<< Background >>The environmental and social cost of the clothing and textile industry has been increased dramatically in recent years and is expected to continue this linear course in the future. The industry continues to lack transparency, with widespread exploitation of people working in the supply chain. Global fashion consumption continues to gain speed at unsustainable levels and relies on a culture of disposability. Around the world, we produce too much clothing, from unsustainable materials, much of which ends up incinerated or in landfill. The Covid-19 crisis has led to major brands and retailers shutting up shop and cancelling supplier payments and orders, without taking responsibility for the workers in their supply chains who mostly lack sick pay, paid leave, adequate health care and have no savings to fall back on. And beyond the devastating human and economic cost of the global coronavirus pandemic, seven years on from the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, human rights abuses, modern slavery and environmental degradation remain rife within the industry. In order to combat the climate crisis and protect precious natural resources, we must rethink consumption-as-usual. We must rethink the entire system, moving from a model built on overconsumption and disposability to one that is circular, where materials and products can be used for much longer (EUCOM, 2019 ‘Supporting the new Circular Economy’). Social Growth for Circular and Heritage Fashion develops a capacity building program for women in the fashion industry to help them acquire the needed skills of the circular fashion processes and of traditional techniques that are part of each regions culture and heritage. It supports young women NEETs to collaborate with women usually over 55 who possess the knowledge of a traditional heritage technique in garment or/and textile development. The project supports these women to upsill their employability, entrepreneurial, technical and collaborativeness skills. To reinvent and keep alive traditional heritage techniques and designs that are in risk of being forgotten and lost from our european societies.<< Objectives >>Overall, project objectives will be the following:-targets young NEETs women who are in need of practical skills that will enhance their employability and their vision to build a meaningful career. The project provides young women access to peer learning from women over 55 who possess the knowledge of sustainable and heritage craftsmanship techniques on textile and garment production. -targets women usually over 55 and women cooperatives with technical skills who used to thrive in europe, but due to fast fashion and the huge offering of cheap clothes have lost their market shares and are unable to live from their professions. These women could benefit from the upskilling of their employability, communication and digital skills that are offered from the project educational toolkits. -targets educators in the textile and fashion sector who are in need of upskilling on the new circular economy practices, models and processes as the sector is moving to a new paradigm. Current educators need the necessary educational toolkits, handbooks and workshops designs to be able to transfer the new skills to the target groups of young women and current professional, producers and craftsmen in the fashion and textile industries. -The project meets the needs of its target groups by delivering its programs through digital means thus reaching out to geographically dispersed populations of women within european regions.<< Implementation >>R1) the creation of an educational toolkit for women upskilling and empowerment in circular and heritage garment and textile sectors. The toolkit will be created by the different sectoral strengths of partners including:1) empowerment and soft skills for the employability of women at the circular fashion textile and garment industries; entrepreneurial skills to promote micro-businesses and craftsmanship production studios 2) technical skills on how to design and develop textiles and garments using traditions techniques and circular fashion techniques 3) collaborative and co-creation skills on how young NEETs women and women usually over 55 who possess the knowledge of garment and textile development from various regions of Europe can work togetherR2) the creation of a digitised educational program addressed to educators who will be trained on how to apply R1 to the target group of women across regions, borders and age groups. The educational program includes all the needed material for educators of the textile and garment sectors to be able to upskill their own knowledge and deliver the program to the target groups. The toolkit contains handbooks, manuals, and workshop material.R3) the development and pilot testing of a digitised program addressed to the final target group of women building on R1 educational content. The digitised program will contain online modules, online manuals and toolkits. The digital educational platform will also include a mapping of traditional heritage techniques from Europe that will come out of the Teaching Activity. The objective of R3 is how young NEETs women and women over 55 who possess the knowledge of garment and textile development from various regions of Europe can work together at a transnational and regional level to create new entrepreneurial formats, new supply chain partnerships and transfer the knowledge from one generation to the other, from one european region to the other. A Teaching Activity to the final target group in a peer working environment on an exchange activity of young women and women usually over 55 that possess the knowledge of traditional and heritage techniques who will meet together at the European Institute of Design in Madrid for one week to test R1 and R3 results and to map their local regional heritage techniques. The mapping result of the Teaching Activity will be communicated and embedded at project digital educational channels created during R3 and will be showcased through the Multiplier Events of Open Studios that will take place at each partner's region at the end of the project. Trainees will receive a Certification of their acquired skills. Open Studio event to showcase the heritage and traditions techniques of the women from their own labs.<< Results >>The project will deliver its objective through the following outputs:- A Handbook and possible toolkits for educators that will be digitised- An educational toolkit for the training of women (including modules, manuals, workshops)- Digital e-learning educational platform for the training of women (webplatform, e-modules, e-manuals, webinars, selfie short videos of heritage practices)- an Open Studio toolkit to be delivered physically or live streaming

According to magazine Forbes, sustainable lifestyle will become the main trend in future. Young people are able to adapt to new trends twice faster as the older generation. European Youth Strategy - empowering and investment into youth - is aiming to support know-how and skills, which motivate young people to critical thinking and change of attitude.Project RecyCOOL! is offering young people essential know-how and skills in topics of sustainability of textile industry, which is currently one of top five the most dirty industries of the world. The aim of our project is create full-valued and attractive educational package within topics of textile industry and sustainability. This will offer educators - teachers, youth workers, or young people themselves - necessary knowledge and skills and will be applicable in formal and non-formal environment.The name Let's Stitch Up The Imperfections is a program, where will be the space to find in interactive way new knowledge and skills within topics of textile industry, such is a process of making clothes, its environmental impact, but as well will offer sustainable solutions and manuals. The part of the educational package is for example documentary The True Cost, series of upcycling workshops, gaining basic practical skills, which are missing in formal educational system.The added value of project is collaboration of young people with local designers, when they will be making own clothes and present them later during sustainable event. The whole spectre of acquired know-how and skills will support formation critical thinking of young people, which will lead to change of attitude.The project is submitted by Slovak NGO Nitka, the strategic partners are NGO Fashion Revolution Global, ngo., NGO Fashion Revolution Česká republika a NGO Fashion Revolution Slovensko, all involved in edification and education in topics of transparency, sustainability and ethics.Intellectual outputs are series of manuals and informations, which will help educators educate young people. It's a series of interactive and static manuals and guidelines, which will introduce educator and his/hers group into basics of sustainable and ethical fashion.The intellectual outputs are:- Sustainable fashion interactive guideline- Sustainable fashion educational curriculum- Mentoring young people manual- Sustainable event management manualIntellectual outputs will be tested on young participants during 2 years. Through testing and transnational educational events we will fully educate and train educators to use intellectual outputs in and they will become competent to multiply them in their environment. Multiplier events will be an important part of dissemination of results, where intellectual outputs are presented along with dissemination on other canals, which will affect other potential educators.We will create online platform with free access to all intellectual outputs. Platform will be designed for educators, youth workers, students, young people and public. They will be free and downloadable and published in Slovak, Czech and English language.Topics of sustainable fashion industry can be solved only through international cooperation, so we decided to participate on this transnational effort and disseminate our results not only within participating countries, but also in global context due to channels of Fashion Revolution Global.The impact of project will have an influence of important strategies on European level, such as European Youth Strategy. It is young generation, which has an enormous potential to innovate and create a critical mass with effect and influence of worldwide happenings. The example is 16-year old Swedish girl Greta Thunberg, who decided to mobilise young people around the world and actively influence policy making and resolve the question of climate change.

Project Too RecyCOOL for School connects topics of the fashion industry and sustainability with distance learning forms of non-formal education as a response to demands of today's world. Our clothing is everyday part of our lives, yet transparency of its production is on a worldwide scale almost non-existable, who made our clothes and what they are made of are questions with answers difficult to find.Talking about the fashion industry is important because it's an industry with heavy impacts on environmental and social areas. It's unthinkable that it could sustain in the form as we know it today, and its flaws were completely exposed with the arrival of a pandemic and social crisis of workers in this industry.Young people are the main target group of fast fashion campaigns, both selling campaigns and greenwashing campaigns. These are aimed on young people who are trying to and succeeding in living their lives in more sustainable and responsible ways. Finding verified information in chaos around us, picking the relevant parts and connecting them in context is demanding, but doable, as long as young people have the insight into the subject.This project idea was raised and developed by Star Team, which is a group of four young people, volunteers in Fashion Revolution Slovakia, actively participating in running the organization and its campaign. They are coming from and working with a target group, so they know the needs of young people and ways of dealing with them. Star Team is a connection between organisation and implementation of the project and they will shape and moderate it. Activism, eco-grupos and volunteerism - young people want to solve topics surrounding them, but the topic of the fashion industry is completely absent especially in formal and non formal education. The only way to educate about it is through self-study and following campaigns on social media.The aim of the project is to widen and deepen young people competencies, obtain their better orientation within topics of fashion industry and its sustainability, its place in the world economics context, understanding the impact of the fashion industry on the environment, society and economy, its connection with our everyday lives and finding solutions (literally) through our own wardrobes. Development of this know-how and skills (evaluation of own user habits, ability to amend own clothing, critical approach to commercial campaigns, recognition of greenwashing, etc) will shift attitudes of young participants of this education.Outcomes of the project are lessons about the fashion industry and sustainability, usable in formal and nonformal environments by young people and young people with hearing difficulties. Open source lessons will offer cross-sectional education absent in the formal education system, lessons will be reflecting subjects of classic school subjects.Activities in these lessons will be created the way they are usable in different conditions and youth workers/educators will be able to adapt them to the needs of their target groups. Universality of lessons is guaranteed thanks to their form.Project primary target groups are young people, young people with hearing difficulties and youth workers/educators working with them. Secondary target groups are educational and edification institutions, formal and informal groups of people with hearing difficulties and all prospective users.Project will result in a unified package of 50 lessons in text and video form, available for and manageable by young people and young people with hearing difficulties, as well as in methodology on how to use these lessons in work with the target groups.Other results of the project will be fully educated 100 young people with/without hearing difficulties from partner countries, formation of Star Teams (groups of young people contributing to project activities and activities of partners, each 3-4 members) and their ability to cooperate on international level, fully educated 15 youth workers from 5 partner countries (with own participation on project outcomes, ready to use, disseminate and build on these outcomes), 150 youth workers from 5 partners countries able to use outcomes in their work. All this will strengthen the educational environment on national and european level and contribute to digitalisation of education.

<< Background >>The fashion industry is valued around USD 2.4 billion globally and directly employees 75 million people throughout all its global value chain. It is the world’s third-largest manufacturing sector and it is also responsible for 10% of total carbon emissions (World economic forum, 2020). The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that every year some USD 500 billion in value is lost due to clothing that is barely worn, not donated, recycled, or ends up in a landfill, with a huge waste of resources and increase in pollution. On top of that, the fashion industry is second-highest promoter of modern slavery in the world, adding up to $127 billion of the imported fashion garments by the G20 countries Slavery, often a result of human trafficking, can appear in a variety of forms from harvesting the cotton for a t-shirt, spinning the fibre to yarn, sewing the garment and modelling the final products. (Global Slavery Index, 2018 data). In this context, the Fashion Transparency Index FTIndex is the “ethic meter, used to give an illustrative look at how much brands know and share about the human rights and environmental impacts across their value chains”. Participation in the FTIndex is influencing brands to disclose social and environmental information, offering information on their policies and governance implemented to move toward ethic and sustainable practices. But, the Fashion Transparency Index does not offer an in-depth analysis of the content, quality, authenticity or accuracy of brands' policies, procedures, performance and progress in any given area. During the project, the TRA/MA consortium will create the job profile, curriculum and the package of short courses necessary to become a TRANSPARENCY MANAGER IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, such as a professional in charge of ensuring sustainable, ethic practices within the fashion value chain. The material developed in the project’s lifetime will contribute in improving knowledge and skills of anyone interested in enter the FASHION sector, contributing to the reduction of unemployment together with an increase in professionalism and wider penetration of sustainability at all industry’s levels. The partners considered to start this transnational cooperation to tackle issues connected the fashion industry, and the disastrous impact the fashion industry has on our environment, while offering a new profession more in line with the labour market need – with solid global potentials. Due to consumers’ pressure and loss of profit, some sustainable actions are now incorporated within firms’ strategies. Increased sustainability in business activities calls for developments and changes in existing systems throughout the entire value chains and garment life circles. These effects involve environment as well as social and economic sustainability. The Sustainable chain development in the apparel industry, (Harrysson & Larsjors, 2017) shows that, if companies do work actively with sustainable value chain development, their efforts are increasing continuously and that all indicators encompassing sustainability (environmental, social and economic), are accounted for. So, the FTindex is a clear support to those that are aiming at be more ethical, sustainable and greener. The partners are all in a privileged position to be already in contact with designers, fashion houses and other clothing producers, that will offer their first hand insights on their difficulties, needs and most importantly will help the partners in shaping the profile of the TRA/MA manager, as they will be the one to employ it.<< Objectives >>The partners decided to active the TRA/MA consortium, to share their expertise in the fashion industry, training development, competences advancement, and work together to offer a new job profile of a professional able to (1) support a fashion house or a brand to set the internal policies to move toward sustainability while making sure that all the actors along the value chain are respecting the same ‘code of conduct’ and (2) be able to offer data to needed to compile the FTindex that are clear, correct and traceable themselves. To achieve this aim the partners are going to: -Analyse different aspects of the fashion industry -determine the competences and tasks for the new TRA/MA job profile -develop the new curriculum, employing interactive micro-courses and new contents to interested professionals -enhance trainers’ ability to apply the innovative TRA/MA training program -increase partners’ professional services by adding the TRA/MA program to their usual services -Validate the project’s result with target group, key actors and stakeholders to share ownership and increase visibility and transferability -increase results transferability by initiating the world-wide register for TRA/MA specialists -enlarge partners’ networks to inform on the new training possibility around the EU (and worldwide). The TRA/MA consortium will define the skills and competences that the TRA/MA should own, the training content with a work-based learning approach necessary to become an effective manager of fashion value chain. The professional called TRANSPARENCY MANAGER works as part of the value chain, offering guidance for improvement from the inside, or a third party assessor. The main task of this new professional is associated with the setting up the value chain to be evaluated with the Fashion Transparency Index such as the ‘ethic meter for the fashion industry, used to give an illustrative look at how much brands know and share about the human rights and environmental impacts across their value chains. https://www.fashionrevolution.org/about/transparency/ Within their area of competence, they determined the need for a TRANSPARENCY MANAGER, such as a professional with the task of ensuring that a fashion brands are moving toward more sustainable and ethic practices, specialised in understating the fashion value chain and ensuring actors operating in to implement and follow ethic, responsible and sustainable practices. In principle, anyone in the industry (designers, CEOs, value chain managers, but also cotton growers, wool-sheep breeders, chemist lab looking for sustainable non biological fibres, logistics…) or willing to work in it, can be certified with the TRA/MA certification scheme, if possessing the right entry level requirements. In the long period, the benefit of this professional can be appreciated also by the fact that more skilled professionals will be entering the job market, with a positive effect on the quality of the labour market, increased employees and employers satisfaction, and an overall increased ability to insert circular economy and ethic practise all along any value chain and industry. The 5 partners represent 5 different countries with different specialization and expertise. They are all experienced in EU projects but some are 1st-timers in Erasmus plus. They will success, in any case, thanks to the firm leadership of the AUEB and the common willingness to offer concreate solutions to make the fashion industry more sustainable and ethical. As mentioned, the fashion industry possess value chain that are globally connected, spread across continents and incurring in all sort of wrong doings (to the planet and its inhabitants). By working together in this proposal they aim at increasing their ability to offer a new timely opportunity to the fashion industry and anyone interested in working in it.<< Implementation >>Under AUEB coordination, the partners will working together, basing their cooperation on a fare division of tasks, based on partners’ specific abilities and professionalism. Dissemination will be ongoing task for the whole project life, under the leadership of WE LOVE YOU COMMUNICATION AB . Among the regular activities performed, there is the online diffusion of information and local visibility and multiplier activities. Quality assurance is monitored by FRAMEWORK. The process involves actively all partners and project’s committees, participants, stakeholders and external experts involved to provide deep analysis and feedback on the prototypes and results, prior wider dissemination or usage. The partners are also working closely with producers of fashion, garments, footwear and textiles and that will contribute and help the partners in collecting and identifying approaches, best practices and tested methodologies on transparency management that could be highly useful for educational material in line with the project idea and scope. During the initial and in depth analysis, the partners led by AUEB will identify case studies and best practices related to fashion houses and brands to analyse their needs and actual value chains. The partners are all in a privileged position to be in already in contact with designers, fashion houses and other clothing producers, that will offer their first hand insights on their difficulties, needs and most importantly will help the partners in shaping the profile of the TRA/MA manager, as they will be the one to employ it. Using the result of the analysis the TRA/MA job profile and curriculum of study is created. Using the TRA/MA curriculum, WLY will guide the partners in preparing the training materials, including online learning, interactive materials for active testing of knowledge and skills, and frontal lessons outlines and the other tools the partners will consider necessary for training the TRA/MA professionals. During the production of the different tools, partners will also work to form a Pan-European network involving all sort of stakeholders (within the fashion industry but also NGOs/associations specialised in sustainability, consumer awareness, non-formal education providers, VET/HEI institutions, HR associations…) with the aim of promoting the new program and increase its visibility. The pilot of the program will last at least 3 months. The pilot testing will consist in a blended learning process, involving expert in the fashion industry or other professional interested in being part of the industry. The aim is for them to offer a real improvement plan, that will foster the subject ability to report better TFindex data. The practitioners’ manual will be tested by the partners’ educators and by at least 6 external experts with different background, while R2 the program will be tested with a group of selected managers willing to operate as fashion value chain TRA/MA. The local phase of piloting will take place in all partner countries and will involve also global stakeholders and associates (as a mean for ensuring transferability and exploitation after the project end). The participants at the pilot and their trainers are listed in the TRA/MA international register.The partners will contribute in offering a new opportunity in the VET sector, tailored to the fashion sector, that will support VET providers in adapting their training offer to the changing needs coming from society, especially in terms of preparing workers (of any age) to be ready to fight climate change.<< Results >>The project has 4 key results that will be produced during the project, tested in 5 countries and disseminated through a network connected at the global level. By working with several organization across different countries, the partners aim at speeding up the possibility of replication of the project, while making more citizens aware of the issues connected with the fashion industry. This project focuses on fashion only, but similar profiles can be shaped to monitor and improve the transparency of any value chain. The key results can be summarised as R1 TRA/MA curriculum and job profile – and certification scheme. R2 TRA/MA short courses package and interactive resources offering a new flexible and learner-centred way to increase a set of professional competences, during synchronous and asynchronous activities leading the participants in gaining competences and expertise needed to complete their job as transparency manager. By participating at the TRA/MA training, managers, designers and other experts working (or interested to work) in the fashion sectors will gain new skills, competences and professionalism to offer better services to fashion industry, thus contributing in making the system more green and ethic, in particular (as promoted by FR-CZ) professional training with TRA/MA will be able to: •Reveal patterns of transparent disclosure;•Identify emerging themes and trends in industry transparency;•Allow anyone to see where brands stand on transparency compared to their peers;•foster elements of circular economy within the company hiring them and along the value chain R3 The handbook aims at offering VET trainers, coach, HR managers, chamber of fashion representatives, and businesses consultants in the fashion industry, that want to deliver the TRA/MA program, the necessary information and references to run the program smoothly, while offering the knowledge and techniques necessary to foster participants’ development. In addition, in order to support the transparency of the sector, another main result of the project will be the establishment of the TRA/MA REGISTER and network, such a global movement voted to connect transparency managers trained and certified with the results of this project (R1+R2), connected to the fashionrevolution.org network, via project’s partners. The fist members to be enrolled in the REGISTER are those that took part at the TRA/MA pilot training. The ‘owner’ of the REGISTER is the project coordinator that will publish the names of those who are trained with TRA/MA products. The products are free of charge and usable by anyone that makes a formal request to the coordinator. The purpose is to ensure that the training is conducted by qualified operators, with the right competences. For this reason R3 practitioners’ handbook will illustrate how to replicate this program and how to employ the methodology used in R2 (micro-courses, interactive materials, competence certification…) while preserving the standard thus favouring the professionalism of trainees. The consortium will work to elaborate the profile of a new professional that will have the twofold long-term effect: -On SOCIETY new training possibility to any young person in search for professionalism and a better chance of employment at any level of the value chain (producers for textiles, garments, leather and footwear, cotton growers, wool-sheep breeders, chemist lab looking for sustainable non biological fibres, logistics…). Circular economy practices are embedded in the forma mentis of this new professional. -On the FASHION INDUSTRY- as it will push all actors in the supply chain to look for better alternatives to the actual practices decreasing all the negative aspects connected to ethic, responsible and sustainable practices.In this respect, the proposed training solution can be adopted by other industries and can be exported to other value chains, contributing to an overall EU/global improvement in sustainability