Fighting misinformation and greenwashing in the footwear sector

Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - 12:25English
The Erasmus+ VETting Green project was recently launched to support the European Union efforts to put an end to Greenwashing on consumer products. The partnership, composed by footwear producers, vocational training providers and consumer representatives from 5 European countries (BE, GR, IT, PT and SP) aim at preparing footwear companies to tackle greenwashing with the necessary training tools and materials. In line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the EU is implementing the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), a building block of the EU Green Deal, to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Special attention is given to tackle misleading green claims that have during the last years while consumers demand for transparency and veracity. Europe has responded with two Directive proposals, the Directive on Consumer Empowerment for the Green Transition and the Directive on new rules for substantiating green claims, aimed at consumers and manufacturers respectively, both of them about to be approved.

Erasmus+ SHOEGAME: It's time to play!

Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - 12:21English
On the occasion of the final physical meeting of the project on 7th and 8th March, project partners from Belgium (CEC), Greece (Cre Thi Dev), Portugal (CTCP and Virtual Campus), Romania (TUIASI) and Spain (INESCOP) gathered in Romania to plan the final stages of the project. The Erasmus+ ShoeGame project aims at attracting younger generations to footwear manufacturing studies, preventing school drop-out and maintaining students’ interest and motivation with an innovation training approach such as a serious game in VET education.

AEQUALIS-4-TCLF brings together 19 European partners to upskill and reskill the TCLF industries across Europe

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 14:13English
In the context of the EU Pact for Skills initiative launched by the European Commission in 2021, the three European TCLF umbrella organisations, EURATEX, COTANCE and CEC, launched last week a new EU co-funded project under ERASMUS+ Programme to support the up-skilling and reskilling in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear (TCLF) sectors. The AEQUALIS-4-TCLF project brings together 19 partners mainly from Eastern and Northern Europe who will work together in the coming 4 years to give a boost the competitiveness of TCLF industries across Europe by ensuring the lifelong learning of workers and attracting new generations.

Learning Factories, a leap toward the paradigm in VET, from the traditional model into a new approach

Monday, February 26, 2024 - 18:42English
A new Erasmus+ project addressing innovative training in the Leather Goods industry was recently launched bringing together a European consortium led by the Portuguese SME Belcinto, and including Betangible (Spain), the European Footwear Confederation- CEC (Belgium), Centro Tecnológico do Calçado de Portugal, Fundación Centro Tecnológico de la Piel de Andalucía - MOVEX (Spain), Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi-TUIASI (Romania) and Globalnet (Poland). The leather goods market currently employs more than 150,000 people in Europe and represents a high-end sector that is growing exponentially, is highly profitable and has an impact on the economy of various European countries. The sector is currently facing major challenges, namely the insufficient level of skilled workers due to rapid technological change, and the lack of attraction and retention of students and workers.