06.04.2021. The COSME project CircularInnoBooster and its accelerator for SMEs CirCoAX will be presented on Thursday, May 27, 2021, in a Partner Event on the European Green Week 2021. The conference will take place online, respecting health recommendations and avoiding unnecessary polluting travels, contributing to the main theme of the Green Week of «zero pollution».
CircularInnoBooster Fashion and Textile (F&T) is a collaborative 2-year project from the COSME EU program and a budget of € 1,128,000. It is co-financed by the European Commission in 75%. Led by the IED (Istituto Europeo di Design), together with the Finnova Foundation, Texfor, Circulab and The Circular Project with HumanNation, it seeks to transform the highly polluting fashion and textiles industries through innovation, fostering entrepreneurship. It aims to generate business models based on the circular economy, turning SMEs and start-ups into sustainable, circular and regenerative companies. Therefore, CircularInnoBooster creates CirCoAX, the circular collaborative and cooperative co-design accelerator. Through this platform, whose launch date will be September this year, 30 SMEs, start-ups or entrepreneurs from the industry will be selected. The beneficiaries will receive technical and financial assistance, with an endowment of up to € 12,000.
This event seeks to highlight the importance of innovation to reduce the environmental impact of the conventional textile and fashion industry through alternative practices in line with the circular economy model in its broadest sense. That is, considering its environmental, social, and economic dimensions.
As speakers, representatives of the different partner entities of the consortium will participate. Likewise, personalities from the European Union linked to the fashion and textile sectors and the circular economy will be invited.
The objective of this event is to publicize the project among potential beneficiaries who could become part of the accelerator. The selected SMEs or entrepreneurs will receive both technical and financial assistance. Furthermore, they will receive mentoring and will be able to share best practices that will enable them to transform their businesses. Likewise, it aspires to stimulate change at all levels of the textiles and fashion productive process, favouring social change towards the circular economy and sustainability.
The EU Green Week is the most important annual conference on environmental policy in Europe. This year, the European Green Week 2021 has as theme zero pollution and how to achieve it in scopes like energy, industry or mobility. During Green Week, organized by the European Commission, numerous events will be hosted at the European level from May 31 to June 4.
About COSME
COSME is the program for the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (EASME) of the European Commission.
Through this program, assistance is offered to SMEs to develop their business models, access financing and internationalize. Likewise, support is offered to public administrations to improve the business environment and facilitate economic growth in the European Union. During the 2014-2020 funding period, this program allocated 2.3 billion euros to support SMEs.
About IED
The Istituto Europeo di Design is an academic institution that operates in the fields of education, training, and research in the disciplines of design, fashion, visual communication, and management, covering professional, vocational, and business design training. IED has branches across Spain (Madrid, Barcelona), Italy (Milan, Rome, and 5 other cities), and Brazil (São Paolo, Rio de Janeiro). It operates across several EU and COSME countries through collaborations and agreements with institutions, business support organizations, professors, experts, and mentors with whom it has established relationships. IED draws on a broad network of connections in the F&T sector specifically for this project, drawing on R&D in the areas of fashion design, product design, interior design, visual arts, communications, and management.
About Finnova
FINNOVA is a foundation that works for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship at the EU level. With headquarters in Brussels, it operates through collaborations and partnerships across EU countries. FINNOVA expertise in leading communication and dissemination activities for EU projects is coupled with strong proven experience in setting up businesses and entrepreneurial support programmes, like accelerators, incubators and selection and award/ceremonial events.
About Texfor
TEXFOR is the reference textile association in Spain with 400 members. Founded in November 2010 and located in Catalonia, it groups companies of the whole textile value chain, from yarns to fabrics including accessories, finishing processes, printing and dying for the apparel industry, home textiles, and technical/industrial applications. Texfor has specialization and experience, having worked on important EU-level expert committees: University and Vocational Training, Financial capacity building, Cross-Sectoral collaboration, R+D+I promotion, specialized services, and sustainability leadership focused on the circular economy.
About Circulab
CIRCULAB is a business design lab and studio specialised in developing transformation methodology, tools and programmes to help businesses develop circular and sustainable business models. CIRCULAB has designed a toolkit for implementing Circularity in businesses and operates across +23 countries (9 EU countries), supporting projects through +60 certified independent CE consultants, applying the Circ methodology and tools.
About The Circular Project and HumanNation
TCP is a Circular and Slow Fashion promotion firm that collaborates with experts in the field to offer a communication strategy, platform and expertise on circular value chains, applying a broad and systemic approach to Circular Economy, integrating social, ethical, environmental and economic approaches. It has a strong presence and connections to the sustainable fashion world through the Association of Sustainable Fashion of Madrid, Sannas (Triple Bottom Line Business Association) and a broad institutional and industrial network across Spain, Europe and South America.
For this project, The Circular Project works with HumanNation for the co-design and development of the project. HumanNation is a consulting firm specialised in the development of transformative and disruptive ecosystems of innovation and business: the ‘New Economy’. Based on the Fourth Economic Sector, systemic thinking and co-creation, it promotes awareness within organizations and ecosystems to respect planetary boundaries and social fabric, creating resilient economies at the local level, with a global perspective.
