European materials industry is considered a key enabler for industrial development and the EU has a historically strategic position in this sector. However, there is a low uptake in European materials industry for digital technologies. Hereby, it is crucial to provide all stakeholders of the EU with advanced digital technologies to evolve towards an agile European materials industry with intelligent enterprises that maximise and integrate the utility of digital materials sciences knowledge. DiMAT will develop Open Digital Tools with a set of advanced technologies for offering European SMEs and Mid-Caps an affordable (in terms of cost, implementation and usability) full modelling, simulation and optimisation system in each stage of the material value chain (design, processing and manufacturing) for improving quality, sustainability, effectiveness, and competitiveness of materials. DiMAT will deploy 3 integrated Suites: 1) DiMAT Data and Assessment Suite: digital technologies for storing, sharing, representing and assessing materials data; 2) DiMAT DiMAT Modelling and Design Suite: digital technologies for material design, in terms of their internal structure, properties and performance, in order to predict the material behaviour before manufacturing; 3) DiMAT Simulation and Optimisation Suite: digital technologies for creating efficient materials manufacturing simulation processes and determining the behaviour of the material mechanical characterization models to be used in the AI training and prediction. The DiMAT Suites will be demonstrated in 4 Pilots of European designers and producers of different materials: textile, composite, glass and graphite.

The project is part of the European research framework for the application of spatial technologies to the textile design and production, be it for Fashion design, Object design or Interior design. It aims at making students aware of sustainable production of innovative textiles.The students participating in this research project will have the opportunity to become aware of the demands of fields different from their basic training curriculum, to get initiated to research practice, thus developing entrepreneurship and European employability.This project will support the students in primarily developing specific research skills, as well as analysis, synthesis- and communication skills. The pedagogical approach is social-constructivist, with the student at the very core of his/her training.The research will be carried out during transnational and trans-professional meetings, the themes of the workshops organized being “Creativity”, “Feasibility Study” and “Prototyping”. The objectives are allowing the students to follow the step-by-step process of a product until its industrialization and to become aware of the demands inherent in its production. A book will be created during each phase as well as events (symposium, exhibition, etc.).The five partners involved in the project are Créaction of European Spatial Agencies (Luxemburg) associate with Inextenso (ESA France in Lyon), giving access to spatial-industry technologies, and two Higher Education institutions in Fashion design (Belgium/Spain). Each European Spatial Agency will collaborate with the Higher Education Fashion institution closer to its location, so as to increase the creative approach. As a fourth partner and research center for innovative textiles, AITEX will share its competences on the feasibility and prototyping of the project.Through this strategic partnership, a better visibility of the Higher Education partners and also a real added value will be reached. The partnership will give them a new identity as institutions committed in “top innovation and technologies in Europe”, ensuring employability in a new era’s jobs. In this innovative project, the teachers-researchers will transfer their know-how to students and will also maintain their relationships with this project’s partners in order to update their knowledge, and -why not- consider another European North-South partnership.

Solid urban waste (SUW) is an abundant source for circular products production, but it is generally not exploited. In fact, over 500 kg of municipal waste per capita were generated in the EU in 2020, while only 45% was recycled. The proximity of resources and people, a sufficient scale for effective markets and the ability to shape urban planning and policy are key factors for cities to achieve advancements in this area. REDOL has been conceived to take advantage of this scenario and transform cities into hubs for circularity that implement zero residues strategies while fostering industrial-urban symbiosis (I-US) approaches among local and regional actors. To this end, REDOL will redesign 5 value chains for SUW (packaging, plastics, CDW, textiles, WEEE) ending-up in the production of 12 circular products. Along the value chains a range of new solutions will be implemented for 1) upgrading management technologies to collect, sort and classify SUW, 2) enhancing the processing routes of sorted materials to avoid landfilling and 3) applying cutting-edge digital tools to optimize value chains and interaction among key players. Moreover, REDOL will provide the required organizational procedures, business models and social innovation actions required for the establishment of successful I-US interactions and hubs for circularity at local level. Such an approach will result in the development of guidelines and recommendations for major decision-making bodies and will achieve improved citizens’ perception on SUW as a local resource and on recycled products, thus increasing their participation in separate collection schemes. REDOL will be implemented in Aragon, with Zaragoza in the center of the hub for circularity. This way, REDOL will support its transition towards a zero residues city by 2040. This will imply 144.720 tons SUW/year being re-used, valorized or transformed into secondary raw materials, leveraging economic and GHG emissions savings over 14B€ and 280 ktCO2/year

LEARNINGTEX MOOC aims to support textile companies through employees training and skills updating. A need on the sector has been detected and textile companies demand more experienced and trained workers on topics like woven fabrics and quality control of defects. In this sense, during this project more than 70 OER will be created which will be shaped into a MOOC about woven fabrics and defect detection on woven fabrics.LEARNINGTEX will export the successful work-based learning system of Austria to Spanish and Portuguese companies, countries where this type of education is not so common. The idea to develop a MOOC oriented to work-based learning will contribute conciliating working and family life. The MOOC will be addressed not only for textile outdated employees but also for unexperienced workers who have just finished their studies. The course will be oriented to textile employees and students interested in updating their knowledge about woven fabrics, machinery and the application of new technologies to improve quality control processes and reduce costs. The course will consist of 2 parts strongly oriented to the sector and target group’s needs; both based on an innovative methodology developing OER shaped into a MOOC. The first part will be focused on woven fabrics’ OER structured into sections, lessons and tests to evaluate the learning process and the second will be OER about advanced processes of quality control and defect detection in woven fabrics.The novelty and innovative aspects of LEARNINGTEX will concentrate on the exclusive textile approach and the unique and original methodology of the Work Based MOOC. Another innovative aspect will be the open and flexible learning methodology, fully exploring the potential of MOOCs to improve education, training and WBL systems, aligning them with the current digital world.The textile industry requires technical staff with new and updated skills able to use new machines, equipment and with wider knowledge of the textile processes. For this reason this project proposes a MOOC which helps companies to have more qualified staff and hire new employees with updated skills. LEARNINGTEX promotes flexibility and adaptability combined with active work, satisfaction and motivation for the trainees by means of a MOOC on an e-learning platform conciliating social and family life. This will help to have a close relationship with work life, adapting to the needs of on-going training and self-learning in the labor market improving student management strategies and promoting companies competition and internationalization. In terms of impact, students of LEARNINGTEX will enjoy a richer collaborative experience, through MOOC with OER of the project avoiding some of the growing limitations of traditional classes, such as the lack of enough work area, expensive instrumentation, lack of personnel, time assigned to the course, and their availability in non-working office hours. Teachers will enjoy a reliable remote MOOC system that presents learning resources for an educational process, that is characterized with providing just-in-time, just enough and at the point of need support to learners in order to deal with complex authentic tasks in the context of problem-based learning. Finally, textile companies will benefit providing its workers with an effective MOOC to update their skills conciliating working and family life. Companies will take advance of LEARNINGTEX having and promoting high quality products with great added value. This will help them to compete against third countries. To summarize, this project contributes to a Europe of Knowledge through the development of new learning approaches (combining WBL, MOOC and OER) using innovative ICT technologies that allow streaming attendance to the course. LEARNINGTEX will use modern learning systems and methodologies that support and promote lifelong learning plus the acquisition of knowledge and skills to enhance companies’ competitiveness while reducing unemployment rates. LEARNINGTEX supports the creation of an information society training and exchanging knowledge in Europe developing a MOOC about textile technology, woven fabrics and defect detection on woven fabrics.