TRANSITIONS is a strategic alliance for innovation formed by research and technological centers, VET, HE institutions, public policy actors, SMEs, and other sectoral organizations from Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, and Sweden. Transitions aim to nurture the textile and fashion transition to an Industry 4.0 system and a circular economy by developing new learning methods, tools, and practices to help students, young designers, and professionals to face real challenges.

Fashion and textiles (F&T) is a priority sector for the European transition towards sustainability. The F&T sectors face structural and systemic challenges that require a profound model change. Stakeholders will work together to design and develop new training methods to face the digital and green transformation. The objective is to create collaborative and real work-based training where the different actors in the value chain work on how to take advantage of technology to generate new value proposals and new business models within a circular economy. A circular economy aims to maintain the value of products, materials, and resources for as long as possible by reintroducing them into the product cycle at the end of their use, minimizing waste generation.Fashion and textiles (F&T) is a priority sector for the European transition towards sustainability. The F&T sectors face structural and systemic challenges that require a profound model change. Stakeholders will work together to design and develop new training methods to face the digital and green transformation. The objective is to create collaborative and real work-based training where the different actors in the value chain work on how to take advantage of technology to generate new value proposals and new business models within a circular economy. A circular economy aims to maintain the value of products, materials, and resources for as long as possible by reintroducing them into the product cycle at the end of their use, minimizing waste generation.

These challenges draw a new competitive framework to which companies in the sector must adapt. The textile and fashion industry, which employs 1.3 million people in Europe and generates an aggregate turnover of 143 billion Euros, is made up of more than 140,000 SMEs, many of them small, that need support in addressing the transformation process in which the sector is immersed. Fashion and textiles are the second most polluting industry in the world. The F&T sectors face structural and systemic challenges that require a profound model change. The objective is to create a collaborative and real work-based training where the different actors in the value chain work on how to take advantage of technology to generate new value proposals and new business models that foster the transition to a 4.0 and circular system.

IAAC is in charge of coordinating the Transition Labs, the pilots that test the curriculum with local stakeholders in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Sweden.
IAAC Fab Lab Barcelona will share their current background which is based on the design and running of Fabricademy, Textile & Technology Academy, a transdisciplinary course that focuses on the development of new technologies applied in the textile industry, in its broad range of applications, from the fashion industry all the way to the upcoming wearable market; training knowhow in systemic approaches, emergence of new business models based on distributed design principles, new education models based on active learning, hands-on activities and distributed support. Fab Lab Barcelona will help to set up the various places of the Transition Labs and run several workshops onsite to facilitate the local appropriation of the program and their modules by local participants. This will be based on their experience in managing distributed pilots and their practical knowledge for fostering cooperation through hybrid and inter-organizational educational programs.

Grant Agreement number: 101056544-TRANSITIONS-ERASMUS-EDU-2021-PI-ALL-INNO