- The NextFahion LATAM-EU Mission meets with the Chamber of Commerce of Madrid, Casa de América, and the Ministries of Ecological Transition and Tourism.
- También asisten a sesiones de networking en la sede de ASECOM y en IFEMA They also attend networking sessions at the headquarters of ASECOM and IFEMA.
- The mission is part of the initiative «Sustainability in the fashion sector for its internationalization» funded by the European Commission within the Triangular Cooperation Program of 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 inlcudes initiatives and projects that work for the textile industry and sustainable fashion.
Networking, exchange of good practices, first contacts for future collaborations and participation in European projects. A delegation formed by 21 entrepreneurs from Colombia and Peru have visited Madrid on a study tour led by the Finnova Foundation, in the framework of the Adelante 2 initiative. After Madrid, the delegation continues its trip to Valencia, Alicante and Barcelona, areas with a great impact on the textile sector.
The Madrid visit began with a reception at the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. The president of the institution, Angel Asensio, was in charge of welcoming the delegation and explaining the main tasks of the Chamber in Madrid. A meeting in which possible ways of business collaboration between these Latin American countries and the Chamber of Madrid were exposed, and some projects were identified based on European funds such as Erasmus, Horizon or Euroclima 2 for sustainability projects of eco-design, renewable energy, circular economy and environment and social innovation.
After this reception, the headquarters of ASECOM, Fedecon, Modaespaña and Observatorio Textil was the setting for a networking meeting in which representatives of the textile sector in Spain participated, such as Carmen Torres, secretary general of ASECOM, Eduardo Vega-Penichet, general director of Acotex, José Francisco García, from IED, Alberto Egido Viciana, Head of environment and circularity of ModaRE, Alicia García, from Diseño para el Desarrollo, Paloma García Lopez, from The Circular Project. The session allowed entrepreneurs to learn about Spanish and European regulations, the current situation of the textile sector, and to advance in collaborations and possible agreements in the framework of European projects.
In the afternoon, Luis Prados, Director of Programming, and Céline Rodríguez, specialist in Plastic Arts and Music at Casa América, received the delegation to discuss possible events and meetings in this building that represents public diplomacy. Thus, the possibility of holding cultural cycles, fashion presentations and informative talks to raise awareness of the heritage of these two Latin American countries was put on the table.
The day concluded with a visit to the textile company Sepiia, Spanish startup winner of the #CirCoAX30 Startup Europe Awards (SEUA) an initiative driven by the European Commission, implemented by the Finnova Foundation in collaboration with StartUp Europe. SEUA is an open innovation tool that allows companies to identify talented startups capable of solving today’s challenges in multiple areas. Its mission is to help Startups and Scaleups become more efficient, smart and successful. These awards are a useful tool to promote knowledge sharing, add value to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and help startups grow and position themselves in the market.
On Tuesday morning, the delegation was received at the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) by Carmen Durán Vizán, technical advisor of the General Subdirectorate of Economy, with the aim of addressing sustainability issues in the textile sector. Then they went to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (MINCOTUR) where Olga Rucián, Assitant Deputy director of SME Support of the General Directorate of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises, and Mónica Castilla Baylos, head of Communication and Institutional Relations for SMEs, explained the different lines of support available in Spain for small businesses and startups.
The morning ended with a meeting at IFEMA with Julia González Romo, director of the MOMAD Madrid, Bisutex, INTERGIFT and MadridJoya fairs, in which cooperation in the organization and attendance of fashion, fashion jewelry and jewelry fairs was discussed.
After a networking lunch, the delegation left for the Valencian Community, where they will visit ATEVAL, INESCOP, IVACE and KOOPERA, among others.
To learn about 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 have meetings with institutions, associations, companies and research centers to get closer to the sustainable, eco-design and circular economy practices implemented by the Spanish fashion sector.
«With this visit, we aim to achieve a business cooperation between Latin America and Europe that promotes 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.
NextTextileGeneration
The NextFashion LATAM-EU Mission is also an important contribution to the work of the NextTextileGeneration strategic line, which includes initiatives and projects that work for 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 companies in the textile and fashion industry, into sustainable, circular and regenerative enterprises.
The project has many possibilities of being scalable both at the European level with the NextTextileGeneration initiative, a platform that gives visibility to the 4 COSME projects that share the same objective of transforming fashion and textile, and in Latin America with Adelante Ventana 2. Furthermore, this project was presented as an example of good practice at the last SME Assembly held in Prague.
On the Sustainability Initiative 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 models to support 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 best practices. In addition, awareness-raising, training and business missions have been implemented 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.
