.
About the initiative Sustainability in the fashion sector for its internationalization.
Last September, the Finnova Foundation, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and the Sustainable Fashion Cluster of Peru joined forces to carry out the initiative Sustainability in the fashion sector for its internationalization. This initiative, which will conclude in April 2023, seeks to share the knowledge of the entities of the Alliance to develop and apply support models for companies in the fashion sector, characterized by the promotion of sustainable production that meets the highest international standards.
In order to approach the program from different perspectives, ADELANTE 2 has different components: operational support to articulate the ADELANTE Window for Triangular Cooperation between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean; analytical support to develop the analysis and studies of Triangular Cooperation together with the Ibero-American General Secretariat; and institutional support to develop bilateral Triangular Cooperation funds between the EU and certain Latin American and Caribbean countries. In this way, the program can meet the Sustainable Development Goals to leave no one behind thanks to Triangular Cooperation.
Among other actions, a mapping of certifications and environmental sustainability seals is carried out through the transfer of European and regional good practices. In addition, awareness-raising, training and business missions have been launched for the benefit of companies in Bogota and Peru to strengthen the capacities of the Alliance’s member teams. These actions are focused on achieving greater impact, transfer and scalability of the knowledge generated.
More information:
- Manuela Granada Montoya
Communication Project Officer Finnova
Manuela.granada@finnova.eu
+34 624881008
- Patricia Cavanillas
Communication Manager
patricia.cavanillas@finnova.eu
