ACTE European Textile Collectivities Association 20 Years of

ACTE
European Textile Collectivities Association
20 Years of Innovation
Imprint
© 2011 by ACTE
All rights reserved
Editor European Textile Collectivities Association (ACTE) / www.acte.net
Coordination and supervision Estela Barnet, Oriol; Farro, Fabiana; Marent, Christina; Peláez Mañas, Maria del Mar
Collaborations Ferreira, Manuel; Figuerola Bernal, Oscar; Soler Luque, Miquel
Cover photo Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (mNACTEC)
Night view of the Museum installed in the former building of the steamer Aymerich, Amat i Jover of Terrassa
Archive: mNACTEC. Foto: T. Llordés
Layout Raab, Stefan; playa multimedia, Vienna / www.playa.at
Print IGOL S.A., Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona)
D. L. B-13148-2011
Printed in Spain
Thanks to AMAVE, AITEX, Ajuntament de Badalona, Ajuntament de Manresa, Ajuntament de Mataró, Ajuntament de Sabadell, Ajuntament de Santa Margarida de Montbui, Ajuntament de Terrassa, Carpiformazione, CETEMMSA, CDMT Terrassa, CITTA, Comune di Prato,
COPEVO, FITEX, Foment de Terrassa, IEG Mouscron, INCDTP, INNOTEX, LEITAT, Lille Métropole, Miasta Lodz, Museo del Tessuto di Prato, Next Technology Tecnotessile, Provincia di Milano, Provincia di Novara, Regione Molise, R.S. Ricerche e Servizi SRL, Stad Ronse
ACTE
European Textile Collectivities Association
20 Years of Innovation
Edited by ACTE
Index
Greetings ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
01 The ACTE Network - The vision of the territory ................................................. 13
The origins . ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Lobbying actions ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Actions for preparing and managing projects .................................................................................................................................. 21
Awareness raising actions ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23
ACTE believes in the future of the sector ........................................................................................................................................... 27
The Presidents of ACTE ............................................................................................................................................................................. 28
02 Evolution of the textile-fashion sector: A sectoral Analysis ............................ 31
2.a Evolution of the textile and fashion industry in Europe (1991-2011) . .................................................................................. 32
Eliminating international barriers which affect trade ................................................................................................................... 32
The productive relocation ......................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Evolution in numbers ................................................................................................................................................................................. 36
The territorial incidence of the transformations . ........................................................................................................................... 38
The challenges of the EU-27 ...................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Consolidating a single internal market . .............................................................................................................................................. 44
Access to foreign markets . ........................................................................................................................................................................ 44
5
Consolidation of the textile sector as a safe and clean industry .............................................................................................. 46
Research and development ...................................................................................................................................................................... 47
2.b The textile-fashion industry has a future ............................................................................................................................................ 48
The industry today . ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 48
The fashion system ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 49
The technology and innovation challenge ........................................................................................................................................ 50
Technical fabrics. Lead Market for the EU ........................................................................................................................................... 52
03 Local responses to the transformation of the sector ........................................ 57
3.a Urban transformation ................................................................................................................................................................................... 59
Area Wild and Area Rotondi, Novara (IT) ..................................................................................................................................... 60
Campurbis, Guimarães (PT) . ............................................................................................................................................................ 62
CETI, Lille Métropole / Tourcoing (FR) . ......................................................................................................................................... 64
Gli Abatoni, Prato (IT) ......................................................................................................................................................................... 66
Orbital 40, Terrassa (ES) . .................................................................................................................................................................... 68
Tranformation of the Sabadell City Centre (ES) ........................................................................................................................ 70
TecnoCampus, Mataró-Maresme (ES) . .......................................................................................................................................... 72
3.b Transformation of former textile factories ......................................................................................................................................... 74
3.b.1 Public Facilities and Spaces . ........................................................................................................................................................... 76
Centr’expo, Mouscron (BE) ............................................................................................................................................................... 76
La Vinícola, Santa Margarida de Montbui (ES) . ......................................................................................................................... 78
Vapor Codina, Sabadell (ES) ............................................................................................................................................................. 80
Vapor Gran, Terrassa (ES) ................................................................................................................................................................... 82
6
3.b.2 Culture .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 84
De Ververij, Ronse (BE) ....................................................................................................................................................................... 84
Łódź Art Center, Factory of Art (PL) ............................................................................................................................................... 86
mNACTEC, Terrassa (ES) ..................................................................................................................................................................... 88
3.b.3 Leisure, food & beverage sector ................................................................................................................................................... 90
Manufaktura, Łódź (PL) ...................................................................................................................................................................... 90
3.b.4 Housing . ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 92
At Scheibler’s Lofts, Łódź (PL) .......................................................................................................................................................... 92
Napoleon Annicq-Williams former factory Lofts, Ronse (BE) ............................................................................................... 94
3.c Employment and entrepreneurship policies . .................................................................................................................................... 96
3.c.1 Employment policies . ....................................................................................................................................................................... 98
Aula Activa, Manresa (ES) . ................................................................................................................................................................ 98
Carpiformazione, Carpi (IT) ............................................................................................................................................................ 100
EGF-Project COPEVO (ES) ................................................................................................................................................................ 102
Maisons de Mode, Lille-Roubaix (FR) . ........................................................................................................................................ 104
ACTE: a network for innovation, Catalonia (ES) ...................................................................................................................... 106
Comprehensive Services for the Textile Sector (SIT), Mataró (ES) .................................................................................... 108
3.c.2 Entrepreneurship policies . ............................................................................................................................................................ 110
BCIN, Badalona (ES) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 110
EuraTechnologies, Lille (FR) ............................................................................................................................................................. 112
INNOTEX, Lille Métropole Communauté Urbaine (FR) .......................................................................................................... 114
Centre for Young Entrepreneurship, Ronse (BE) ...................................................................................................................... 116
UP-tex, Lille Métropole / Marcq-en-Baroeul (FR) ..................................................................................................................... 118
7
3.d Technological Centres and Textile Museums in ACTE territories .......................................................................................... 120
3.d.1 Technological and Research Centres ........................................................................................................................................ 122
AITEX, Alcoy (ES) . ................................................................................................................................................................................ 122
EEDRI, Łódź (PL) ................................................................................................................................................................................... 124
CETEMMSA, Mataró (ES) .................................................................................................................................................................. 126
CITTA, Córdoba (ES) . .......................................................................................................................................................................... 128
INCDTP, Bucharest (RO) ..................................................................................................................................................................... 130
LEITAT, Terrassa (ES) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 132
NTT, Prato (IT) ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 134
R.S. – Ricerche e Servizi srl, Prato (IT) ........................................................................................................................................... 136
Fitex, Igualada (ES) . ............................................................................................................................................................................ 138
3.d.2 Museums .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 140
CDMT, Terrassa (ES) . .......................................................................................................................................................................... 140
Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź (PL) . ...................................................................................................................................... 142
Musée du Folklore, Mouscron (BE) .............................................................................................................................................. 144
Musée de la Rubainerie, Comines (BE) ....................................................................................................................................... 146
Museu de la Tècnica de Manresa (ES) ......................................................................................................................................... 148
Museo del Tessuto di Prato (IT) ..................................................................................................................................................... 150
Museo del Tombolo di Isernia (IT) . ............................................................................................................................................... 152
Museo Zucchi, Milan (IT) .................................................................................................................................................................. 154
Vapor Buxeda Vell, Sabadell (ES) ................................................................................................................................................... 156
8
Contacts .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 158
Museums and Research Centres ........................................................................................................................................................... 158
Participating Organisations .................................................................................................................................................................... 160
Glossary .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 164
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 164
Countries ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 164
References ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 165
9
Greetings
The textile and fashion sector has
played a leading role in economic development throughout Europe, leaving behind its footprint in many regions and
cities, to which it provided an “Industrial DNA” which even today remains
active and maintains its strength.
It is a sector which has experimented
a significant restructuring due to economic globalization, which has entailed
many changes in the demands for competitiveness of the businesses and has
given way to a decrease in the relevance
of this sector in terms of businesses
and employment throughout most European countries.
The important links which exist between this industry and the territories where it is located were, in light of
these changes, the ones which motivated a group of Members of the European Parliament, along with several representatives of local authorities from
Portugal and Spain, to initiate a movement to face Community institutions
and demand the acknowledgement of
the relevance of the textile and fashion
sector in the European economy and
to demand the search for organisation
mechanisms for its actors and institutions, as well as policies to enhance
competitiveness and allow the sector to
face the transformations that the new
global market was imposing.
Thanks to this movement, the European Textile Collectivities Association
(ACTE) was created in 1991. Since then
the Association has continued to increase its number of members, its influence and prominence with its proposals
and projects in the transition of the sector from its traditional industrial bases
towards a model of production mainly based on innovation and knowledge.
This book, along with the different activities programmed for the celebration
of the event, manifests ACTE’s will to
continue contributing to maintain the
debate regarding the future of the sector and the industry in general in Europe. All this taking into account that
the evolution the textile sector has suffered is also taking place in many of the
traditional industrial sectors. In short,
to maintain the European industrial
DNA active.
Thus, from these pages I want to thank
on behalf of the entire organisation
the effort, will and conviction of each
and every institution and all the people who in one way or another are a
part of the textile and fashion sector
and of ACTE’s history itself. Here they
will see the result of their work and can
confirm that the future of these industries in Europe is full of challenges, but
is also full of a variety of new opportunities.
Teo Romero, ACTE President
11
01
The ACTE Network
The vision of the territory
13
The origins
To talk about the textile and fashion
sector in Europe is to talk about the development of overseas trade; the origin
of industrialisation on the old continent; the configuration of our modern
cities; the inheritance of a very valuable architectural and cultural heritage;
the origin of an industrial DNA that
even nowadays has its character reflected on our economy, our entrepreneurs,
our society. In short, a legacy which is
closely linked to the European economic growth which has taken place over
the last two hundred and fifty years.
However, in the early 1990s, this legacy was under powerful threats. The
number of companies and jobs linked
to the textile-fashion sector diminished drastically, during what was considered to be a structural crisis similar
to the one experienced very recently by
the iron and steel sector. The globalisation of the production and the trading
of textile products seemed to be in det14
riment of the European industry, and
there were many people who, in light of
the perspectives of opening up international markets upon the conclusion of
the restrictions imposed through the
Multi-Fibre Agreement, predicted the
end of this industry on the continent
on which it was born.
It is at that time, specifically in June
1990, when upon the initiative of the
Vice-President of the European Parliament, the Portuguese João Cravinho, and the Spanish Member of the European Parliament Joan Colom, a first
work meeting was held at the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels between representatives of the Association of Municipalities of the Vale
do Ave (AMAVE, Portugal) and of the
Province of Barcelona with a view to
promote the implementation of joint
actions in the field of the development
of European regions which strongly depended on the textile and fashion sector.
After this initial meeting, they agreed
to work towards two lines: extend-
ing the contacts with other textile regions, provinces and municipalities in
Europe to involve them in the projects,
and communicating with the then European Commissioner for Regional Development, Bruce Millan, to obtain the
support from the Commission to hold
a seminar in Guimarães (Portugal) in
the first quarter of 1991, during which
it was forecast to launch a European
organisation of municipalities and regions dedicated to the textile sector.
Thanks to these initial movements, a
second meeting was held in February
1991 in Tourcoing (France) with the
representatives of the Lille development agency. This meeting dealt with
planning contacts with new entities
which were potentially interested in
becoming a part of the future organisation, such as the Communauté Urbaine
de Lille, the development agencies of
Tournai and of Mouscron (Belgium) or
the Nottinghamshire County Council
(United Kingdom).
Finally, on 12 and 13 April 1991, at the
Pousada de Santa Marinha in Guimarães (Portugal), the European Seminar
on “The Textile industry in Europe and
the Regional Development” was held
along with the organisation of initiatives for the creation of ACTE.
One of the conclusions of this event
was the adoption of the Guimarães Protocol as Constitution Act of ACTE. This
session was honoured with the presence of the European Commissioner
Bruce Millan, the Vice-president of the
European Parliament João Cravinho as
well as that of the President of the Republic of Portugal, Mario Soares.
The subsequent meetings which followed the founding encounter in Guimarães that same year (in Terrassa and
Lille), were used to involve the economic and social agents of the sector
in the initiative, as well as to specify
the Statutes of ACTE, which would finally be approved in June 1992, in Lille
once again, during a meeting in which
the Association’s headquarters were set
in Guimarães and its representatives
elected for the first time.
However, the main determination of
the recently created Association was to
promote the start-up of a European Initiative to support the European Textile
Regions.
EU Commissioner Bruce Millan and the President
of the Republic of Portugal Mario Soares during
the seminar in Guimarães in 1991
15
For this, the European Parliament became involved, thanks to the drive of
the MEPs João Cravinho, Joan Colom,
Concepció Ferrer and Gérard Caudron,
as well as also involving the Commission, through the European Commissioner for Regional Development,
Bruce Millan. It was already in 1992
when the European Initiative RETEX
was finally created to support the regions which had been especially affected by the industrial change in the textile and manufacturing sector.
This sector, therefore, managed to obtain an important recognition within
the European regional policies similar
to that of the iron or carbon sector in
their time.
After having achieved the boost from
this initiative and from the process
of preparing the joint candidatures
among the members of the network,
the founding cycle of ACTE concluded
with the solemn session in which the
Notarised Memorandum of constitution of the network was signed on 26
16
September 1992 in Póvoa de Lanhoso,
Vale do Ave Region (Portugal).
So, ACTE was created with a view to
represent and defend the interests of
territorial collectivities and adherent
organisations that represent European
territories with a presence of the textile, clothing, leather, footwear and accessories sectors. Specifically its goals
are:
• To represent the interests and needs
of the member territories before European and national institutions
• To strengthen the links of institutional collaboration and promote an
exchange of experiences among the
members, in areas such as economic promotion, employment, training, culture and development cooperation.
• To promote innovative policies
which allow anticipating and managing the sector’s structural changes
at local and regional levels
Over these years, there have been many
territories and organisations which
have become part of the network, by
presenting their application for membership to the Executive Secretariat
and being subject to the subsequent approval of the Executive Committee and
the Annual General Assembly.
Currently, ACTE has 70 effective members which are mainly comprised of
European local and regional administrations. From the start, ACTE also
wanted to integrate other key agents
such as business and trade union organisations, technological and research
centres, textile museums, etc. To do
so, it created the category of adherent
membership, to which currently more
than 30 member organisations belong
(see map of ACTE members on next
page).
17
It is worth highlighting the main
achievements that ACTE has obtained
within its main spheres of action:
knowledged among European and national institutions as the representative
of European textile-fashion territories.
Lobbying actions
It has consolidated itself as the essential point of contact in the debate on
the future of the sector and the territories undergoing industrial transformation.
In this area, ACTE aims to contribute
to the development and implementation of European and national policies,
to discuss and collaborate with the European institutions, as well as the social and economic agents in representation of the interests of the member
territories.
In this sense, ACTE’s actions have two
fundamental characteristics. Firstly, the
implication of political entities is very
important, as the Association’s tasks
are not only limited to technical aspects, such as design and implementation of projects among members. The
tasks also include defending the interests of the territories which are a part
of the network.
Secondly, this is a network which has
a highly regarded reputation and is ac18
We highlight that the main reason for
which ACTE was created was to have
a lobby capable of influencing and obtaining European funds to support the
European textile territories. Back in
1992, during Pierre Mauroy’s mandate,
and with the start-up of the European
initiative RETEX, ACTE managed to get
the textile and fashion sector to be included within the agenda of priorities
of the European industrial policy.
So, during the first presidency mandate
of Manuel Royes (1993-1996) ACTE
contributed to drafting the Green Paper on European Initiatives. Later, in
1996 during the presidency of Joaquim
Couto (1996), ACTE participated in the
Bangemann Working Groups of the Directorate General of Industry of the European Commission on the textile and
clothing industry, dedicated to External Relations, Competitiveness and
the Internal Market. The Association
also participated in the meetings held
by RETI (Association of European Regions of Industrial Technology) on the
future Structural Funds, Industrial
Change and Cohesion and was member
of the Coalition InTer, the Coalition of
European Industrial Territories. InTer
brought together four European associations representing the textile, steel
producing, mining and technology and
industry territories respectively: ACTE,
CASTer, EUR-ACOM, RETI.
In 1997, with the presidency of Antonio Magalhães the participation in debates was intensified, especially those
regarding the new regional financial
framework of the European Union.
As of 1999, ACTE obtained a more
prominent role in the international
trade area when the president Andrea
Lulli launched the “European Petition
on International Trade”. This initiative’s
main objectives were the respect for
the principle of non-duty barriers, the
protection of intellectual property and
the promotion of tools aimed at guaranteeing respect for the environment
and the fundamental labour rights after the market liberalisation in 2005.
ACTE representatives during the meeting with EU
Commissioner Lamy on 22nd November 2002
After two years of gathering support,
the document achieved 13.000 signatures from more than 130 textile territories and was then presented to the
European Commissioner for Trade,
Pascal Lamy.
One of the most significant achievements of ACTE in its lobbying role took
place in 2003, under the mandate of
Jean-Pierre Perdieu, with the invitation from the European Commission to
become part of the High Level Group on
the future of the textile and clothing sector, in order to identify the problems
this industry suffered and to propose
specific measure to face them.
ACTE became a member along with
representatives of national governments, the European Commission itself and of business and trade union organisations leading the working group
on regional policy. The Communication
of the European Commission “Textiles
and clothing after 2005 – Recommendations of the High Level Group for
textiles and clothing” and the Group’s
final report in 2006 gather some of
ACTE’s proposals with regard to strategic planning or availability of funds
to face the restructuring and modernisation of the textile industry and mitigate the social-economic impacts in
the regions with high concentration
of this sector. Thus, with the creation
of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) in 2006 to support
the workers, especially those in the regions and sectors affected by the opening to a globalised economy, the European Commission responded to one of
ACTE’s demands.
As of 2007, under the mandate of Teo
Romero, ACTE proposed to dedicate
its annual activity to a Thematic Year,
which would identify concrete lobbying
priorities and develop specific interventions for the chosen issues.
So, the network dedicated 2007 to the
theme Fashion and Health, with the
launch, in collaboration with the European Trade Union Federation: Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUF:TCL)
19
of the “Petition for a certified quality.
Transparency, traceability, composition
and origin of textile, clothing, leather and
footwear products” to propose measures
aimed at reducing risks for the health
of European workers and consumers,
derived from dangerous substances in
clothing.
associations and technological centres
from 20 European regions, was presented, among others, to the European
Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Meglena Kuneva, and to the president of the European Economic and Social Committee, Mario Sepi.
Presentation of the Petition by ACTE President
Romero and the ETUF:TCL President and General
Secretary, Valeria Fedeli and Patrick Itschert, on
19th September 2007
President Teo Romero and former Executive Secretary Fabio Giovagnoli with EESC President Mario
Sepi and EESC Member Claudio Cappellini, on 4th
December 2008
The document, which was supported by
public administrations, trade unions,
employers’ organisations, consumer
20
In the same year, ACTE was also invited to participate as speaker in the Euro-Mediterranean Conference on “Textiles and Clothing Sector at the Time
of Globalisation: Managing Structural
Changes and Remaining Competitive”,
organised by DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission in Istanbul.
Aware of the fact that the future of
the sector in European territories depends on innovation, ACTE dedicated
the Thematic Years 2008 and 2009 to
this area and celebrated the Conferences “InTexT – Innovation in textile territories” in Lodz (Poland); “The thread
of innovation” in Terrassa (Spain), with
the adoption of the Terrassa Charter of
the textile and fashion sector, “Crisis
and innovation: a possible pairing?
Announcement of the
Terrassa Conference,
one of the initiatives
of the ACTE Thematic
Year 2008 on Innovation
Good practices and perspectives of the
footwear industry in Italy and Europe”,
in Tolentino (Italy) and the “1st International Congress on CSR and Textiles”
in Badalona (Spain).
Upon the invitation of the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change
(CCMI) of the European Economic and
Social Committee (EESC), ACTE participated in February 2009, in a hearing
on “The global financial crisis and industrial changes in the main European manufacturing and services sectors”
to present the challenges of industrial
change in the textile sector from a territorial perspective.
Finally, in the framework of a meeting
held with the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner of Industry and Entrepreneurship,
Antonio Tajani, in September 2010,
ACTE underlined the importance of a
close collaboration between local governments and the European Commission to develop an innovative manufacturing industry with high added value.
joint projects in all spheres of action of
the network.
President Teo Romero and Executive Secretary
Giorgio Silli with EU Commissioner of Industry
and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani, on 17th
Septmber 2010
Actions for preparing and managing projects
ACTE is an ideal platform for implementing transnational projects, as
member territories share many similar
characteristics and, therefore, political
priorities. ACTE deals with searching
for opportunities for collaboration and
co-financing, within the framework of
European and national programmes, of
The Community Initiative RETEX was
one of the first to give a significant role
to local administrations, due to which
many of the network’s members submitted projects to improve the competitiveness of their textile and clothing
businesses or to economically diversify
their territories.
In 1996, the Spanish members of ACTE
obtained approval for the ADAPTEX
project, of nearly 10 million Euros, dedicated to enhancing professional competences and the training of active
workers of the textile and clothing sector.
In 1998, the project “EUROINFOR –
European youngsters in movement for
the European construction” was approved.
The project included the participation
of Portuguese, Spanish and French
members. Another project approved
21
the same year was “DESCUBRE - Lets
take everyone into account to avoid social exclusion”, within the European
Initiative Horizon, with Spanish and
French members.
In 2000, the project “AC_T_E – Territorial Action for Employment” was approved within the framework of the
European Call “Preparatory measures
for a local commitment for employment”, of the Directorate General Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission, which enjoyed the
participation of five Spanish members
and one French, Belgium and Italian
member.
gramme – town twinning: “Inclua –
Working together for the inclusion of
immigrants”, led by AMAVE with the
participation of 14 members of the
network from five different countries.
The Comune di Prato (Italy) took on the
leadership of the project “Twintex Museums - Twinning Textile Museums”
to debate on the strategic role of textile museums in the process of economic and social transformation of urban
centres and the transition of industrial
districts towards the knowledge-based
economy.
During 2005, the Local Strategic Textile
Plans were carried out in the Spanish
member territories. The methodology and conclusions of these plans were
transferred to the rest of the members
of the Association.
In 2006, two projects were implemented within the Europe for citizens pro22
Final Conference of Twintex Museums Project
“Towards An European Textile Identity”, on 30th
March 2007 in Prato
The Eurotex ID project, carried out between 2008 and 2010 and co-financed
by the Culture Programme 2007-2013,
was the natural continuation of the
Twintex Museums project and the consolidation of the networking between
the members museums of ACTE. Led
by the Museo del Tessuto di Prato, the
project aspired to rediscover and reinterpret the textile industry of the
19th and 20th centuries by establishing
a digital database of the textile samples
of several textile museums.
In 2009, six Spanish members of the
network promoted the project named
“ACTE: a network for innovation”,
co-financed within the framework of
the ESF operational programme of
Catalonia 2007-2013. The main objective was to consolidate ACTE as a network for cooperation between territories that have undergone significant
processes of industrial change and
have opted for integrating innovation
in their local economy.
Since 2009, the Comune di Prato is leading a project named “Texmedin – Textile and apparel Euromediterranean
heritage for innovation” with the participation of nine members from Italy,
Spain, Greece and France. Co-financed
by the MED programme, this project
aims to create a transnational cluster to
enhance competitiveness of the member territories in the textile and clothing sectors, promoting quality, design
and innovation.
Awareness raising actions
ACTE and its members are aware of
the importance of promoting external
communication of the realities of the
territories involved, through international conferences, media presence and
publications.
Over the years, ACTE has organised
several seminars and conferences, coinciding with the celebration of General Assemblies or Executive Committee
meetings, that have allowed to disseminate the network’s messages and experiences regarding the future of the textile and fashion sector.
Let us mention some of these events
since the foundation of ACTE:
1991
The textile industry in Europe and the
regional development, Guimarães (Portugal)
1992
Restructuring in the textile sector and
industrial diversification, Guimarães
(Portugal)
États Généraux on difficulties of the
European textiles regions, Roubaix
(France)
Participants in the États Généraux, 19th June 1992
in Roubaix
1993
The European Social Policy, Guimarães
(Portugal)
1994
Training, Employment and Competitiveness in the European textile-clothing sector: the role of local administrations, Terrassa (Spain)
1996
Regions affected by the reconversion
of the textile and clothing sector: new
forms of employment, Carpi (Italy)
23
1997
Presentation of the study “The textile
sector: a territorial approach” in the
framework of the ADAPTEX project
2007
Fashion and health: challenges and opportunities for Europe, Carpi (Italy)
Final Conference of the Twintex Museums Project: Towards a European Textile Identity, Prato (Italy)
1998
The future of the European Structural
Funds as of 1999, Nea Ionia (Greece)
1999
The Future of Textiles and Clothing in
European policies. A territorial network for an innovative textile industry, at the European Parliament, Brussels (Belgium)
2000
The textile sector has future. Action
plan for the next decade?, Tourcoing
(France)
2003
ACTE: for a European Textile Strategy,
Barcelona (Spain)
24
Participants in the ACTE General Assembly of
Biella, on 10th April 2003
2004
The textile and clothing sector in the
new Europe: risks and opportunities,
Sabadell (Spain)
2005
Presentation of the results of the
project “Local Strategic Textile Plans”,
Igualada (Spain)
2006
Inclua – Working together for the inclusion of immigrants, Guimarães (Portugal)
2008
InTexT – Innovation in Textile Territories, Lodz (Poland)
The thread of innovation, Terrassa
(Spain)
2009
Crisis and innovation: a possible pairing? Good practices and perspectives of
the footwear industry in Italy and Europe, Tolentino (Italy)
1st International Congress on CSR and
textile sector, Badalona (Spain)
2010
Future strategies in the European textile cities. Reinventing the European
industrial DNA, Igualada (Spain) in the
framework of the European Summit of
Local Governments
the 21st century opens new and encouraging perspectives for the European industry, as nowadays, textile is not only
still very present in our lives, but it is
discovering new materials and applications which enable it to extend its use
to many other areas, such as medicine,
transportation or agriculture. After the
signing of a memorandum of understanding between ACTE and lille3000,
in December 2010, the new edition Futurotextiles 3: Surprising textiles, design
and art will be presented in different
members cities as of 2011: Barcelona
and Córdoba (Spain), Prato (Italy) and
Ronse (Belgium).
Executive Committee meeting on 28th May 2010
in Guimarães
Currently, one of the most powerful projects with regard to the awareness raising of the population is the Futurotextiles exhibition. Created in 2006
upon the initiative of lille3000 (France),
this touring exhibition is a magnificent
expression of how the textile sector of
25
To this end, ACTE created a working group joint, so far, by representatives of the contests Riccione Moda
Italia, Moda Movie, Play Trend and
Texmedin Design Challenge (Italy),
Badalona Moda, Concurso de Jóvenes
Diseñadores
Andaluces,
Concurso de Diseñadores Noveles de ASINTEC (Spain) and the vocational school
CENATEX (Portugal).
Likewise, in 2010 ACTE set the cornerstone for the organisation of a European Contest of Young Designers which will
bring together the different competitions developed by ACTE’s members to
award and acknowledge young designers.
26
The European Contest, with its first edition taking place within the framework
of Riccione Moda Italia in July 2011, will
strive to promote creative talents as an
essential element for textile knowledge
and creativity no to be lost in European territories. The event will be organised alternately in the framework of the
regional competitions in order to guarantee the link between talent and territory.
Members of the ACTE Working Group “Promotion
of Young Designers”
Awarding Ceremony of the Badalona Moda
Contest, one of the ACTE competitions, on 9th July
2009
ACTE believes in the future of the
sector
ACTE faces the future with great optimism. The consolidation of the network, which is paired with the progressive expansion towards new territories
and new countries, such as those in
Central and Eastern Europe, coincides
with a moment in which the look at the
textile-fashion sector has changed in
many aspects.
On the one hand, the industrial tradition of a territory becomes a significant economic and social asset. From
an economic point of view, the entrepreneurial spirit which was always one
of the main characteristics of the sector can be observed in the capacity to
reinvent the local economy and business community, as well as in the perfect symbiosis between the inherited
heritage and the new uses linked to the
knowledge society.
From a social point of view, the textile past of a territory no longer adds
a negative stigma; it now reflects a factor of cohesion and generation of identity and self-esteem for the population.
On the other hand, it has at last been
understood that the economic globalisation process is paired with unavoidable adjustments in productive sectors, and the textile and fashion sector
is no exception to these adjustments.
This is why the attention and efforts of
the sector’s agents have focused on recognising and valuing the evolution of
many companies towards a production
of higher added value and technological advancement.
This evolution allows these companies to compete in international markets in a way which is more interesting
and convenient: with quality and innovation.
a more positive image of the textile sector.
ACTE will, therefore, continue its mission to bring territories and economic
and social agents together to pursue,
strengthen and promote the textile
and fashion industries, to preserve and
evolve the industrial DNA of Europe
for many years to come.
In a very educational and tangible manner, the Futurotextiles exhibition shows
the many different fields and applications with high added value of tomorrow’s textiles and contributes towards
27
Pierre MAUROY (FR)
Mandate: 1991-1993
President of the Jean-Jaurès Foundation
President of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole
Mayor of Lille
Prime Minister of France
The Presidents of ACTE
Manuel ROYES (ES)
Mandate: 1993-1996 and 2000-2003
Delegate of the State of the Barcelona Free Zone Consortium
President of the Barcelona Provincial Council
Mayor of Terrassa
Deputy of the Parliament of Catalonia
Joaquim COUTO (PT)
Mandate: 1996
Deputy of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal
Civil Governor of the District of Porto
Mayor of Santo Tirso
President of AMAVE (Association of Municipalities of the Vale do Ave)
António MAGALHÃES (PT)
Mandate: 1997
Mayor of Guimarães
Member of the General Council of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities
Deputy of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal
President of AMAVE (Association of Municipalities of the Vale do Ave)
28
Andrea LULLI (IT)
Mandate: 1998-1999
Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development of Prato
Deputy Secretary General of the Chamber of Labour of Prato
Member of the Secretariat of the Trade Union of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear Workers (Filtea –
CGIL)
Jean-Pierre PERDIEU (BE)
Mandate: 2003-2006
1st Deputy Mayor in charge of Education of the Municipality of Mousrcon
Chairman of the IEG Mouscron
Member of the Walloon Parliament
Member of Belgian House of Representatives
Teo ROMERO (ES)
Mandate: 2007-2011
Deputy of Economic Development of the Barcelona Provincial Council
Mayor of Sta. Margarida de Montbuí
President of the Catalan Fund for Development Co-operation
President of the Confederation of Funds for Cooperation and Solidarity
29
02
Evolution of the textile-fashion sector
in Europe: A sectoral Analysis
31
2.a Evolution of the textile
and fashion industry in Europe (1991-2011)
The European textile and fashion industry has faced radical transformations over the past 20 years due to the
combination, among other factors, of
technological changes, the evolution of
production costs, the increase of foreign competitors and the total elimination of commercial barriers1.
The most important event of this period has been the total liberalisation of
textiles markets since 1 January 2005.
Since then, there are no barriers or limitations to imports, on the contrary to
what has been happening over the ten
previous years, in which there had been
many set quotas and contingencies.
Logically, the consequence was a mass
input of products mainly from China,
which inundated the European markets and those of the rest of the world.
European companies have had to face
32
the competition of companies located in countries which enjoy much lower production costs and much slacker
laws with regard to environment,
health and occupational risk matters.
More so, the increase in value of the
Euro against the Dollar has affected the
competitiveness of the companies and
has made their international projection
more difficult.
We need to add to all this the unfair
competition with the European market
place (shadow economy, dumping, violation of intellectual property rights)
and the change in mentality and purchase habits of the consumers, who
now value lower prices in textile products.
trade agreements among the member
states. In this sense, the WTO, which is
comprised of 153 states, has the specific objective to reduce or eradicate international trade barriers. China became a
member in late 2001.
Eliminating international barriers
which affect trade
The textile industry in developed countries has been a sensitive sector, which
has been socially and politically protected. This is why the rules regarding free trade which were signed at the
GATT, predecessor of the WTO, were
never applied. In 1974, the GATT established the Multi-Fibre Arrangement
(MFA), which regulated global trade
in the textile and clothing sectors between 1974 and 2005, setting a quota
system to restrict the quantity of textiles and clothing articles which could
legally enter into the Canadian, American, European and Norwegian markets.
In 1995, the WTO (World Trade Organization) was created, this is a multilateral body which defines the rules of trade
between nations and supervises the
Developed countries agreed to gradually eliminate this agreement until
1995, when with the WTO, they started
an implementation process of the new
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
(ATC) of the WTO. This was the start
of a gradual elimination process of the
quotas, which took place in four stages and ended on the last day of 2004.
The elimination of the quotas entailed
a worldwide reconversion of the sector,
with its sight set on Asia and, especially, on China.
Even so, the Agreement reserves until 2017 the right to impose restrictions on goods imported from China if
these cause “distortions in the market
place”.2
The full application of the ATC has
caused the EU textile industry to seek
new solutions in order to survive the
ever-increasing Asian competition, as
it is impossible to compete with their
prices. Therefore, the textile industry
is focused on transforming production
in order to achieve higher added value,
by means of innovative designs, better
quality raw materials and paying attention to a market place which cares for
more than just value and price.
Besides trade liberalization and the inclusion of China in the global market
place, there is a third element which
aggravates the situation, and is caused
by the evolution of large-scale distribution in western countries. The large retail chains have made the most of trade
liberalization by purchasing finished
textiles products from less developed
countries.
This enables them to continuously increase the supply and reduce prices,
with the subsequent pressure to reduce
profit margins in the European industry, which is closely linked to a traditional distribution. The result has been
a tendency towards vulgarization of
fashion, saturated by an excessive supply of new products at low prices and
of low quality, in spite of having a correct appearance, as well a continuous
increase of profit margins for the distributors.
Another aspect to keep in mind has
been the constant fall in the strength
of the products and the income of the
European industry, the trade and in-
dustrial profit margins of which they
are a clear cause of deflation. This situation is detrimental for local tailoring
businesses, as well as also affecting all
stages of the process. Normally, when
these are made in Europe or Mediterranean countries, the supply of material
(wires, fabrics, trimmings, etc.) or the
processes involving ennobling or finishing were also carried out within Europe. As the local workshops disappear,
no fabrics are purchased locally, neither
are they printed or dyed in our area,
nor do they use European wires3, causing a chain reaction in which the different textile processes are destroyed.
33
The productive relocation
The textile industry has traditionally
been characterised for being the first
activity which appears in the industrialisation process of a country, due to
the large workforce which is employed
and the simplicity with which the finished products are transported. For
the same reason, we can also state that
it is the first sector to be relocated.4
The globalization of the production
process in this sector started in the
1960s, with an increase in the textile
activity in developing countries due to
the low labour costs.
The MFA restrictions on international trade, mainly with regard to Asia,
pushed transnational companies to
establish their manufacturing centres in South America and Africa, as
these were not affected by the quotas
and could provide similar conditions to
those of the Asian market place. These
conditions include cheap labour and
34
bartering, limited syndicate rights and
slack environmental laws.5
This phenomena was accelerated by the
gradual liberalisation of international
textile exchanges which was completed in 2005, the consideration of China as the new economic power, the inclusion of ex-communist countries in
the global trade market, the creation
of areas of free exchange such as the
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) or the adoption of global supply policies by the large distribution
chains.
In short, during the period between
1991 and 2011, the textile sector has
completed its globalization process by
means of transferring a large amount
of its production to developing countries. Clothing can, therefore, be considered as one of the springboards for
globalization.
An x-ray view of the textile sector in
19906 enables us to observe that the
EEC (with 12 member states at that
time) shared worldwide leadership of
textile and clothing products with the
US, despite the sector’s downturn.
Then, developed countries controlled
53% of global exports, while China and
developing countries, controlled 43%.
Ten years before, this comparison was
62% and 35% respectively (see Figure 1).
The EEC was the first exporter and importer worldwide. The EEC and countries belonging to the EFTA (European
Free Trade Association), which in the
textile scope were a unique space for
free exchange of products, represented
a market place of 350 million consumers, with a global consumption of textile and clothing products in excess of
7 million tons.
However, within the EEC there were
significant differences in the textile/
clothing industries of the member
countries. These differences were due
to the historic development process of
the sector and the policies each country
had adopted.
The added value in thousands of millions of ECU7 in 1990, enabling us to
measure the generation of wealth of
the textile and clothing industry of the
EEC in 1990, when it only had 12 members.
Textile
Clothing
Total
%
DE
6.2
10.3
16.5
19.0
BE
1.5
1.5
3.0
3.4
FR
5.6
8.8
14.4
16.6
NL
0.7
0.7
1.4
1.6
IT
11.0
15.7
26.7
30.7
UK
5.5
6.6
12.1
13.9
IE
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.7
DK
0.2
0.6
0.8
0.9
GR
1.3
1.1
2.4
2.8
PT
1.2
1.1
2.3
2.6
ES
3.1
Total
36.5
3.6
50.4
6.7
86.9
7.7
100.0
Table 1: Added value in 1990 (thousands of millions of ECU), Source: Fabregat, V. (1997)
The fact that China has become the
country which has received more
investment from the textile sector
over the past 20 years corroborates
the change in strategy of the large
transnational brands. In global terms,
China has gone from exporting 9% to
30% of the worldwide production and
developed countries have gone from
62% to 35%. Developing countries, first
recipients of the relocation process,
have maintained a third of total exports
of the past 20 years. Figure 1 shows
the evolution of worldwide exports of
textile and clothing products.8
volume of non-manufactured textile
products.
The self-sufficiency ratio increases in
high-standard products and ready-towear garments.
80
Developed Countries
70
Eastern Europe
60
China
50
40
Developing Countries
30
In spite of this, the numbers show that,
after China, the main global exporters are Italy and Germany. According
to the WTO9, Italy exports 6.1% of textile products and 5.8% of clothing products and Germany, 6% and 4.3% respectively.
Spain exports 1.6% and the remaining
1.5% is represented by both of these
States as well as France, United Kingdom and Belgium. Within the framework of worldwide trade evolution, it
is worth highlighting that the sector’s
growth has focused mainly on clothing articles, which has surpassed the
20
10
0
1980
1990
2000
2007
Figure 1: Evolution of exports 1980-2007, Source:
WTO
This is when we come across a dual tendency: On the one hand, Asia as the
manufacturer of large series and, on
the other hand, the proximity relocation or internal manufacturing of small
series with high added value.
This tendency to seek supply markets
which are closer has become a strate35
gic objective of the EU’s public policies,
in order to strengthen relations within
the Euro-Mediterranean area.
At one end of this tendency, with logistical advances and globalization
progress, there is an ever-increasing effect on wages in large-scale manufacturing.
China, the supplier of 34.3% of the
products Europe imports, has also been
affected as its wages have tripled over
the past 2 years, and part of the production has been redirected towards
India, Vietnam or Bangladesh which,
with lower wages to pay, already (along
with other Asian countries) represents
more than 11% of the products Europe
imports.
Therefore, in this context, inflation
and interest rates can easily alter the
competitive situation of the different
agents. The result is that in the lower
range, the European consumer has become used to giveaway prices.
At the other extreme, the acceleration
of renewing the medium and high36
standard collections in favour of proximity relocation (Eastern Europe and
Mediterranean countries) or internal
manufacturing.
This process, which can become more
accentuated in future, is not new, as
over the past decades we have also seen
a process involving regional specialisation.
So, in Europe and Mediterranean countries this process has occurred due to
the policies of the EU countries (especially those who were part of the EU before it enlarged towards the east, EU15) with regard to relocation of some
stages of the production process, basically those which involved a larger
workforce, in neighbouring countries
with lower costs. The creation of clothing garments is the perfect example.
The EU-15 countries have exported fabrics to the countries which belonged to
the Eastern Bloc, who are now members of the EU (EU-27), and Maghreb,
which are subsequently returned to
Europe once they have been manufac-
tured. These countries represent the
other large supplier of the EU, with 25%
of the imported goods.
Evolution in numbers
An element which measures the relevance of the industry within the global
economy is the employment.10 In 1993,
the textile and clothing sectors of the
EU-15 provided 2,500,000 people with
direct jobs.
At the time, this represented nearly
10% of the total sum of the EU’s industrial sector. The total number of business was between 115,000 and 132,000,
with an average of 22 employees per
business.11
During the period between 1988 and
1993, the number of businesses decreased by nearly 10%. The exports
were about 14% of the turnover of the
entire sector, which represented 6% of
the total exports of the EU.12
The employment crisis during the 1990s
was caused by the start of the liberali-
sation process, an increase in productivity and a downturn in consumption.
During the period up until 1993, the EU
already saw a significant reduction in
workers employed in the textile/clothing sectors, with an annual reduction of
around 3.7%. The added value and the
turnover remained unaltered, reaching
about 170,000 ECU.
Therefore, there was an increase in the
turnover per employee due to the improvements in productivity and the relocation process.
The data show that during 1990, Germany and Italy were the two European leaders of the textile sector. Germany based its strategy on a liberal trade
policy and high wages.
The industry tended towards the restructuring of small business, product specialisation, technological improvement and placing the emphasis
on exports. Italy’s industrial sector was
based on a complex network of small
and medium-sized businesses, which
were highly interrelated and had al-
ready become specialised in designer
products.
DE
Textile
Clothing
Total
%
254
185
439
15.3
BE
56
40
96
3.3
FR
185
202
387
13.5
NL
23
10
33
1.2
IT
468
357
825
28.8
UK
216
235
451
15.7
IE
12
11
23
0.8
DK
14
11
25
0.9
GR
51
45
96
3.3
PT
140
45
186
6.5
ES
Total
162
1.581
142
1.284
304
2.865
10.6
100.0
Table 2: Sector occupation 1990, Source: Fabregat,
V. (1997)
This enabled them to provide a flexible
and fast response to market demands.
As seen before, the two countries also
occupied the first places in world trade.
Germany was the largest exporter of
manufactured textiles, while Italy was
the third. With regard to clothing garments, Italy was in second place and
Germany was sixth. On the other hand,
United Kingdom and France, traditional powers, had lost their importance.
They had followed a policy based on
large vertically-structured enterprises,
which never rose again.
During those years, new sources of
competitiveness had already started
to appear. The EU-15 already considered that the progress taking place in
developing countries would create significant expectations for new markets
which were eager for European products.
Between 1990 and 1995, the European textile industry lost about 600,000
jobs. Between 1995 and 2000, jobs continued to disappear at a rate of about
100,000 jobs each year. In 2000, the industry employed just over 2.000,000
workers.
In the early 21st century, the textile industry’s turnover was 200,000 million
Euros, which represented 4% of the total added values of the EU and 7% of the
37
total manufacturing industry. 2001 and
2002 were very difficult years for the
textile and clothing industries. Production and employment went down by
8.7% and 8.4% respectively. The trade
gap reached 26,200 million Euros. Although the favourable trade balance
in the textile sector represented 7,900
million Euros, the clothing sector had
a negative trade balance of 34,100 million Euros.
In spite of the access limitations, more
than 20% of the production value of the
EU was sold to foreign markets. The obstacles were particularly significant between the larger and more competitive
countries. This is why the EU, in light of
its potential, considered access to foreign markets to be a strategic priority.
In short, the global evolution of the
sector between 1990 and 2007, last
available data, shows a clear decrease in
the importance of the textile/clothing
industry in many European territories,
which years before had been important
players within this sector. In this sense,
the EU-27 shares challenges regarding
38
the acceleration of the relocation processes, the loss of jobs and the need for
industrial restructuring.
Table 3 shows the evolution during this
period in terms of number of businesses, employment, turnover and exports.
Magnitudes
Businesses
Employment
1990
1995
2000
2007
156
132
116
99
3.289
2.549
2.187
1.558
Turnover
195
186
199
189
Exports*
22,8
27,2
37,9
33
total industrial employees and the density of employees of these sectors within the different EU27 regions for two
reference years (2000 and 2007).
An analysis of the maps (see Figures 2
and 3) allows us to grasp the relevance
of the textile sector as a whole, within
the industrial employment of the European Union.
The territorial incidence of the
transformations
Between 2000 and 2007, there has been
a downturn from 62 regions in which
the textile, clothing, leather and footwear industries created more than 10%
of the industrial employment to 48
regions in 2007. Of these regions, in
2000, 27 of them reached 20% and at
this point only 18 of them reach this
percentage.
In order to identify geographically the
textile, clothing, leather, and footwear
territories at European level, ACTE has
elaborated a series of maps at NUTS2
level (regions) based on statistic data
facilitated by Eurostat. The maps illustrate both the share of these sectors in
In the EU-27, the most significant
manufacturers of textile and clothing
products also happen to be the five
countries with the highest population.
That is, Italy, France, United Kingdom,
Germany and Spain. They comprise 75%
of European manufacturing of textile
Table 3: Evolution of the Textile Sector in the
EU-15 1990-2007, Source: Lleonart, P13 (2009)
* Turnovers and exports extra to the EU (1,000 M. €)
and clothing products. Geographically,
clothing
garments
are
mainly
manufactured in southern countries,
such as Italy, Greece and Portugal, and
some of the newer member states, such
as Bulgaria, Poland and, to a lesser
extent, Spain and France.
Whereas, the highest contribution towards the manufacturing of textile
products is made by northern countries, such as United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria
and Sweden.
In this sense, Italy and Germany have
developed different strategies in order
to adapt to the new situation. Italy, in
spite of its high labour costs, maintains
the second place for worldwide exporters, thanks to the success of its sectoral strategies.
The Italian model is based on the flexibility, specialisation and competitiveness of its industrial districts, among
which we highlight Prato.
The Italian textile industry is comprised of 45 industrial districts, which
are much larger and have a very high
level of specialisation.
Germany started its adaptation process in the 1970s. The first step was to
relocate part of its production to Eastern European countries, which are now
members of the EU-27.
At the same time, it used its vast network of technological centres to promote continuous product innovation,
which has increased the added value of
its products.
It is precisely in two Eastern European countries, Bulgaria and Romania,
where we come across regions in which
the industrial sector surpassed 20%
back in 2000.
In 2007, 11 of these regions are still
above 20% and 3 are between 10 and
20%. On their part, the EU-15 had 10
regions in which the textile, clothing,
leather and footwear industries surpassed 20% in 2000. Seven years later,
there were four, three of which were in
Italy and one in Portugal.
If we analyse the relevance of the jobs
according to regions grouped into
member states, we will see that a high
percentage of textile business in industrial areas means that this industry is
the most important. Whereas, for lesser developed countries, it represents
the main source of employment. However, the total importance of the different Italian regions shows a country
with a strong textile industry, located
in the framework of a developed country which contains a great diversity of
industries.
In 2007, of the eight Romanian regions,
seven of them were in excess of 20%
and one was very close to reaching this
percentage. The workforce employed by
the sector within the country added up
to a total of 375,095 workers, most of
which worked in the clothing or leather sectors. In seven years, this country
has lost 25% of jobs within the textile
industry, and therefore, is a good example of the impact the elimination of
the trade barriers and importing Chi39
Figure 2: Share of the textile, clothing, leather and footwear employees in total industrial employees. EU(27). NUTS 2, 2000/2007
Source: Diputació de Barcelona. Eurostat. Maps available at the ACTE web site: http://www.acte.net/content/links/maps.htm
40
Figure 3: Density of textile, clothing, leather and footwear employees. EU(27). NUTS 2, 2000/2007
Source: Diputació de Barcelona. Eurostat. Maps available at the ACTE web site: http://www.acte.net/content/links/maps.htm
41
nese products into Europe have had on
this relocation area.
With regard to Bulgaria, out of six of
the country’s regions, four are above
20% and two are on the verge. The sector’s workforce is comprised of 171,616
workers, most of which are in the clothing sector (78.7%).
These numbers confirm that Romania
and Bulgaria are countries which receive productive relocation for manufacturing clothing garments within the
Euro-Mediterranean area.
Unlike all other EU States, Bulgaria has
increased its workforce within this sector, currently employing 6,478 workers. However, in percentages, there is
a slight decrease due to industrial diversification within the country during
this decade.
In 2007, only the Łódzkie region in Poland has maintained its textile industry
above 20%, which in numbers represents 63,598 workers. In 2000, Poland
had 11 regions between 10 and 20% of
42
the occupational industry dedicated to
the textile sector.
These 11 regions are now between 5
and 10%. The workforce of these 11 regions and Łódzkie added up to a total
of 318,769 workers, which by 2007 had
gone down to 227,247.
Poland has, therefore, reduced its workforce in these regions by a third. Most
of this industrial workforce is dedicated to clothing, although textile is also
quite important in the country.
In 2007, Greece had two regions with
more than 20% of the industrial employment dedicated to textile and
clothing and four regions which were
between 10 and 20%.
In numbers, however, this only represented a workforce of 58,278 workers,
most of which worked in the clothing
sector. The most surprising case is that
of Dytiki Makedonia, a region where
60% of the workforce was dedicated to
the textile industry and, especially, to
the clothing sector, which represented
6,561 workers of the 6,678 of the entire
sector.
In numbers, the sector has gained importance with regard to 2005, although
not with regard to percentages. This is a
very modest and rural region, of which,
unfortunately, there is no data for year
2000.
Portugal’s textile industry is mainly located in the northern area of the country. It employs 189,545 workers, this
represents 45.5% of the total industrial occupation. The workers are divided
into 47.5% dedicated to clothing, 30.4%
to textile and 22.3% dedicated to leather and footwear. The sector has become
smaller and has lost nearly a quarter of
its jobs since 2000.
From the 20 regions in Italy, six of them
represented more than 20% of the industrial jobs within the textile sector
and five of them represented between
10 and 20% in 2000. In 2007, only three
regions had maintained themselves
above 20% and eight were between
9.5% and 20%.
However, in numbers, the workforce is
very important. The sector has adjusted
to changes, in spite of losing 25% of the
workers. In 2007, Italy provided jobs for
590,409 workers in these regions, while
in 2000 they employed 780,061.
cluding the textile and clothing subsectors.14
800000
Belgium
700000
UK
600000
Poland
500000
400000
Northern Portugal
300000
In 2007, Italy had reached a balance
among textile (35.8%), clothing (37%)
and leather-footwear (27.2%) subsectors with a strong industry linked to
the fashion system (clothing and footwear).
Finally, we reach the situations in
Spain, Belgium and United Kingdom,
which suffered a significant decrease
in terms of occupation in the textile,
clothing and leather sectors.
Spain, in 2007, employed a workforce of
133,468 people. Catalonia, with 58,290
workers, is the region with the most
workers in absolute terms. Between
2000 and 2007, Catalonia lost nearly
40% of its workforce in the sector, in-
Bulgaria
200000
Romania
100000
0
de-Calais (France), we come across one
of the most traditional textile industries. This area has suffered a decrease
of around a third of the employment,
which is currently employing 30,924
people, to which we can add 17,354 from
North Calais.15
Italy
2000
2007
Figure 4: On the evolution of occupation grouped
into States, Source: Lleonart, P. (2009)
The cases which are worth highlighting are United Kingdom and Belgium.
In United Kingdom, six regions were
above 10% of the industrial occupation
and one was above 20% in year 2000,
employing a total of 210,695 workers.
In 2007, six of these regions were between 5 and 10%. This sector has lost
75% of its occupation. In the Belgium
regions of east and west Flanders,
which is on the border with Nord-Pas-
To sum up, and from a different perspective, if we take into account that
all regions with more than 40,000 jobs
within the textile industry are also
above 9.5% industrial occupation of
this sector compared to the total. In
2000, there were 23 European regions
with an occupation in excess of these
numbers, while in 2007 there were only
18. Of these 18, three are in excess of
100.000 workers, Northern Portugal
and Tuscany and Lombardy, in Italy.
43
The challenges of the EU-27
Despite the challenges, Europe defends its textile and clothing industry, adapting itself to modern times.
In this sense, the four main challenges
which the EU must currently face are:
the consolidation of the single internal market, access to foreign markets,
the consolidation of the textile industry as a safe and clean sector and the
promotion of new research and development.16
Consolidating a single internal market
Nowadays, the textile industry still
represents a significant part of the European manufacturing industry and
plays an essential role in the economy
and wellbeing of many territories within the EU-27.
In accordance with the latest available figures (Table 4), in 2006, in the
EU, there were more than 220,000
business which employed nearly
44
2.500,000 workers and had a turnover of about 190,000 million Euros.
The textile and clothing industries represent 3% of the total added value of
the EU’s manufacturing industry.
The structural numbers show the
achievement of one of the EU’s main
objectives, creating a single market.
This is a great success, as it has an everincreasing direct impact on the population and businesses within the EU.
Number of businesses
Turnover (in millions of €)
Production value (in millions of €)
Value added to the cost of the factors (in millions of €)
Dirty surplus of operating (in millions of €)
Number of people employed
Apparent productivity of the work
Gross operating rate (%)
2006
223.012
188.110
176.092
52.820
16.369
2.448.700
21,6
8,7
Table 4: EU-27 Structural data of the textile and
clothing sector, Source: EU
This impact is reflected in terms of improved employment and trade oppor-
tunities, a larger range of goods and
services, lower prices, consumer information and protection, labour mobility
and international competitiveness.
This single market has enabled the development of European directives regarding labelling, marketing and the
use of certain dangerous substances and the azo dyes, which are also involved in the textile sector.17
Access to foreign markets
The textile and clothing sector of the
EU-27 maintains second place for
worldwide exports with 29%, without including internal trade among EU
member countries.
Therefore, despite the difference in labour costs, the EU industry is still
competitive due to higher productivity and aspects such as innovation,
quality, creativity, design or fashion.
While in the domestic market, EU operators face the intense and ever-increasing competition of the entire
world, many export markets are still
closed-off due to a wide range of cus-
toms and non-customs barriers. However, in 1999, the EU industry managed
to export 17.4% of its turnover to third
countries.
Imports
Exports
Balance
2005
67.378
32.594
-34.784
2006
75.362
34.583
-40.779
2007
78.966
36.012
-42.954
2008
79.318
35.805
-43.513
%*
17,7
9,9
Table 5: EU-27 foreign trade of textile and
clothing (millions of Euros), Source: EU
* % of growth 2005/2008
In this context, the trade flows have developed as follows:
The imports show a steady increase,
reaching 79.2 billion Euros in 2008. The
suppliers for the EU, as mentioned previously, were China (39%), followed by
Turkey (14%), India (7.7%), Bangladesh
(6.3%) and Tunisia (3.6%).
The exports, after suffering a recession in the late 20th century, have increased over the past few years. They
reached 35.7 billion Euros in 2008. Russia, with 11.9% of the total exported
goods, is the country to export the largest amount of textile and clothing articles. Followed by Switzerland (11.7%),
the US (10.7%), Turkey (5.6%) and Tunisia (5%). Morocco and Ukraine are also
important export markets.
In total, 15% of the EU’s exports were
for the Euro-Mediterranean area,
where the EU industry has developed
strategies for outsourcing manpower
for intensive operations such as manufacturing clothing.
In the current times of ever-increasing
globalization and liberalisation, and in
view of the internationalisation strategies of the EU’s industry, the trade policy plays a decisive role in giving the
industry an adequate framework of
conditions which will allow it to grow
in global markets. For this reason, the
Directorate General for Enterprise and
Industry of the European Commission
works closely with all the activities related to trading textile and clothing
products.
One of the great challenges is the difficulties the EU faces when trying to
access foreign markets. The duties of
most of the EU’s trade partners are still
exceedingly high and the non-duty barriers in the textile and clothing sectors represent a significant deterrent
for small and medium-sized businesses
when wanting to participate and benefit from international trade. The EU has
proposed harmonising standards and
increase transparency with regard to
certain obstacles such as labelling, procedure conformity certificates, and restrictions for exports or registering importers.
The access into the emerging economy
markets, where the working class is increasing, is of great strategic importance for the EU, as these represent a
market place which is aware of quality,
and in this segment the EU has a competitive advantage.
The development of the Euro-Mediterranean area would improve competitiveness of the textile and clothing
sectors in the region. The EU’s textile
sector has a very important industrial
45
policy which is focused on holding talks
with the Euro-Mediterranean area.
This area also plays a strategic role as a
means to maintain geographic proximity with the entire production chain of
the textile and clothing sectors.
Also, the compliance with the current
WTO agreements (Doha Program) will
allow EU products to access markets
which are currently closed or very protected. While free trade agreements
with high potential markets, such as
South Korea, India and Mercosur will
open other potential markets.
Due to all this, access to markets represents a priority for the common trade
policy of the textile and clothing sector.
In general it is recognised that global
trade of textile and clothing products
must be bidirectional. The European
Commission has invited its trade partners to initiate negotiations in order to
enable two-way access to the markets,
if they want to improve access to the
EU market, they must also be willing to
liberalise their markets. In this sense,
46
the policies for prosecution of dumping
and of more or less evident subsidies
represent a priority for the European
Union, as these distort competition,
under similar conditions.
One of the most important threats for
the EU industry is the violation of intellectual property rights, as well as
product or brand piracy. The protection of intellectual property rights and
the struggle against fraud is carried out
at the European Anti-Fraud Office. According to estimates from the OECD,
8% of worldwide trade is comprised of
falsified products. The fact that quality,
design, creativity and fashion are basic
competitive advantages in the textile
industry of the EU explains the priority
which is given to fighting against forgery, piracy of copyright information,
registered brands, patents and industrial design rights. In order to reduce
this illegal trade, the EU has initiated
legislative, political and sensitisation
measures, an action plan for duties,
and also bilateral action and dialogue
plans with countries which do not belong to the EU.
Consolidation of the textile sector as
a safe and clean industry
The aim, in this case, is to identify the
European textile and clothing sector as
a safe and clean industry. This identification will favour production and distribution of high-quality European
products throughout the entire world.
In this sense, there are several guidelines referring to environmental protection which directly affect the European textile and clothing industry,
such as waste management, industrial
emissions, and the use of chemical substances or products which have ecological labels.
The Directive concerning integrated pollution prevention and control
(IPPC)18 of 2008 is focused on reducing
pollution from several industrial sources to a minimum level throughout the
entire European Union. Another Directive regarding the textile industry is
the one which controls the maximum
emissions of greenhouse gases.
This legislation19 affects all facilities
with a total thermal power in excess of
20 MW. This is a situation which mainly affects a few large textile industries.
A third provision is the Regulation
for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals
(REACH)20 in force since 1 June 2007,
and affects the textile industry for using a wide range of chemical products.
This regulation is yet another risk in as
far as significant increase of costs or
removal of certain products from the
market place. The sector is also affected by the directive regarding biocides21
when this type of product is added to
the textiles to provide them with certain properties, such as insect repellent
or for certain allergies.
Since 1999, textile products can be labelled with an eco-label. This label
guarantees that the use of products
which are harmful to air and water has
been limited during the fibre manufacturing process, that the risk of allergic
reactions has been reduced, that the
product will not shrink more than normal products and that the colour is as
resistant to washing, drying and exposure to sunlight as conventional products. All these provisions must contribute to the transformation of the textile
sector towards segments of added value and stimulate innovation applied to
this sector.
Research and development
This is precisely the base from which
the textile and fashion sector project
themselves towards the future. Design
and creativity, quality fashion products
and technical products with high added
value have been identified as the main
competitive advantages of these sectors within the EU. In a globally competitive framework, research and innovation are essential elements in order
to continue developing know-how of
the sector and give it a new boost towards a sustainable and competitive
industry. The sector also has an active
commitment within the Lead Market
initiative which aims to provide the
correct measure to impulse the market
of protection textiles.
In this context, the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and
Clothing22 has been created as a network of experts which brings together professionals from the textile and
clothing industry, from the community
of researchers and academics.
A strategic research agenda and the
priorities of the innovation have
been defined to guarantee the longterm sustainable competitiveness of
the European textile and clothing industry. The platform’s main members are EURATEX, TEXTRANET and
AUTEX23, organisations which represent the industries, research centres and universities, respectively.
47
2.b The textile-fashion industry has a future
The industry today
The textile-fashion sector has a bright
future24. Even so, for this to be true
it must be able to compete with third
countries, under equal conditions.
Added value is the future of textile in
Europe.
The quality, innovation at all stages of
production and distribution, the design, the specialisation, the ability to
respond fast; everything which contributes to increase added value of the
end product is the only option in order
to increase the relevance of the European textile and fashion sectors within a
global economy.
The change process is manifested in the
large number of companies grouped
into business clusters; the knowledge
of production processes, products and
markets; the capacity to adapt as seen
during other crisis; and the possibili48
ties for innovation which are provided
by new technologies applied to the sector. The continuous change process surrounding the economic scope is fuelled
by the increase of the globalization
process and the development of knowledge economy. These factors push businesses towards the challenge involved
in trading in international markets.
The relocation of manufacturing units,
especially for businesses which are dedicated to manufacturing basic textiles,
has seriously affected the textile sectors and even more so in territories
with a long-term tradition.
This is why the European authorities
that deal with economic policies have
developed multiple initiatives in order
to encourage small and medium-sized
enterprises to trade in international
markets, and also projects related to
internationalisation and innovation in
companies.
The EU’s current textile and clothing sector is based on small and medium-sized enterprises and it is of great
economical and social relevance.25 The
businesses with less than 50 employees
represent more than 90% of the workforce and produce nearly 60% of the
added value.
In response to the competitive challenges we mentioned in the previous
section, the European textile and clothing industry has undergone a long process including restructuring, modernisation and technological progress. The
companies have improved their competitiveness by a substantial reduction
or elimination of mass manufacturing and producing low quality fashion
products; they now concentrate on a
wider range of products with high added value.
More so, European manufacturers are
world leaders in high-quality fashion
markets and also those involving technical fabrics and “nonwoven” fabrics.
As an example of this market we could
quote industrial filters, geotextile fabrics or products for the automotive industry or the medical sector.
At the same time, globalization and
technological progress have forced the
clusters within the textile and clothing
industry to rethink their strategy.
In spite of still playing an important
role for several activities, local or regional cooperation has become insufficient to ensure maintenance of a close
geographic proximity in the production
chain of the European market.
The concept of cluster tends to change.
If they diversify their activities and are
also based in a larger geographic area,
which is the Euro-Mediterranean zone
with regard to the textile and clothing
sector.
In this context, the future of textile in
Europe is focused on two scopes, the
fashion system and technical fabrics.
Due to this, the EU promotes projects
such as LEAPFROG in the fashion
scope or defines the field of technical
protection fabrics as a Lead Market or
strategic market.
The fashion system
Europe, as a unit, can and must retain
its role and image of worldwide fashion
leader. This is the assertion made by
the High Level Group on Textiles and
Clothing in their vision of the sector’s
future.26
A wider definition of the fashion system includes sub-sectors such as clothing garments (male, female and children), fabrics and wires, footwear,
leather, accessories and personal image. In Europe, the only sustainable
strategy of the sector consists in focusing on innovation, fashion and design,
creation and quality and the use of new
technologies, in combination with positive industrial relations.
An important part of the EU’s production is part of the higher segments of
quality and fashion, where Europe is
the worldwide leader thanks to its competitive advantages. A long-term tradition, product diversity and continuous
innovation causes the public to often
associate European textiles and clothing garments with excellence and higher quality design.
The “made in Europe” label may contribute to increasing the consumer’s
trust which, upon purchasing an item,
pay a price which reflects the higher
production and style levels of the European manufacturer.27
One of the lines within the fashion subsector which has been developed over
the past few years has been mass customisation. Customised clothing garments cover the consumer’s desire to
show a more personal aspect, but at a
price which is lower than the cost of
tailor-made garments.
This allows manufacturers to make the
most of their specialised ability and
their technological experience, creating garments with added value. This
also has positive effects, as it generates
a demand for activities involving creation of fabric and garments within the
same territory as the consumer. Dur49
ing the 5th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development
(1998 – 2002), research projects such as
FashionME, E-Tailor or FashionOnLine
were already implemented and are still
working.
The future of the fashion system, which
includes the textile and clothing industry, will continue to play an important
role within the industrial sector of the
European Union in the year 2020, according to expert’s analysis.28
International trade will continue to
grow, and the European textile and
clothing industry will reduce the volume of its workforce but will improve
its productivity and will increase its
turnover from exports. These exports
will be comprised of high-quality fashion products and technical fabrics.
Europe will maintain leadership in design and distribution within the domestic market and will also benefit from improved infrastructures and
production and distribution networks
throughout the world, where there will
50
also be a growth in the markets and,
therefore, an opportunity for access.
The technology and innovation
challenge
There will probably be a change in the
size of the companies. Until 2005, there
was an average of 15 workers per company. Cooperation among companies
tends to be structured in order to form
larger business groups which have critical mass and implement sustainable
business plans.
Online work is increased and small and
medium-sized enterprises become internationalised and implement standardisation processes which will allow a
decrease in costs, improved quality and
decreased technological and marketing
risks.
The strategic research agenda of the
textile and clothing industry, introduced in 2006, will be fully implemented around 2020. This agenda is currently being developed within the EU’s
7th Framework Programme, which has
been extended from 2007 until 2013.
The three main pillars of the agenda are
to take the step from basic products to
specialised products, new textile applications and evolve from mass production to customised production.
In short, the total number of businesses will be reduced and the average number of worker per company
will increase. This will allow businesses
to access loans and will improve training and investment in state-of-the-art
technology.
As will be explained in the following
section, the growth of new textile applications in different scopes other
than the more traditional ones will increase. In 2005, this already represented 40% of the textile activity in certain EU states. This is a sector which,
as others, demands continuous innovation. Besides innovative and functional applications in protection clothing, the new applications are related to
composites for aeroplane wings, light
non-metallic components for vehicle
motors, medical use and insulation for
buildings or artificial surfaces for practising sports.
In the clothing field, the tendency towards mass customisation provides the
clothing companies with an opportunity to offer the consumer a customised
product and fast service, creating a fabric of their choice, using a style which
has been chosen by means of virtual
technology.
This customisation and automation of
the clothing production have enabled
the EU to be in a much better position
due to reasons involving geographic location and speed of delivery in order to
produce these finished products within the territory, and also to use fabrics
which have been manufactured within the EU. In short, to provide the consumer with a wide range of products at
a fair price.
The automation in manufacturing
clothing garments has been the most
revolutionary development for the
clothing sector of the first decade of the
21st century. The LEAPFROG29 project
aims to achieve a decisive change in the
competitiveness of the European clothing and decrease its dependency on the
workforce cost.
The project, lead by EURATEX, unites a
critical mass of businesses of this sector and research centres. The aim is to
obtain innovative technology within
the clothing industry by means of researching new materials, technologies
and processes, which will allow to prepare the innovative fabric, automated manufacturing, creating 3D images of the garments and the integration
of the supply chain and mass or largescale production.
The success of this project may compensate the advantage the Asian competitors have with regard to workforce
costs. During this decade we may see a
change which will once again increase
the volume of sales of weaves and fabric manufactured within the EU and, in
consequence, an increase in exports.
Evidently, these benefits must be accompanied by policies which do not
hinder international competitiveness.
In this sense, Europe, within a world in
which the technological differences are
becoming less, can and must retain its
image as worldwide fashion leader and
must also continue leading in talent
and creativity.
Its designers must stand out among
the best in the world in all fields (design, innovation, creativity applied to
manufacturing weaves and fabrics)
with the same effort which is put into
the end product. However, this leadership can only be maintained if the collections are continuously renewed.
Most probably, electronic commerce
and mass customisation will help to
stabilise manufacturing within the EU
and maintain or even reinforce leadership in creativity. In any case, the
number of trade fairs will decrease due
to economic conditions, and in this
context new relevance is given to protection of intellectual property rights.
51
If the future of the EU textile and clothing industry depends on innovation
and creativity, there must be effective
protection for these rights due to the
impact it has on the EU employment as
well as the economy.
This protection must be ensured with
regard to the brands as well as the textile designs. The correct policies and
laws must be applied in order to reduce
forgery and piracy to such levels that
the future of the businesses is not endangered.
In relation to the distribution chain,
we find that the product, in light of
the short lifespan of fashion garments,
must come closer to the consumer as
fast as possible. Therefore, distribution
plays a determinant factor.
The fashion scene demands increased
direct control of distribution as well as
increased integration or alliance with
the retailer in order to provide the market with a fast response. The future of
fashion will depend largely on the distribution and marketing process of the
52
emerging businesses, and of the internationalisation process of the established businesses. In this sense, businesses need to continuously control
and improve their management, promotion and marketing.
Technical fabrics. Lead Market for
the EU
Intelligent technical fabrics for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) comprise one of the six strategic market
places (Lead Markets)30 of the European Union. The other five market places
which have been chosen are electronic
health, sustainable construction, recycling, bio-based products and renewable energies.31
A Lead Market is the market of a product or service in a given geographical
area, where the diffusion process of an
internationally successful innovation
(technological or non technological)
first took off and is sustained and expanded through a wide range of different services.
A Lead Market is not necessarily the
country or market where the innovation was first developed, or even used
for the first time.
The PPE market is comprised of clothing and accessories with base textile
systems and related services, their
main function is to protect the user.
These high-technology products are
used in different circumstances, among
which we highlight:
• Military and police personnel who
need high levels of specific protection (chemical, biological or nuclear)
to intervene in situations related to
wars or terrorist attacks
• Professionals and emergency services (fire-fighters and rescue teams)
that need protection for situations
which are dangerous for their health
and personal safety
• Hospitals and production plants in
which the protection against emissions is a demand in order to avoid
bacterial contamination of patients,
health professionals or manufactured goods
The current dimension of the EU market for PPE textile products is estimated to be around 10 billion Euros,
which represents about 200,000 di-
rect and indirect jobs. The forecast for
rapid growth in some part of the world
suggests that the EU’s exports of PPE
products could increase by approximately 50% over the next few years.
The advances in this area include new
special fibres, the use of nano particles and the integrations of micro-electronic components to fabrics as well as
clothing garments.
The expertise of the EU industry in the
field of polymer technology, manufacturing special weaves and fabrics, of
textile finishes and supply of services
will play an essential role in strengthening the leadership of this EU industry in the new generations of PPE
products. The technological advances
from high-technology domains, such
as space or military industries, have a
great potential to be transferred to the
PPE market, including interior textiles
(buildings or automobiles) and consumer products (such as sports clothes,
outerwear and underwear).
As already mentioned in previous sections, the access to international markets, standardisation (and the participation of small and medium-sized
enterprises in the process) and the protection of intellectual property continue to be the three main challenges with
which the EU will be face over the next
few years. The value of the non EU markets is double that of the European
market, this favours the possibility of
the EU substantially increasing its exports.
Geographic relevance of the PPE market value (consumption)
Europe
America
Asia
Remainder
30 %
37 %
27 %
6%
Geographic importance of the PPE market value (production)
Europe
America
Asia
Remainder
35 to 40 %
30 %
30 to 35 %
30 to 35 %
Table 6: Geographic distribution of the PPE market value, Source: Accelerating the development
(2007)
53
The new EU member states, Ukraine,
Russia and Asia are the markets in
which the demand for PPE products increases the fastest.
This Lead Market provides opportunities to the entire textile sector with
transfer of innovations from the protection textile sector towards other
market segments, such as for example
indoor textiles or functional clothing.
This transfer will surely increase the
economic impact of the Lead Market,
and consequently, the know-how and
added value. This in turn will contribute positively to the competitiveness of
the entire textile sector.
In the EU’s 6th Framework Programme
(2002-2006), several research projects
were carried out. These projects had an
important potential impact on equipment and protection clothing: INTELTEX, DIGITEX and pro TEX. The 7th
Framework Programme (2007-2013)
also finances seven projects for a value of 22 million Euros, with 107 members from 21 different states: proFitex
(fire-fighting), Prosys-Laser (industri54
al lasers), Propie (Work clothes: controlling and regulating body temperature), SafeProTex (Rescue operations:
chemical threats and extreme weather
conditions), and Protect (Rescue operations: Mines, fire-fighting…), Desnudo Bug (Insects) and Safe@sea (protection at sea).
According to the European leadership
in terms of quality and innovation, the
textile industry and the scientific community are developing new advances in
the scopes of special weaves, functionality of textile materials and integrating micro-electronic components in intelligent fabric and also in technologies
related to manufacturing, including
prototypes and customisation.
Generating added value in the protection textile area requires a multi-disciplined approach, which ranges from the
knowledge of basic materials (chemical
products and fibres), advanced processing techniques from the chemical and
mechanical sector (including nanotechnology) or microelectronics, even including knowledge of physiology and
human behaviour in dangerous situations.
A situation analysis carried out in 2006
regarding the EU-25 market for applications of technical fabrics was estimated to be around 39.4 billion Euros. By
main uses:
Industrial application of technical fabrics
Wood furniture
Medicine, pharmacy and health care
Rubber
Skin and footwear
Paper and printing
Metal
Machines and tools
Personal protection
Transport
Other
%
15.8 %
8.3 %
8.3 %
4.9 %
4.0 %
3.7 %
2.8 %
20.2 %
21.7 %
9.0 %
Table 7: Applications of technical fabrics according to main uses, Source: EU
The areas with the most important value rates in the EU and the rest of the
world are sports and leisure clothes,
fireproof clothes, “non-woven” weaves
for medical use, high visibility clothing,
bullet-proof, cut-proof and disposable
chemical protection clothes. In 2006,
the exports generated more than three
billion Euros. This represented an increase of more than 6.6% in comparison to the previous year.
55
03
Local responses to the
transformation of the sector
57
Since 1991, ACTE members join their
forces in order to assure that, despite
important restructuring processes,
the textile-fashion sectors remain key
manufacturing industries in their respective territories and in the European Union in general.
This chapter pretends to showcase interesting and innovative responses to
the transformation of the industry carried out in the different ACTE territories.
These experiences are implemented at
local and regional level and range from
the transformation of former textile
factories into cultural, public, housing
and recreational facilities to employment support programmes and innovative entrepreneurship policies within
the textile and fashion industry.
All of them are examples of a successful anticipation and management of
change.
Although many good practices have
been implemented, not all of them
could be compiled. Instead, a selection
58
has been made in collaboration with
members of the network that wished
to contribute experiences and practices considered as representative for the
transformation process within their respective territory.
This compilation of good practises aims
to show how cities and territories have
been transformed emanating from
their industrial past, recognising and
preserving its essence, but investing in
innovation and creativity.
The chapter is organised in four parts
responding to the different kinds of responses to the transformation and evolution of the sector: examples of major
urban transformation projects, innovative transformation of former industrial sites, policies aimed at the support
and training of (laid-off) textile workers and programmes of business and
job creation and, finally, a section dedicated to the work technology and research centres and museums, most of
them adherent members of ACTE, are
carrying out in our territories.
3.a Urban transformation
The landscape of European cities has
changed significantly in the recent
years, responding to the transformation from an industry-based economy
to a service and knowledge-based economy.
Within the ACTE network we can find
examples that reflect the urban transformation aimed at adapting to the
new reality of these environments.
In all, this section includes seven
examples of major urban transformation projects in areas with an important presence of the textile-fashion
sector:
Mataró, Terrassa and Sabadell in
Spain, the Couros Area of Guimarães in
Portugal, Novara and Prato in Italy and
the area of Roubaix - Tourcoing – Wattrelos in France.
We will learn how territories are committed to innovation, new technologies, research and training. Spaces that
were previously devoted to the industry are now dedicated to economical activities and public facilities, integrated in new city models, reusing spaces
or creating new competitiveness poles
benefiting from the expertise and industrial and textile heritage of the territory.
59
Area Wild and Area Rotondi, Novara (IT)
The factory Manifattura Rotondi was
built outside the old town, in the district of San Andrea, in Novara. The reasons it was built there are due to the
existence of large areas available for
factories, a lower tax burden, its location in between the centre and the suburbs which is ideal for workforce employment, and a larger capacity to take
advantage of the piping works of hydraulic and electrical motor strength.
In January 1889, Giovanni Rotondi,
owner and director of Ditta Giovanni
Rotondi e Comp, located in Milan, purchased the plants belonging to the Tintoria Cantoni. To redesign the plants
a modification was carried out to the
plots of land on the western side of the
Via delle Rosette, and a modern network
of railway was laid heading towards the
area of Arona. In 1897, the Tintoria Rotondi was restructured and significantly expanded. In 1902, Giovanni Rotondi assigned to the new Public Limited
60
Company all the land and buildings
which comprised the companies dedicated to twisting, dyeing and whitening cotton thread.
This is when the Società Anonima Manifattura Rotondi was founded. It employed about 1,200 workers and was
one of the largest of its time. Giovanni Rotondi died in 1918, assigning the
management of the company to his
son Emilio. The dyeing company closed
in 1993. Between 1994 and 1998, the
building which housed the old Manifattura Rotondi was refurbished. The building now houses the financial offices of
ENTRATE of Novara and a Sala Bingo
Royal on the ground floor.
The Wild area is located on the northeastern part of the city of Novara. The
construction works begun in 1907,
when the Cotonificio Pozzi of Novara acquired the Ospedale Maggiore della Carità. In 1910, the facilities were sold to
the Manifattura Tosi di Busto Arsizio,
which also owned several other factories in Novara.
In 1913, the Turin industrialist Emilio Wild purchased the entire area and
transformed it into the Cotinificio Wild.
The transformation took 30 years and
concluded by building homes for the
workers. After the Second World War,
it was refurbished, and modern technologies were installed. In the 1950s,
sports facilities were built for the workers. In 1955, the industry employed 210
men and 812 women. The subsequent
years saw a constant increase in production. In the 1960s, there were more
than 1,000 workers employed at the
plant.
As of the 1970s, the production suffered
a progressive decrease, but the structures were kept in good conditions, fitted with all the modern technology and
refurbished as necessary. The definitive
closing down of activities took place in
the 1980s, when the property was di-
vided and some areas were designed to
new activities. As it was located within an industrial area, it was included
within the Urban Requalification Programme. The area suffered a significant
transformation and became an area for
commercial activities and services.
The Recovery Plan for the Wild Area
was included within the framework of
the Requalification Programme, which
included restoring, restructuring and
expanding buildings of historical interest and allowed the demolition of buildings which did not have any historical
value, allowing for new building to be
erected in their place. This way, the concepts of public interest and services for
businesses were emphasized and contributed to the social-economic transformation of the district.
61
Campurbis, Guimarães (PT)
The area of Couros in Guimarães is an
urban area in great need for restoration
and regeneration. This is justified by
the history which flows along its banks,
the secrets kept within the stones of its
walls, the affection of its people and the
singularity of its tanks.
Five principles for restoring Couros:
• Urban integration, in the sense that
the Couros area is an integral part of
the city and its rehabilitation would
give the area a “piece” of zoned and
regenerated land, physically and socially
• Evaluation of assets, identifying and
highlighting the essentially unique
and heritage elements for a better
understanding of its history, reinforcing the affectivity of its inhabitants towards their city and maintaining the excellence and wealth
that the past has managed to build
and uphold
62
• Correcting clashing elements, promoting, toning down or even removing actions and/or omissions which
distort the sense and quality of the
space
• Functional compatibility, updating
the city’s needs, responding to the
new challenges it is faced with, providing the existing buildings with
necessary elements for them to carry out new functions and attractive
and endearing activities
• Creating public spaces, community
spaces par excellence, spaces which
reflect the city’s expressions and its
sense of belonging, of creativity and
democracy
The projects:
Live Science Centre
Set in an old leather factory which
has undergone a rehabilitation process to host a live science centre, science
among aged granite and reinterpreted
wood.
Postgraduate Advanced Training
Centre
Another former leather factory which
has been converted into a centre orientated towards knowledge, providing
complementary postgraduate advanced
training and vocational training.
Design Institute
Design within an old factory or, a new
way of understanding the product in its
global aspect?
This reality becomes clear in the Freitas & Fernandes factory, and once again
the intention to create a public space
and guaranteeing that the water which
flows along the Couros banks will never
reach the institute.
Finally, this is a rehabilitation process
which identifies and defines an area,
having such clarity, that this same area
gains its own autonomy and configuration. Only in appearance and temporarily, because, in practice, once the entire process has concluded what is most
desired is that Couros can simply be a
city.
63
CETI, Lille Métropole / Tourcoing (FR)
Located at the border of the towns of
Roubaix, Tourcoing and Wattrelos, the
to be created Union district aims to
play a major role in the economic development of the North of the Franco-Belgian Eurometropole.
This project plans the urban renewal
and revitalization of Roubaix and Tourcoing: commercial facilities of the town
centres, public spaces, public transport
infrastructures, housing renovation,
etc. Being a new district of Roubaix and
Tourcoing, set up of activities in service
sector will be also necessary to ensure
smooth functioning of the area.
The future Union district will provide
best welcoming conditions to attract
activities in technical and innovation
textile industry, especially in close collaboration with the activities of CETI
(European Centre for Innovative Textiles). CETI is a Research and Technology Transfer Centre for textile of the
64
future, especially for Advanced Textile
Materials, with a European and international dimension.
CETI aims at:
• Supporting and accelerating innovation in the field of textile materials
• Making available and strengthening
necessary competences and equipment for research and innovation
• Supporting and encouraging collaboration between economic and research actors
It is planned that about 30 of the 80
hectares to be laid out in the new district will be devoted to economic development. In terms of construction area,
200,000 m2 out of the total marketable 322,000 m2, will have an economic
purpose. The objective is to create from
3,000 to 5,000 employments.
CETI intends to be a structuring tool
of the UP-Tex of competitiveness
pole. It is funded by the European Union (ERDF), by French public authorities (State, Region, Department of the
North, Lille Metropole Urban community), by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and by the textile industry
(UIT Nord).
CETI has three main characteristics:
• A multi-activities system: CETI will
realize research works, actions of
technological transfer, prototyping,
testing as well as small series production
• A cross-thematic system: CETI will
be opened to a wide range of actors
and high added value applications
from different sectors
• A multi-partner device: many players from the research world and
companies are CETI partners
CETI will have two functions:
• A high level technological platform:
CETI will offer exceptional equipment in terms of technological update and characteristics
• A research centre for new high-added value multifunctional fibres and
for developing new products based
on air laid or dry laid applications
CETI will undertake R&D activities in
three different ways: for own purpose,
in collaboration and for private research. As a research centre, CETI will
accommodate new or already existing
research teams or laboratories.
The attainment of several pilot equipments is under way. Their flexibility,
availability in a single place, as well as
their ability to associate several different processes will definitively constitute major assets for the emergence of
new innovative solutions.
Located at about ten kilometres from
the centre of Lille, the premises of
CETI are currently under construction
and will be completed in June 2011.
The available surface will be 14 600m ²
large, comprising half space for offices
and laboratories and the other half for
pilot equipment shops.
65
Gli Abatoni, Prato (IT)
According to historical research, the
first proof of the presence of a mill
in this area, dates to the year 1003.
Among the earliest hydraulic buildings to be constructed, the official documents recall the existence of the mill
“Abatoni” in the 13th century.
In the 15th century, the inclusion of the
factory of Abatoni in the vast complex
provost of the church of Prato led to a
rapid change in the administration of
a building that needed a more serious
and careful control of the various activities that took place there.
The proximity to an urban centre dedicated to the expansion of its textile
manufacturing industry made all the
more valuable the mills. In the 13th
century the local textile industry became the largest component of the economic system of Prato.
At about the year 1721, the family of the
Counts of Coiano took over the rights
to the property tax of the Abatoni from
the previous family Mugnesi.
The process of renewal and expansion
of the structure made by these two
families since 1700 transformed this
fulling-mill in the most efficient and
productive around the Prato textile district, with a yearly average of over 2000
cloths on behalf of 34 fulled wool workers.
Between the end of 1700 and the 1800
century the structure of Abatoni went
into full ownership of one family, the
Pacchiani.
66
In 1869 the family Pacchiani transformed the factory of Abatoni in the
premises of a multi-functioning woollen mill, called “Mill Pacchiani”, and
divesting definitively the use of the
wheat mill.
The change was embodied in a new
management of the space, by lowering
the premises for residential purposes.
The textile industry in the factory of
Abatoni terminates definitively in
2001.
In the early 1970s of the last century a
debate arose about how to re-use these
areas, generated by the first relocation
of industries in areas that once were on
the suburbs of towns and that, due to
the large post-war urban development.
The urban regeneration of the disused
former factory of Abatoni has initiated
the project of the “Citadel 1”. The goal
was to return to the city an area that,
given it character and location is in a
strategic point of being between the
scale of the neighbourhood and the urban sphere.
The recovery program includes three
main elements:
• The transformation of the former
factory into a new centre at the
neighbourhood level that has its
core elements in the mill and the
area of thrush (Citadel 1)
• The establishment of new residential buildings envisaged by the road
map of Secchi (Citadel2)
• The setting up of an urban park in
the area of the former allotments.
The Consortium EDILCOOP is implementing the recovery and its transformation.
67
Orbital 40, Terrassa (ES)
The Terrassa Science and Technology
Park has promoted the creation of its
Orbital 40 brand, which is aimed at the
promotion, economic and social development of Terrassa and, more specifically, the improvement of its business
competitiveness.
It aims to attract talent to the city and
its area of influence, retaining this talent thanks to the creation of optimal
spaces and conditions for developing
R&D activities and transferring knowledge and technology to businesses.
This will, therefore, become one of the
competitiveness and innovation poles
of Catalonia with a clear aim for its projection towards the rest of Spanish regions and towards foreign countries.
Located in the northern area of Terrassa, it is spread over 500,000 m2 and
has been built just below the unique
Natural Park of St. Llorenç, at the crossing point of the B-40 motorway and the
European route E9, and includes new
68
train stations with connections to Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya –
Metro del Vallès.
The three promoting partners of Orbital 40 are:
• Terrassa City Council (leader of the
project)
• Leitat Technology Centre
• UPC (Polytechnic University of
Catalonia)
The great diversity of these partners
has provided a vast amount of knowledge regarding sectors such as technical textiles, audiovisual, optics, photonics, health and others, in such as
way that it integrates activities related to innovation, research, teaching
and businesses. Likewise, the Board of
Governors has been constituted with a
view to obtain members from the most
relevant entities and institutions within Terrassa and the surrounding areas.
Orbital 40, conceived as the hub project
of the Innovation system of Terrassa
and Catalonia, has also forecast a promoter project strategically located in
the new urban centre of Terrassa.
This initiative will be housed in a
unique and emblematic building which
was an old textile factory. Vapor Gran
“fàbrica d’idees” will be a powerful tool
for economic and social development,
acting as a provider of tools, resources and services which will enable to attract talent, creativity and innovation,
transforming the combination of these
elements into new viable projects.
It will also be the representation of Orbital 40 in the city centre, maximising
the high potential for innovation of the
city by increasing and taking advantage of the synergies among the different actors which operate in their areas
of management and facilitating and/or
generating strategic innovation processes.
69
Tranformation of the Sabadell City Centre (ES)
The origins of the industrial city, as a
complex network planned to be an engine of economic activity, would date
back to the mid 19th century. This is
when the house-factories gave way to
new and more specialised buildings,
called steam factories, and when an entirely new production system was created, which conditioned the shape of
the city itself. This industrialisation
process affected the layout of the city
and the new network which was being
created, as well as the manner in which
this nucleus communicated with the
outside world, creating new connections around the new steam factories.
Thus, in the mid 19th century, the two
infrastructures which would be the
backbone of the textile business were
built. One was the Road to Montcada
in 1852, and the other one the Northern Railway, in 1855. Two very different
settlements were created: one which
was built alongside the road and another one very close to the railway track.
70
In the first half of the 20th century, the
speed at which Sabadell grew made the
urban expansion area insufficient. In
1925, the city had 37,605 inhabitants,
that is, 25% more than those calculated only 40 years before. Subsequent
to this initial period, there was a wave
of migrations which characterised the
1950s, including the serious accommodation problems caused by this significant boom of population.
In the early 1990s, the centre of
Sabadell was characterised by an elderly population; commerce in a disadvantageous situation; narrow streets, with
no parking places; lack of free spaces;
11% unemployment rate; high number
of vehicles in circulation; lack of buildings for housing; heritage buildings
waiting to be restored; a declining Central Market.
In order to solve the problem regarding the regeneration of the historic
city centre, several action programmes
have been implemented between 1993
and 2007.
Sabadell’s city centre includes the oldest part of Sabadell city dating back to
the 18th century and also a larger area
which includes an adjacent neighbourhood and the first expansion areas of
the city. The centre’s comprehensive intervention had to include several aspects, from economic activities to mobility, without forgetting to recover
the heritage, housing, culture and the
training needs of the inhabitants.
The advisability to intervene in the
centre area was included in the General Plan for Urban Management of
Sabadell in 1993. This Plan defined the
comprehensive management of the
municipal area of Sabadell and devoted
a chapter exclusively to the Centre.
In 1994, Sabadell Town Council prepared the Integral Renovation Plan
for the Centre with the aim to revitalise the city’s centre, redefine functions,
regulate activities and improve quality
of life, all of which were to be carried
out while respecting the different values.
activation of the city, implementation
of measures against social exclusion
and the improvement in the urban environment.
In 1994, the European Union initiated
the programme “URBAN” with the objective to improve quality of life in urban areas where the economic, social
and environmental problems demanded a comprehensive solution. Sabadell
saw an opportunity to adhere to this
communitarian initiative. The project
was approved in March 1995.
The programme’s essential characteristic was the comprehensive view of
life in the city. The projects carried out
within this programme took into account the renovation of obsolete infrastructures, as well as the economic re-
Besides the application of the corresponding provisions, since the 1990s
until current times, the city has followed the lines of work initiated by
the Programme URBAN to improve
Sabadell’s historic city centre.
71
TecnoCampus, Mataró-Maresme (ES)
The TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme
(TCM) is a technological and innovation park with its headquarters located
in the town of Mataró. Along with La
Ringlera business district, located right
next to the park’s future headquarters,
this will become Mataró’s Knowledge
District. The Park is funded mainly by
the Mataró Town Council, Maresme
District Council, the Ministry for Innovation and Science, ERDF (European
Regional Development Fund), the Provincial Government of Barcelona, and
the General Local Administration Directorate of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia.
TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme’s mission is to act as the main driving
force in the territory to create, capture, strengthen and retain the necessary talents for economic and social development in its area of influence. To
achieve this, it fosters entrepreneurial
culture, at all educational and training
72
levels, with business project incubation
and pre-incubation programmes. The
aim is to become a focus of attraction
for business investment, with a view
to develop a scientific and innovation
park that will make its mark in the university sphere.
With regard to sectorial specialisation,
the priority lines of action are: Wellness and health; tourism and leisure;
audiovisuals; electronics, e-wellness,
telemedicine, and smart textiles.
Mataró Town Council, through the TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme Foundation,
is the main promoter of the park which
bears the same name.
The main objectives of the foundation
are:
• To strengthen bonds between the
university world and the civil society
• To carry out the tasks of a Science
and Innovation Park aimed at the
university community, businesses,
entities, institutions and citizens as
a whole
• To attract sound technological business investments to Mataró and its
area of influence
In September 2010 the City of Mataró opened the TecnoCampus MataróMaresme building.
Of the three university colleges of
which it is comprised, two have a long
career behind them: the Mataró School
of Engineering (EUPMT) and the
Maresme University College (EUM).
The third university, the Graduate
School of Health Sciences, opened this
year along with the park, with a view
to cover a significant social demand for
professionals in this field. In turn, the
CETEMMSA technological centre has
a longstanding career of supporting
businesses with R&D expertise.
TCM also provides an example of transformation of the textile heritage to
service innovation: the Minguell building renovation. The Minguell building, a former textile factory, is the new
headquarters of TCM Audiovisual, a
technological centre devoted to the audiovisual industry, aimed at offering
high-quality service and added value
to businesses, institutions and regional associations.
73
3.b Transformation of former textile factories
The appreciation of the industrial past
and the recognition of the value of architectural heritage are one of the reasons for the preservation of former industrial sites.
Within the ACTE network there are
several examples of the transformation
of ancient factories into new facilities,
both public and private project, which
have in common the preservation of
the architectural structures of these
historical buildings.
74
10 different experiences have been
compiled in this chapter that intend to
reflect the multiple fields theses spaces are used for. In this way, four types
of uses have been looked into: culture,
public facilities, housing and leisure.
The cities represented in this section
are:
Sabadell, Terrassa and Santa Margarida de Montbui in Spain, Łódź in Poland
and Ronse and Mouscron in Belgium.
Abandoned factories are integrated in
modern cities, remembering their industrial past through architecture. The
urban landscape is transformed but
sill preserves the essence of the city
through buildings of historical and architectural interest.
3.b.1 Public Facilities and Spaces
Centr’expo, Mouscron (BE)
On the 28th and 29th March 1930, the
permanent delegation of the Province
of West Flanders gave permission to
the Victor Catteau & Cie Limited Company of Tourcoing to install a woollen
mill with electrical engines and transformer station, as well as a steam boiler, to be located at the corner of streets
Menin and Blanc Pignon in Mouscron.
The company was allowed to install
a second boiler on the 6th December
1935.
Indeed, the board of deputy mayors of
Mouscron had already authorized the
entrepreneurs Lamote Frères to create a spinning factory on the 19th April
1929. This factory expanded in 1933, set
up with a dying device in 1934, a water treatment plant and a water tank
in 1936. In 1937, the factory employed
181 workers and employees, as well as
25 apprentices.
76
In 1947, the company employed 168
workers and employees, as well as 5 apprentices.
On the 16th September 1960 following
a new opening out of 1957, the board of
deputy mayors of Mouscron agreed to
continue the activity of “spinning mill
and dyeing of combed wool”, authorized by the permanent delegation on
the 22nd July 1965. The Victor Catteau
& Co limited company was fitted at that
time with 155 electrical motors having 649 horse powers, with a 400kva
transformer station, two steam boilers,
a 25,000 litres oil tank, a repair shop
with a forge and a three-car garage. It
is undoubtedly the automobile cartage
which brought the reform of the factory entry in 1961. It may be after this
date that this spinning mill must have
ceased its textile activities.
On the 26th January 1968, the Vanfleteren et Billiet de Marke sprl, food wholesaler, was allowed to turn the site into
stores and offices. These were modernized and acquired their current look. As
for the 35-meter-high chimney, it was
cut down on the 5th March 1968.
On the 26th April 1984, the trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcy
process of the Vanfleteren Mouscron
VBM ldt was set up on the 22nd April
1976 at the time of the liquidation Vanfleteren et Billiet sold at the city of Mouscron a real estate of 1.336 ha (workshops: 97a 48c; house: 88ca; plot: 35a
30ca). Sold at a price of 7,000,000 Belgian francs, given that it was considered as a public utility granted by the
royal decree of 29th November 1984,
this acquisition is justified by the town
council with the following words:
The restoration of the buildings of the
old factory, and the transformations
of the site were realized respecting the
layout of the various rooms. Thus rehabilitated into a building far from
its original textile industrial use, the
Centr’expo became an effective tool
in the organization, especially of large
trade events.
“Considering that we are regularly consulted by craftsmen looking for workshops
with a 1,000 to 2,000 m2 capacity; considering that that kind of workshops are desperately lacking; considering that as far
as possible, we must encourage the small
business of our town; considering that we
are looking for larger premises likely to be
divided into several smallest workshops
that we could then resell at these craftsmen; considering that this disused factory
(…) is exactly what we need, as the access
is possible from the 4 sides; (…) ”.
77
La Vinícola, Santa Margarida de Montbui (ES)
The buildings in La Vinícola complex
represent an example of the transformation of an element of industrial modernism into a modern facility
adapted for new social uses. La Vinícola is the transformation of an old tanning factory, converted first into a wine
factory, then into a wine storage space,
and finally into a supermarket. In the
end, it was purchased by the Town
Council. It hosts the Santa Margarida
de Montbui Town Council and La Vinícola Civic and Cultural Centre.
The building known as La Vinícola was
established as a tanning business in the
early 20th century, originally under the
78
name of Joan Valls y Cía, a company of
only five people. The company was in
the hands of Marià Munguet, known
for having adapted its business to the
most modern techniques and processes
of this trade. In the early 1920s the Cal
Munguet tanning factory went bankrupt and was purchased by Ramon Catarineu, who did not manage to succeed with the business either. Finally,
in 1923, La Vinícola complex was sold
to the Sociedad Canet y Sabater Company. In 1928, it became La Vinícola SA,
a company devoted to manufacturing
alcoholic drinks and the sale and purchase of wines.
In 1947, one of the agricultural crises of
the mid 20th century caused the alcohol factory to close. In 1966, the sector
went through yet another crisis, this
time due to a law which regulated the
sale of bulk liquor.
In the late 1960s, La Vinícola employed
around 20 workers. In 1967, the fu-
ture bottling company was established.
Back then, La Vinícola had branches
over the entire Catalonian region. In
1975, the owners established La Vinícola supermarket which, along with
the bottling company, lasted until 1988
when the entire business passed on to
public ownership.
In 1988, Montbui Town Council purchased the entire complex. From this
moment onwards both buildings, the
town council and the civic centre, have
different construction chronologies.
The town council
The reconstruction work involved
maintaining the unique basilical building, respecting the main building and
the original facades. The opening of the
new town council took place on 15th
February.
CCC Vinícola
The building devoted to host the future
Civic and Cultural Centre La Vinícola,
housed also the Escuela Taller La Margarita as of 1988. This was one of the
first vocational training schools of the
district. Different activities were still
held in the building until 1997, when
the renovation works began on 4 June
of that year. One of the most important elements of the building was its
boiler. It was fitted in 1923 and subsequently restored by the technicians
from the Museum of Science and Technique of Terrassa. At a later date, the
chimney was also restored.
After a year and a half of building
works, the CCC La Vinícola opened on
21st November 1998. The future Civic
Centre has become the centre for social
activity in Montbui’s town centre, including the Casal d’Avis (centre for elderly people), the Casal de Joves (centre
for youth) and the place where most of
the town’s social activities take place
(concerts, dances, dinners, seminars).
The centre includes a multi-purpose
room, a cafeteria and several training
rooms. During the first 12 years of history, it has also temporarily housed a
media library and provided spaces for
workshops and courses, etc. La Vinícola is now a space for basic training, as
well as a space for the town’s inhabitants to meet.
79
Vapor Codina, Sabadell (ES)
Vapor Codina was an example of what
had, in history, been called a Power and
Room System model. The aim was to
construct a building with its own supply of energy, to then lease it to smaller manufacturers who did not have
enough resources to build their own
premises and fund the use of steam energy.
Vapor Codina was built in 1880 and was
within the group of factories “for rent”,
which were very common in Sabadell
during the 19th century and were
mainly thought of as real estate investments.
These factories were primarily devoted
to manufacturing worsted fabrics and
wool yarn.
Vapor Codina was not a typical compact
factory. It was a group of workshops
which shared the same source of energy. It did not host several manufacturing stages, neither did it work for larger companies with a large number of
workers. Therefore, there are no details
regarding its employment structure.
However, the number of tenants which
occupied the facilities was registered.
The log of tenants which rented spaces in Vapor Codina includes 395 names
of people and/or companies, from 1881
until 1943.
Vapor Codina closed down in 1994, due
to the structural changes within the
textile sector, after having suffered
three fires and being affected by the
80
PEPPAS (Special Interior Reform Plan
of Sabadell), which established the criteria for construction and planning
and did not forecast the possibility of
rebuilding industrial plants within the
area. Since that time, the Vapor Codina complex registered several different
owners. In 1997 it was finally bought
by Sabadell City Council, which started
the renovation process in 2006.
Vapor Codina was a manufacturing complex which had been built in a very austere manner. It is not a heritage building which has been renovated for its
beauty, but it does represent the ideal
manufacturing factory par excellence.
This is why, in 2004, Sabadell City
Council catalogued the building as a
heritage site within the Special Plan for
Architectural Heritage of Sabadell.
The architectural ensemble was renovated with the objective of maintaining one of the city’s heritage sites, as
well as to open new municipal services for citizens. The main objective of
this renovation project was to stop the
deterioration due to lack of use and its
recovery for new uses, maintaining its
heritage and historic values.
The main challenge during the renovation was to convert the buildings into
offices, this entailed many requirements such as air conditioning, soundproofing, security, etc., which were
very different from those for the purposes for which it was built.
Of the old complex, only two buildings
remain. These have been renovated and
are used by the Municipal Housing Office, and the Municipal Education and
Youth services.
During the renovation some of the
original elements were maintained,
such as the gable roof, the Manchesterstyle windows and the chimney.
Due to the building having being catalogued by PEPPAS, the renovation was
to be carried out respecting the typology, the construction system, the shape
and finishes of the original building,
even in spite of the very different use
for which it was being renovated.
The building reopened in 2006, aimed
at providing new services for citizens.
81
Vapor Gran, Terrassa (ES)
The great hub project of the innovation system which consolidates Orbital 40 requires a promoter for innovative projects among the most advanced
services it provides.
Conceptually, a promoter of transforming projects is a powerful tool for
attracting and generating ideas and
projects with high added value, generators of competitive advantage. It is a
facilitator and catalyst for the transformation of good ideas and good
projects, which are at very early stages, into projects which are capable of
transforming the economic reality of
the region.
The infrastructure this promoter needs is located within the Vapor
Gran premises, a unique and emblematic building which occupies 1,293.18
m2 and represents an ideal place for
hosting the services of the Orbital 40’s
project promoter.
82
The objectives of Vapor Gran “Fàbrica
d’idees” are to produce a powerful tool
for economic development, facilitating
tools, resources and services, which enable to attract talent, creativity and innovation and can transform theses into
projects of strategic interest.
It also aims to become the link between
Orbital 40 and the centre of Terrassa,
capable of maximising the city’s high
potential for innovation by promoting
and taking advantage of the synergies
among the different agents which operate in their area of influence to facilitate and/or generate innovation processes.
Among the services provided by the Vapor Gran, we list the following:
• Integral accompaniment to innovation projects (Coaching Innovation
Service)
• Advanced funding services, analysis
of market prospects (Trends Hunting Service)
• Service for finding talented people
to form teams (Talent Hunting Service)
• Being a KIM antenna (Knowledge
Innovation Market)
• Provide training for directors (Entrepreneurship & Development)
• Customised services, orientated towards businesses in relation to the
diagnosis and implementation of
technology valuation strategies.
• Creating a club for business people.
• Networking with related companies,
in sessions which are structured,
continuous and held by experts
• Information sessions on actors relevant for business people, allowing
time for interpersonal relationships
Among the activities planned for the
Vapor Gran, some will be related to:
• A range of high-quality spaces for
new businesses with a high growth
potential
• Activities and techniques aimed
at generating/transforming ideas,
within an Open and Cross Innovation scope
• Advanced services which value
knowledge and technology, allowing
to convert great ideas and projects,
at their early stages, into viable
projects which are guaranteed to be
successful
With the opening of Vapor Gran, a new
and powerful urban location within the
city centre becomes evident, as well as
the consolidation of a new and very
significant tool for economic development, having as objective to attract talents able to develop creativity and innovation in Terrassa, and in the entire
region of Catalonia.
83
3.b.2 Culture
De Ververij, Ronse (BE)
This factory, with spinning, weaving and dyeing division was founded
by Jacques Toelen in 1911. During the
First World War the buildings served
as German barracks and hosted a riding school with stables below and with
heroic wall paintings. The machinery,
however, was largely destroyed.
In 1922 the factory was sold to Oscar Thomaes, and in 1923 it was transformed into the “Teintureries Belges”. It
was part of the AVO Group, specialized
in dyeing of linen, cotton and silk, and
painting in bobbin. It was one of the
few plants in Ronse with a substantial
input of foreign investors.
After the Second World War the company experienced its heyday, when in
Ronse about 9,000 of its 25,000 inhabitants worked in the textile industry.
The company has gone bankrupt at the
84
end of the textile boom in Ronse, late
1970s - early 1980s.
In the early 1990s the factory was taken
over by the De Lys NV (1992) and then
by The New Lys (1994). In the late 2000s
the last operator, Flotex SA, stopped as
a result of a catastrophic flood of the
brook “Molenbeek” which passes next
to the factory.
In December 2002 the City of Ronse
decided to take action and to purchase these buildings with a surface of 20.000m² on a land of almost
40.000m², in the centre of the city at
200 metres of the market place.
The intention of the city was to centralize all activities related to culture and
creativity.
The new building must give the academy for theater, music, visual arts and
dance the opportunity to grow and
to take up the leading position in the
whole region.
The name for the new centre for culture
and creativity will be Ververij or Teinturerie in French. Which refers to the
former dying activity and name of the
company.
In a way, the new destination is also an
activity which symbols colours of paint,
sculpture, words and music.
The architects have designed a plan
that shows a lot of respecting for the
industrial past. All parts which could
be recovered are given a destination in
the new building. It is inteded to show
to the next generation of inhabitants of
Ronse the rich history of the textile industry.
After two years of planning, the necessary permits, environmental remediation and demolition, the construction
has officially began in November 2010.
The opening of the new complex is
planned for September 2011.
85
Łódź Art Center, Factory of Art (PL)
The history of the factory complex
at Saint Emilii Street (presently Tymienieckiego Street) begins in the year
1873 when Karol Scheibler bought a
56-morgue area, called Posiadło Bielnikowe from the Peters brothers.
Scheilber pursued a large-scale development policy of this region. From
then on this region became a part of
a larger area, which is now called the
Priest’s Mill (Księży Młyn).
As a result of Scheibler’s investments
the whole set of buildings was created
constituting the so called the S finishing facility (Wykończalnia S).
The buildings of this complex were
originally the warehouses of unfinished and finished fabrics. They were
used as a storage space since the beginning and through the various stages of
their development in the years 18871910, the turbulent years of the First
and Second World Wars, nationalization of industrialists‘ property in the
86
years of People‘s Republic of Poland,
until the bankruptcy and final closure
of “Uniontex” plants at the beginning
of the 21st century.
In 2004 marks a change in the use of
buildings. The slow process of revitalizing buildings begins by arranging the
factory buildings for cultural purposes.
Łódź Art Center is established here
since 2005.
The institution organises and helps
to organise various important artistic
projects: Łódź Biennale, Art Bus, Photo Fair Gallery, Łódź Festiwalowa, Łódź
Getto, Photo Project, Wystawa Kolekcji Muzeum Konstrukcji w Procesie, 13
grudnia. Ikony Zwycięstwa, Grünewald
2, PhotoPoland, Łódź Design, Fotofestiwal, Photo Festiwal Union, Łódź European Capital of Culture 2016.
The centre addresses its offer to young
people, interested in various forms of
art.
In 2007 the new cultural institution
“The Factory of Art” in Łódź was created and took over the management
of buildings and the whole revitalizing
process. The Factory of Art was established by the Łódź Art Center, the Chorea Theatre Association and The City of
Łódź Office. The Factory of Art is mostly focused on theatre, modern art and
art education.
In 2011, The Factory of Art begins the
whole revitalization processes of the
factories buildings. The financial resources for the project were granted
by the European Union and The City of
Łódź Office.
The result of the project (planned date
of finishing revitalization - 2014) will
be another change in the way of functioning and using the factory buildings.
Art_Inkubator will rise.
We can speak about Art_Inkubator in
the context of the implementation of
two tasks, which create one common
substantive whole.
The first task is the foundation of the
project. These are the revitalization
measures which result will be the creation of the material part of the Incubator - offices, art studios and multipurpose art space, which will benefit the
future users of the Inkubator.
The second task is the running and
managing of the Incubator. It is the
institution of support which helps to
entry the market for future entrepreneurs, the third sector organizations
and artists. Art_Inkubator activities
and support will be targeted to the institutions and companies working in a
cultural and artistic field.
art and business, encouraging people
and businesses to interact in order to
create Łódź, and the Łódź region, as a
place of support for culture, art, places to stimulate entrepreneurship artistic circles.
A final, no less important task of
the Art_Inkubator, is promoting the
achievements in the field of culture,
arts, education and entrepreneurship.
The Art_Inkubator will be the institution that creates an organization and
entrepreneurial culture.
It will also function as an integrative
environment for the people of culture,
87
mNACTEC, Terrassa (ES)
During the industrialisation period
Terrassa became one of the most important towns within the Catalan industrialisation process and the Vapor
Aymerich, Amat i Jover was the most
emblematic wool factory, as well as the
one which manufactured the largest
amount of wool of the entire city. The
building is one of the most important
representations of Catalonian industrial architecture.
In the late 19th century, three industrialists from Terrassa became partners and created a company named after their three surnames, Aymerich,
Amat and Jover. They purchased their
own factory, the Vapor Aymerich, Amat
i Jover, which was built, in a modernist
style, between 1907 and 1909 by the architect Lluís Muncunill. The factory is
considered to be one of the most beautiful industrial buildings in the whole
of Europe. This large rectangular building is spread over an area of 11,000 m2.
88
This factory was used for the entire
process of transforming wool. In 1915,
there were around 400 people who
manufactured “novelty” wool textiles.
There are records which state there
were 2,400 teeth, equivalent to spindles, for spinning wool, 3,300 teeth
for combing wool and 1,090 teeth for
twisting wool.
The textile company was divided and
in 1920 the spinning was moved, Aymerich and Amat then specialised in
textiles. As of this date, part of the factory’s space was rented to other businesses. In 1962 the factory was seriously affected by floods and ended up filled
with mud; subsequently, the textile crisis reached Terrassa and this industry
was gravely affected. The factory closed
in 1976.
In the late 1970s, Terrassa came together to save the building which had once
housed Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover,
and had been catalogued as a buildable
lot. A committee of architects from Terrassa promoted community campaigns
to preserve the building. Several groups
and celebrities from Terrassa managed
to stop the demolition of this industrial building. In 1982, the Department for
Culture of the Autonomous Government took over the project and in 1983
it purchased the factory, in view to con-
vert it into the headquarters of the Museum of Science and Technique of Catalonia (mNACTEC, Museu de la Tècnica i
la Ciència de Catalunya). On 2 November 1990 it was established as an autonomous entity.
mNACTEC aims to preserve scientific and technical heritage, create awareness about the industrialisation process
in Catalonia, disseminate knowledge
on modern science and techniques and
consolidate the museology for science
and technique in Catalonia. It aims to
acquire, preserve and restore scientific
and technical items from the past and
present, promote studies on the history
of science, technique and industrialisation, spread and gather advancements
regarding technical and scientific matters within the current society.
mNACTEC is a national museum which
has a decentralised structure currently comprising 25 museums and special-
ised heritage centres in different locations throughout Catalonia, which
make up the Territorial System of the
Museum of Science and Technique of
Catalonia, to promote technical-scientific culture and knowledge of the industrial history, and propose itineraries of industrial heritage.
Currently, the large industrial building has been totally renovated and
contains outstanding permanent and
temporary exhibitions. The most outstanding exhibition among all is “The
Textile Factory”. The exhibition recreates the factory environment and spaces of the early 20th century within its
original location.
The conversion from a factory to a museum, and the renovation of its spaces,
has transformed the Vapor Aymerich,
Amat i Jover into an emblematical museum having a national and international recognition.
89
3.b.3 Leisure, food & beverage sector
Manufaktura, Łódź (PL)
Manufaktura was built in the factories
of Izrael Poznański, one of the Łódź
greatest manufacturers. In 1871 Izrael
Poznański bought a few old buildings
near Ogrodowa street. Until 19th century he managed to establish unprecedentedly successful textile empire on
the area of 30 hectares.
The Izrael Poznański’s factory complex
produced cotton textiles. The whole
process was controlled within the factory – from cotton transported in
90
packages by train to ready-made cotton fabric. Poznański also had his own
plantations in central Asia. In the first
decade of the 20th century the factory weaved approx 250,000 running metres of fabric in 24 hours.
When Poznański built the first department of the factory, in 1872, he employed 294 weavers and weaving masters. After 1945, when the company was
nationalized and named „Poltex”, there
worked over 10,000 people.
Poltex was formally liquidated in 1991,
but the last department (printing
shop) was closed in 1997. Following
the social and political changes in Poland, the Eastern-European and Russian markets were restricted for trade
exchange. Before that time, the whole
production was sold to post-sovietic
countries. Most of the buildings in the
complex were empty for more than 10
years. The renovation process was initiated in 2003.
Manufaktura opened in May 2006, and
became Łódź’s most famous attraction
just as Piotrkowska Street.
Today it is hard to imagine Łódź without Manufaktura, which is one of the
most attention-attracting places in
Łódź. The centre of Manufaktura is the
Market. It is very important for Łódź
and its citizens because it is the part of
city’s public space.
This Market hosts cultural and entertaining events attracting Łódź citizens
and tourists from around the world. It
is known for having the longest fountain in the world.
Manufaktura offers three museums,
cinema, theatres, almost 250 shops,
many restaurants, and many places
where everybody can spend their time
actively. There are professional playgrounds for children, discotheque,
bowling centres, spa, fitness clubs and
many other attractions.
Manufaktura is known in Poland, and
worldwide, for its many architectural
awards. The refurbishment was carefully planned because it took into consideration the history of the factory. The
aim of the renovation was to give it
modern and futuristic flair, and at the
same time preserve its extraordinary
heritage. All the refurbishment cost
over 200 million euro.
TIP is intended for tourists who wish
to visit not only Manufaktura and Izrael Poznański Palace but also the city of
Łódź and the whole region. The Tourist Information Point offers its guests
leaflets, magazines, postcards, souvenirs and all the other items necessary
for tourists wishing to spend their free
time in Łódź actively.
Manufaktura caters for almost all
needs. In the summer there is a beach
on the market and in the winter a skating-rink. Manufaktura also organizes
prestigious events such as the Fashion
Week where designers present their sophisticated clothes, and a Car Exhibition, one of the biggest events for car
fans in Poland.
91
3.b.4 Housing
At Scheibler’s Lofts, Łódź (PL)
Karl Wilhelm Scheibler, who became
known as the “King of the Cotton and
Linen Empires of Łódź”, was a German
industrialist, who came to Poland and
founded in 1855 a spinning mill and
then a huge manufacturing complex in
the district of Łódź called Księży Młyn.
Scheibler created a complex of factories, warehouses, houses for workers,
a hospital and a fire station - he made
Księży Młyn an independent part of
the city.
In 1855 the spinning-mill had 5,740
spindles and in the mid-1970s the factory was the leading textile producer
in the Russian Empire. Moreover, Karl
Scheibler’s factory was the third largest
cotton producer of Poland.
In 1857 Scheibler employed 180 labourers. Then, in 1870 1,911 employees worked in the factory. At that time
55% of Polish textile industry labourers used to work for Karl Scheibler. Before the World War I, the factory hired
100,000 workers, in 1925 - due to the
economic downturn - only 51,000. After the World War I the textile industry
of Łódź was in a poor conditions.
In the 1920s the city was still a major
textile industry centre in Poland. Nevertheless, the export that used to flourish in the past, collapsed - before the
war 80% of cloth was exported.
After the World War II, the factory was nationalized and was renamed
into “Uniontex”, becoming one of the
92
biggest companies in Łódź and hired
14,000 people. The former Scheibler’s
manufacture was integrated with another textile manufacture that used
to belong to Ludwik Grohman and
renamed into Zakłady Przemysłu
Bawełnianego im. Obrońców Pokoju “Uniontex”. The factory was also one of the
leading manufactures at that time and
Łódź was the centre of Polish textile industry.
The collapse of communism and the
transformation of the political and economic system were a symbolic end of
the flourishing textile industry in Łódź.
In the 1990s Uniontex was still producing cloth but the production was getting smaller and the debts higher. After
trials of restructuriziation, the company was sold to another owner in 1999
but finally it was closed in 2004.
• Opal Property Developments started revitalization process in 2006.
Despite the long and complicated
history of the building, the walls of
the former spinning-mill were completely preserved. The factory is 207
meters long and is built from red
brick. It has huge windows and is located close to the centre of Łódź, in
a part of the city called Księży Młyn.
The building was perfect for conversion into lofts, even though it demanded much impact to revitalize
the spinning-mill. The factory was
not only destroyed from the inside
but also underwent many modifications in the 20th century which did
not match the 19th century architecture. The aim was to bring back the
previous look from the times of Karl
Scheibler.
• Currently, the former Scheibler’s
spinning-mill is a residential building. In May 2010 the first residents
of “At Scheibler’s” lofts moved in.
• The factory was completely revitalized and adapted to the needs
of residents. Huge factory shops
were divided into apartments.
However, many original postindustrial elements were kept and the climate of the old factory is preserved.
At Scheibler’s lofts are located on a
fenced-off land and the building, as well
as the surroundings were finished with
the greatest care for the residents’ comfort. Conversion of one of the buildings
into apartments began a process of reviving a degraded district and has had
a tremendous impact on the development and social structure of the city of
Łódź.
93
Napoleon Annicq-Williams former factory Lofts, Ronse (BE)
Since 1911 in these buildings a weaving
company called Napoleon Annicq-Williams had been located.
The oldest preserved part of the huge
factory complex dates back to 1922 and
it is located at the border of the city
centre.
The buildings are made of brick, combined with bluestone, designed in a
strictly functionalist architecture. The
offices and warehouses were built according to a design by the architect R.
Cordier.
In 1929 an extension was realized with
the shed roofs for the steam room and
machine, and the chimney. Further expansion came along Annicqstraat Napoleon in 1940-41: it was the entrance
area with stairs and offices (see picture).
94
Since 1968 the buildings were owned
by “SA Thomas Pride Mills”, a branch
of the American “Allied Products Corporation USA”, that manufactured wall
to wall tufted carpet and bathroom textile. At the end of the seventies, the activity stopped.
Over the years the building complex, with a surface of approximately 10.000m², has been split up and had
become primarily a residential destination. Currently, the last part of the
former complex is being renovated for
the realization of 11 lofts.
95
3.c Employment and entrepreneurship policies
In many territories where the textile-fashion industry has been a major employer for many time, special
programmes to relocate laid-off workforce and to retrain workers to facilitate their incorporation in the labour
market needed and still need to be carried out. Proper training is essential:
both for those employees who remain
within the industry but need to shift
their skills towards new products and
new applications, and for employees
who have to leave the sector and need
to seek employment elsewhere.
96
In this way, ACTE members are working both for the provision of appropriate tools for the re-skilling and for the
relocation of workers and for the promotion of alternative sectors with capacity of employment within our territories.
Activities range from specific training
and promotion of entrepreneurship education to support structures for labour intermediation, business startups, provision of public facilities for
new business activities and young entrepreneurs, etc.
This chapter showcases eleven examples of policies carried out by ACTE
members, divided into two parts: on
the one hand, policies addressed to
worker relocation and training and, on
the other hand, measures to encourage
entrepreneurship in order to allow territories to be more dynamic, competitive and to create new jobs. Some of
these projects have been implemented thank to the collaboration and networking between members of ACTE.
3.c.1 Employment policies
Aula Activa, Manresa (ES)
The Aula Activa project was created to
cover the need to integrate once more
in the job market the people who lost
their jobs due to the readjustment of
workforces in the textile sector companies in Bages area. This project was
based on the Aulas Activas of the Employment Service of Catalonia, which
had already been implemented in the
City of Barcelona.
The project provided training, consultancy and attendance for the beneficiaries throughout their process of job
hunting and re-integration into the
job market. Carried out from December 2009 to April 2010, the project attended 71 unemployed workers form
the textile sector in the Bages district.
Aula Activa defined itself as a space
which provided unemployed workers
with the necessary tools to promote an
active and self-motivated attitude towards their job searching process, as
well as offering them knowledge on
new technologies as a tool to access the
job market.
Its implementation involved the set-up
of a permanent service providing information, consultancy and professional guideline, with the main objective
to increase the rate of re-integration
into the job market, and improving the
employment perspective of the people
searching for jobs.
This service aimed to provide the target
groups with personal and professional
resources, improve their job placement
and increase their autonomy and selfesteem, thus enhancing their professional abilities.
The activities were addressed to groups
of 15 people, which for one month took
part in the actions carried out by Aula
Activa.
98
The first part of the process was based
on a “directed group action”, in which
lecturers explained the content of the
manual designed for participative and
practical employment guideline sessions.
By means of group dynamics, the participants worked on computer literacy, gaining knowledge of the job market, designing their own professional
profile, ability development, tools and
techniques for job searching and the
use of new technologies to access the
different employment portals available
on the net.
The second part of the process was designed as a space where the participants
could apply the IT tools which they had
learnt to use, with the customised support and help from the academic counsellors working at Aula Activa.
Each month the group of participants
changed, following the selection of a
new group by the supervisors.
Every Friday morning the class was
open to a public of different groups, as
a space devoted to students who had
participated in the previous months.
The results of this project were as follows: 71 participants attended, of which
21% have found a job (15), and 28%
joined the Vocational Training courses (20). In all cases, the participants
improved their autonomy throughout
the different stages of accessing the job
market.
99
Carpiformazione, Carpi (IT)
Carpi’s territory has always been a
source of ideas, enabling numerous
businesses to develop within a variety
of sectors. The response from Carpi’s
“fashion system” has been less strict,
as over the years it has managed to
transform its own knitwear productive
structure into one of the most qualified brands within different segments.
It has focused on obtaining high-standard products, investing in high-quality
goods and internationalisation. It is
worth highlighting that the textile sector in Carpi and surrounding areas began reaching maturity in the traditional sector in previous years, failing to
renew around 7,000 jobs over the past
decade.
In this context, training is considered a
source of development capable of providing businesses and workers with
mechanisms for self-assessment and
help them find ways of advancing towards constant improvement. With
regard to training within the textile100
fashion sector, the institute of Carpiformazione was a highly-valued project in
the Region Emilia Romagna in the early
1980s, been carried out by the municipality of Carpi along with other seven
municipalities in the region.
The organisation was founded in 1981
as a Vocational Training Centre for
the Region of Emilia Romagna, and in
January 2001 became a limited liability company under the name Carpiformazione s.r.l., comprising eight municipalities devoted to the textile sector.
The main member is the municipality
of Carpi.
Carpiformazione’s main activity is vocational training at basic, advanced and
higher levels, as well as career guidance. Its facilities include classrooms
for teaching theory and laboratories for
practical classes and simulations, such
as laboratories for textiles, sewing, patterns and IT.
Carpiformazione represents at local,
provincial and regional levels, a benchmark for training and updating the various sector business careers, providing
skills and capacities which are of use
within the labour market, from a point
of view of competitiveness and quality
of service. The institution assumes the
role of a training agency which, in relation to the textile sector, aims to provide a service designing tailor-made
training activities based on modular
principles that aim to respond to the
needs of a wide range of users.
Many of the projects and courses which
have been promoted by Carpiformazione are carried out in collaboration
with business and union associations
which sometimes become project promoters. Annually, nearly 300 businesses provide their support to the design
and implementation of the training activities.
The stronger characteristics of the Centre are imputable to the level of excellence in the range of training activities
related to technical-production profiles
of Textile, more than 20 years of experience in the field of design use of expert trainers from within the sector,
innovative educational methodologies,
strong integration with the educational centres, business and union organisations, and high-level of employment
upon concluding the training period.
101
EGF-Project COPEVO (ES)
In late 2008, the Employment Department of the Regional Government of
Catalonia obtained a grant by the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund
(EGF) of the European Commission, in
order to help relocating workers who
had been dismissed from the Catalonian textile sector.
ers within the Vallès Occidental district
and has received nearly 600,000 Euros
in funds.
The EGF allows for the implementation of projects which support the relocation of target groups coming from
a group of clearly identified companies:
small and medium-sized businesses, in
this case belonging to the textile sector, or a large company and the smaller ones which are auxiliaries to the first
one.
The project “Relocation of workers who
have been dismissed from the textile
sector” included a series of actions characterised by the degree of the attendance, the flexibility of the programmed
actions and the adaptation to the profile of the people involved, the possibility of immediate implementation of
training and employment actions (as
they were not subject to normal applications for training and employment
programmes), and the regular followup throughout the entire relocation
process.
The Consortium for Employment and
Economic Promotion of the Vallès Occidental (COPEVO), by means of Sabadell
and Terrassa Town Councils and of the
CECOT employers’ organisation, has
started-up a project to relocate work-
The aim was to reincorporate back into
the job market the workers dismissed
from 13 companies belonging to the
textile sector in this district. These
workers were all affected by procedures
for regulating employment during the
102
period between February 2008 and
January 2009. The implementing period of activities was between October
2009 and April 2010.
The participation in this project began by a personal interview which allowed the person to decide, with the
support from a specialised consultant,
which were the best measures in order to determine a customised itinerary that would allow the person to be
reintegrated into the job market, carrying out intensive job searches, training
in cross-sector abilities or being provided with support to create their own
business.
In total, the project’s actions have benefited 240 people, all of which have taken part in different intensive actions
supporting relocation. Out of these,
206 people have participated in an intensive job search process; 133 people
have participated in base and cross-sector workshops; 99 have attended vocational training courses; 18 people have
carried out entrepreneurial actions; 8
people have been employed under municipal employment plans and 27 have
found a job.
103
Maisons de Mode, Lille-Roubaix (FR)
Maisons de Mode (Fashion Houses)
which aims to install young fashion
and accessory designers in studio/boutiques located in two neighbourhoods
of Lille Métropole given its free zone
status, has been thought up at the beginning of the years 2000 to be officially launched at the end of 2006.
This ambitious program has its origins
in the will to convert Lille Métropole
into one of the European design and
fashion capitals, while promoting the
development of two up-and-coming
neighbourhoods dedicated to young
designers in Lille and Roubaix.
Maisons de Mode Lille - Roubaix has the
ambition of an economic, urban and
professional excellence to develop design and to renovate the city.
Currently, the “Maisons de Mode” label
is a large incubator of talented young
people including about thirty designers
who represent proudly the textile and
fashion revival in the North of France,
104
while revitalizing two neighbourhoods
in full renewal. This apparatus is led by
the association Maisons de Mode and
has been created thanks to the financial and technical involvement of Lille
Métropole Communauté Urbaine.
The latter has been buying up old shops
and buildings to convert them into
boutiques, sometimes with accommodations and entrusts them to fashion
designers. The Department and the Region gave their support to set up a fund
programme for young fashion designers.
It is convenient to underline the fierce
determination of all players (both public and private) to help restore the
Northern Textile’s noble reputation by
supporting and promoting the following aspects: training (fashion & textile),
design (young designers), know-how
(weavers, workshops) and innovation
(intelligent and innovating textiles).
The association Maisons de Mode, having among its objectives to create a true
“designer label” in the North, likely to
be recognized at national and international level for the most talented designers, offers a range of services to the
talented young people to help them develop their own labels. As connecting
factor of metropolitan fashion Maisons
de Mode detects, selects and supports
daily the talented young designers,
while adapting itself to specific individual needs.
Maisons de Mode has amazing “success stories” of labels “Made in the
North” which are sold in France and
abroad. This idea is indeed adapted to
the change in the customers’ mentality
who, within the prevailing uniformity,
acclaim a different fashion style whose
added value is creativity, quality and
batch production.
Maisons de Mode has developed several services that help in developing new
fashion labels, which include: availability of boutiques for new designers; incubator and mini-studios for
“Fresh Talents”; guidance in sourcing,
production, merchandising and sales;
commercial and technical coaching;
a teaching workshop with assistance
in making prototypes and gradations;
a network of professional industries;
commercialization and distribution;
commercial partnerships; public relations and communications assistance;
organization of events; participation in
professional trade shows and fairs.
Several times a year Maisons de Mode
organizes the Marché des Modes, a fair
dedicated to fashion, which has been
an unqualified hit with the public. The
Marché des Modes brings together a
hundred designers from all over France.
Maisons du Mode has also organized
the “48h Maisons de Mode”. This fash-
ion event designed for the general public welcomed about 10,000 people during its last edition.
The Nuit des Soldes is a night event organized one week after the launch of
the official sales to allow young designers to sell off the past season’s collections.
Maisons de Mode also takes part in several professional trade shows and fairs
to promote designers on the national
and international scene and to search
for national and international buyers.
All photos: © www.sebastiengras.com
105
ACTE: a network for innovation, Catalonia (ES)
Between 2008 and 2009, the project
“ACTE: a network for innovation” was
carried out and promoted by six public Catalan institutions linked to ACTE:
the cities of Sabadell and Manresa, Reactivació Badalona, IMPEM (Municipal
Institute for Economic Promotion of
Mataró), Foment de Terrassa S.A. and
the Barcelona Provincial Council.
The project was co-financed within the
framework of the ESF operational programme of Catalonia 2007-2013. There
was active participation from other
106
Catalan ACTE members and enterprises within the territory, as well as from
members and businesses throughout
Spain and Europe.
The project’s main objective was to consolidate ACTE as a network for cooperation among territories that, having
undergone important processes of industrial change, opt for integrating innovation in their local economy.
The six lines of action of the project
were:
• To create a working group to be a
driving force and comprising representatives of the six project partners, intending to orientate and
lead the work developed within the
project’s framework. The result of
this joint work was a methodology
and work dynamic able to facilitate
the future orientation and leadership of ACTE’s action
• To carry out two international workshops: Badalona hosted the“1st In-
ternational Congress on Corporate
Social Responsibility in the textile
sector”, focused on promoting good
practices in this field. Terrassa organised the seminar “The thread of
sustainability”, which focused on
sustainable public procurement
• To compile success stories regarding business reorientation through
the publication of the Good practice guide “Strategic reorientation
of textile-fashion companies”. This
publication was considered an important tool to drive and promote
innovation as a competitive variable, and used to raise awareness
amongst other businesses about the
added value of innovative processes
of change
• To create an online observatory, the
Tex4Future observatory, on new
products and applications, and a
platform for the dissemination of
research and innovation material generated by technology and research centres
• To create a system for business cooperation, to increase the cooperation processes among businesses themselves, between businesses
and research centres, and among research centres, within the municipalities
• To develop methodologies and
actions for active or laid-off
workers of the textile sector.
The objective was to support the
workers with activities aimed at the
re-orientation of skills, improvement of professional abilities to help
them to find a better job, by progressing within the textile sector or
moving to a new one. The result of
this line of action was the direct support provided to 90 workers of the
sector
107
Comprehensive Services for the Textile Sector (SIT), Mataró (ES)
The comprehensive services for the textile sector were designed at a time when
Mataró was going through a process
that saw the services sector gradually
dominating the city’s economy.
The appearance of emerging sectors,
coexisting with the pre-existing textile economy, added up to the aggravating factor of a global economy which
caused the following consequences:
• A lack of competitiveness of the local industry due to high production
costs
• A delocalisation of the production in
order to reduce production costs
• Closing down of production centres.
The Mataró Town Council has been the
main financial promoter of this project,
and its Municipal Institute for Economic Promotion (IMPEM) has been
the entity to design, implement and assess it.
108
According to the data provided by the
Market Observatory for Employment
of Mataró, as of December 2005 in
Mataró there were 2,164 unemployed
workers from the textile sector registered at the Employment Service of
Catalonia, which represented 34.1% of
the total number of registered workers.
In 2005, the Municipal Employment
Service attended 3,113 new people (not
including previous registered users), of
which 35%, exactly 1,090 people, were
from the textile sector and 67% of these
were women.
The programme’s strategic objectives
were:
• To guarantee the continuity of the
city’s industrial base, helping it to
adapt to the new market conditions
with regard to competitiveness
• To implement an action plan which
would allow to relocate exceeding
workforce from the textile sector
into other economic sectors or reassigning them to other jobs within
the same sector
• To promote stable employment for
exceeding workforce from the textile sector through companies located in Mataró
The actions to achieve these objectives
were:
• To create the local textile office, to
promote the necessary requalification of companies within this sector,
which still have a significant probability of succeeding
• To develop an action plan for the exceeding workforce in the textile sector
The SIT services were structured
around two main issues:
Business section:
• Drafting an analysis of each company’s situation
• Consultancy specialised in key competitiveness issues
Employment section:
• Actions regarding relocation of the
exceeding workforce within the textile sector
• Actions involving professional requalification: occupational training
courses and reassignment of tasks
and knowledge within the textile
sector itself
• Economic incentives to promote stable employment: A tool to ensure the
opening of the job market and provide access to jobs for those groups
which have been pushed away from
the textile sector
• 30 long-term contracts by companies in Mataró to people from the
textile sector
• 150 people laid-off textile workers
provided with professional reorientation
• 4 vocational training cycles and/or
knowledge recycling actions carried
out
As regards the indicators:
• 30 companies diagnosed and an action plan for business reorientation
implemented
109
3.c.2 Entrepreneurship policies
BCIN, Badalona (ES)
Reactivació de Badalona SA is the local
development agency of Badalona Town
Council. Its main activities are the proposal and implementation of promotional programmes for the city and its
productive community, the development of studies and the organisation
of seminars of economic and social interest.
The main project of Reactivació de
Badalona SA has been the establishment, promotion and management of
the Badalona International Business
Centre (BCIN). The building opened in
1995 as a facility for the economic promotion and international projection of
the city. It comprises a conference centre, a centre for business services and
the main institutions for economic promotion of Badalona. Since its opening
it has become a local benchmark for
economic activity.
110
Among Reactivació de Badalona’s promotion lines of the productive community, it provides special support to the
textile-fashion sector.
Since 1997, the City of Badalona is
member of the ACTE community and,
since 1998, Reactivació de Badalona collaborates in the development of several promotion programmes, both at national and international levels, with
the association of fashion businesses of Badalona which includes a significant number of the fashion businesses located in the Montigalà industrial
district.
This industrial district houses a large
number of the most important fast
fashion businesses in Spain, comprised
of SME’s and micro-sized enterprises which work under their own brand.
At the moment, there are around 150
brands which generate nearly 1,000 direct jobs.
Since 1998, several agreements have
been promoted to establish collaborations between the association of Fast
Fashion businesses and Reactivació de
Badalona.
The most highlighted joint projects are:
• The Badalona Fashion Week held between 1998 and 2007, where promotion activities targeted specifically
the Spanish market
• Participation in the Spanish Strategic Textile Plans which were developed between 2005 and 2006 among
trade unions, business organisations
and textile territories
• Several international business missions in groups of 6 enterprises,
mainly aimed at Eastern Europe and
Latin America
• The Montigalà national promotion programme, currently on-going, aiming at increasing the Spanish market quota
• Development of Badalona Moda
(BDNmoda) within the framework
of the project ACTE: a network for
innovation, having as its main objective to promote young designers
by inviting students from the main
fashion design schools to participate
in a contest
In the immediate future Reactivació
de Badalona will need to continue promoting professional business management, communication and marketing
actions of Montigalà as a centre generating fashion in the Spanish market,
and the internationalisation of the best
prepared companies.
111
EuraTechnologies, Lille (FR)
A place where project players and innovation converge, EuraTechnologies centre of excellence has been set up around
a central building being a former textile
industry, Le Blan-Lafont, and is dedicated to development of ICT companies.
At first, in 1896, the founders of Lille
cotton plant bought a piece of land in
a Lille neighborhood called, CanteleuChant-du-Loup. In 1920, Le Blan Company, which owned two spinning mills
in Lille Moulins and Nantes-sur-Seine,
settled in the site and then purchased
the Cotton plant. The factory activity
started up in 1921.
Le Blan activity peaked in the sixties:
at that time, the company provided 3%
of the whole French produced cotton
thread and employed up to 4,000 workers. In 1989, the company filed a petition for bankruptcy and was subject to
a compulsory liquidation. A year before, a land study of the Haute-Deûle
banks was ordered by the city of Lille
112
willing to boost economically the site.
The study listed 40 hectares of free
ground, located in Lomme and Lille. In
1999, Pierre Mauroy, at that time president of Lille Metropolis Urban community, presented a “great regional project
in the middle of the metropolis” temporarily called Euratechnologies. Martine Aubry inaugurated the building in
March 2007.
Nowadays, EuraTechnologies hosts
more than 100 ICT companies, created
1400 employments and more than 70
complementary jobs, providing a full
range of technological offer.
An international company, EuraTechnologies specialized in 4 sectors: E-business & Pure Players, Information systems and software edition, Telecoms &
Network, Content Industry. EuraTechnologies also aims to develop a support
centre to promote entrepreneurship
that gathers venture capital, legal experts, training, technology transfers,
etc.
The innovation of EuraTechnologies also
relies on its ecosystem which gathers
within the same place, research (technology transfer), training and entrepreneurship. As a result, companies are
closer to the necessary skills and technologies to their growth.
On a day to day basis, EuraTechnologies
can be defined as a place for:
• Innovation and technological experimentation
• Innovation and technological testing
• Expertise and training
• Exchanges, meetings and experience
transfer
• Demonstrations and know-how
transfers
• Initiative and entrepreneurial support
• Business development for specialized companies
EuraTechnologies project has been designed as a place of convergence for
players, projects and innovations from
the metropolitan and regional ICT sector, and is part of a larger project called
Rives de la Haute Deûle project aiming
at renewing this area.
Located between Lille and Lomme, this
eco-district will mix on 100 hectares
economic activities, housing, green and
blue spaces, as well as all the necessary
equipment and infrastructures to make
the life of its inhabitants easier.
With 10,500 m2 of flexible offices, Le
Blan-Lafont allows a real flexibility of
creation and growth, convenient for
all kind of companies and the different
development steps - incubation, spinning-off, company hotel - thanks to a
careful real-estate response.
The Blan-Lafont, heart of the welcoming and support tool for ICT companies
of EuraTechnologies, results from the
exemplary rehabilitation, both for its
architectural and environmental characteristics, of two old textile factories
(Le Blan and Lafont).
Le Blan-Lafont building was entirely rehabilitated respecting the High Quality
Environmental standard, from a sustainable development perspective: construction, water treatment and waste
disposal, transport, energy management, biodiversity.
Presence of water, especially the “water station” converted into a river marina, architectural innovation and concern for environmental quality give to
this innovative site a remarkable character. Everything is designed to ensure
a harmonious mix between work and
life place.
© Pascaline Chombart
© Daniel Rapaich
113
INNOTEX, Lille Métropole Communauté Urbaine (FR)
Unique textile incubator in France, INNOTEX has been for more than ten
years a real expert in providing support
to set up projects of textile companies.
Relying on a team of 3 coaches and a
privileged network, INNOTEX advises project owners about their entrepreneurial approach, offers them the opportunity to work with textile experts
and brings them necessary funds to set
their project up. INNOTEX has contributed to 221 projects resulting in the creation of more than 30 companies with a
sustainability rate of 74%.
The presence of INNOTEX within the
European leader of the textile engineer training centre, the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles (ENSAIT), and its direct access to
the GEMTEX, university laboratory of
excellence, specialist in flexible materials, allows each potential entrepreneur
to benefit from its textile expertise.
114
The potential entrepreneur must meet
4 essential criteria to enter into the incubation process: Textile Technology – Innovation – Design – Creation in
Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
INNOTEX gives its support in each
project stage and carries out essential
analyses in 3 key axes:
• Technical Analysis: Search of industrial partners; Prototyping; Economic analysis
• Definition of an economic model: Financial study; Financial forecasts;
studies of Industrial property
• Strategic Definition: state-of-theart search; Patentability Study; Patenting
Two examples: they chose INNOTEX…
they created their company.
Example 1: Grégoire Ghilbert (www.
commeuneimpression.com)
“I’ve created my company since 2005, in
the field of digital textile printing to create high-quality communication supports.
My company, Comme Une Impression, has
had a turnover of 300,000 € in 2010.
The support of INNOTEX allows me to
benefit from a professional environment
and have an office to organize meetings
with customers.
A coach supported me to implement my
idea, to finalize the Business Plan, so
to optimize the chances to success my
project.”
Example 2: Loïc Pollet and Philippe De
Cagny (www.sebola.fr)
“By establishing Sébola, our idea was to
commercialize a sport and lifestyle clothing line with a double approach: eco-design (to limit to a minimum the ecological
print left throughout the life cycle, including the manufacturing process) and technicality (a light material which lets the
body breathe, like a second skin).
Thanks to the expertise of INNOTEX, we
could undertake the researches and studies which validated these two essential aspects for the value of our product with the
suitable organizations.”
115
Centre for Young Entrepreneurship, Ronse (BE)
The original name of the Centre was
“Teinturerie du Soleil” of the family Delbar. The name refers to the nearby Sun
Street. The company was founded in
1903 in the existing buildings, and in
1907 a new dye house was realized that
stretched to the brook “the Molenbeek”.
A steam engine and boiler and a brick
chimney were placed next to the existing building. The dye factory was expanded in 1909 and 1917.
In the years 1950 and 1980 adjacent
buildings were purchased to further expand the activity. The company ceased
operations in 1995.
The city bought the plant in 2001 after
years of decline. Nobody was interested
to clean up the pollution in the ground
due to the dying activity. With the necessary funds from the Flemish Government, all the buildings which were beyond repair were demolished.
116
In 2007 the city gathered a group of
private investors around an ambitious
project, namely the development of a
Centre for Young Entrepreneurs. A place
were entrepreneurs could launch their
activity in the best circumstances: an
office, a store and all the necessary
services. A capital of 600.000 euro was
collected and a formal company was established called “NV Ondernemerscentrum Ronse”.
It is a public private partnership (PPP),
half of the capital is private funding, the
other half is public funding. The president of the company “Ondernemerscentrum Ronse Ltd” is Patrice Vandendaele, owner of one of the leading
textile related companies in the region.
It is his strong belief that these kind of
initiatives for new entrepreneurship
can bring back a new flourishing era for
the city of Ronse.
After 15 years of silence, there is again a
bustling activity on the site.
The centre has concluded its first year
of activity and has already a occupancy
of 60%. Interesting young people with
innovative ideas have found their way
to the centre.
117
UP-tex, Lille Métropole / Marcq-en-Baroeul (FR)
The UP-tex Cluster is an association of
companies, research and tech transfer centres that has been approved as
a Competition Cluster by the French
State.
By 2015, the Cluster aims at becoming
a European benchmark in the field of:
• Advanced Textile Materials
• Polysensoriality
• Design and Mass Customisation
This cluster federates the best competencies for preparing and optimising
projects.
It places textile at the heart of the materials of tomorrow through innovative applications in terms of functionality and usage, thus paving the way for
a large number of opportunities in sectors offering high added value.
118
New functional requirements and sustainable developments are the two engines for development of Advanced
Textile Materials.
Sectors of activity:
The UP-tex cluster positioning in these
sectors brings high diversification and
value to the national industrial network.
• Clothes and smart textiles, protective equipment
• Transport and composite materials
• Health care and biotechnologies
• Building and civil engineering
• Sport and leisure
• Biofibres and biomaterials
Volume markets, such as transports,
packaging, households, as well as niche
markets (healthcare, building, sports,
geotextile, protective attire) are expected to grow.
The Cluster assists companies that
have a research or innovation project in
the fields of advanced textile materials,
polysensoriality, design and mass customisation.
The UP-tex cluster supports at regional and national levels energy and performance of the industrial network,
on the one hand, competence and reputation of research, tech transfer and
training centres on the other hand.
The services offered by the UP-tex Cluster include a number of actions that facilitate an innovation-based approach:
• Assistance to mounting projects
• Fund raising
• Access to the watch platform for
markets and technologies
• Access to networks Promotion and
Communication
UP-tex assists companies in their international growth. On an international
scale, the UP-tex Cluster is developing
a worldwide network in Europe, North
America, Asia and North Africa.
119
3.d Technological Centres and Textile Museums in ACTE territories
Apart from local and regional administrations, ACTE is working in close collaboration with other key players of the
territories, such as museums and technology and research centres. These institutions actively participate in the
activities of our network as adherent
members.
In recent years, a significant increase
in the number of adherent members
of ACTE could be observed. Hence,
working groups on R&D and on Textile Museums have been constituted
within ACTE in order to encourage the
transfer of knowledge and experiences among these players, closely linked
to our territories. In that sense, we can
even speak about the existence of networks within the network.
120
As shown in this section, textile and
fashion museums and other cultural institutions play an important role
in many of our territories. They act
both as witnesses of the historical productive memory and as drivers for the
transition from an industrial economy
to a knowledge-based economy.
They represent in many cases an excellent example of a successful linkage between the rich industrial heritage and
the development of innovative designs
and products.
As for technology and research centres,
their activities are key for the enhancement of the competitiveness of local
businesses through the development of
new technologies and high value-added
products and services.
3.d.1 Technological and Research Centres
AITEX, Alcoy (ES)
AITEX, Technological Textile Institute, is a private non-profit association, which was established in 1985 by
textile entrepreneurs and the Government of the Valencian Community. It
is part of the Network of Technological
Institutes.
AITEX’s main objective is to improve
the competitiveness of textile enterprises, promoting modernisation, introducing new technologies and improving the quality of the enterprises
and their products.
The global objectives involving improvement and support for the sector
are distributed through a series of areas of action: Technological research and
development activities, advanced technical services, technical consultancy,
technology surveillance and transference, training and certifications.
122
All the Institute’s programs and actions
are presented as instruments for support within the framework of technological needs of textile enterprises.
AITEX carries out R&D projects, which
are implemented by different research
groups within the Institute.
AITEX also has specialised laboratories
with credentials and recognitions of
the highest level at national and international scopes and a wide range of experts belonging to several different scientific-technical fields.
These professionals are qualified to
provide consultancy and training services in different subjects (environment,
REACH directive, and eco-design).
AITEX is an official body, authorised
to certify textile products with a range
of factors related with ecology, quality,
protection and safety.
The Institute carries out continuous
research on all technological novelties
which take place and are applied to the
textile sector.
The Institute’s activity covers 12 areas
of knowledge:
• Textile materials applied to biotechnology and biomedicine
• Checking and managing comfort
• Technologies and design management for fabrics and clothing
• Specialised textile training
• Nanotechnology applied to textile
materials
• Technologies for textile processes
• Textile solutions for protection and
safety
• Textile solutions for health
• Sustainability of processes and recycling textile products
• ICT in textile and management processes
• Intelligent and functional textiles
• Technical textiles
Each area of knowledge is supported
by a significant infrastructure which
comprises 20 laboratories with stateof-the-art equipment, 22 experimental
plants and emerging technologies with
direct application to the textile sector.
More so, AITEX includes a workforce
comprised of the most specialised technicians from each research line, which
comprise the different areas of knowledge.
The research which takes place in the
aforementioned areas of knowledge results in generation and transference of
knowledge and technologies in application sectors such as aeronautics, automobile industry, clothing, geotextiles,
textile value chain, sports and leisure.
123
EEDRI, Łódź (PL)
Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Research Institute at the Academy of Management in Łódź is an independent research unit established in
2004 in order to:
• Train and improve the professional
skills of academic staff
• Intensify research and development
cooperation within the framework
of national and international scientific networks
• Conduct extensive national and international interdisciplinary scientific research and development work
•
•
•
The Institute’s core research and development activities cover the following
areas:
• Regions of knowledge (regional innovation strategies, regional clusters, sectorial innovation systems
and innovation support policy, inno-
124
•
vative instruments of region management)
Innovative instruments for region
and company management (regional
and technological foresight, benchmarking, technological and innovation audit, governance, monitoring
and evaluation).
Entrepreneurship and support policies for small and medium enterprises (environment friendly to SME
development, including the elimination of administrative barriers, national and international initiatives
for SME support, best practices)
European integration (theory of integration, economic consequences
of integration)
Internationalisation of SMEs (theory of internationalisation, internationalisation and globalization of
SME, cross-border and international cooperation)
Research results are available at the Institute’s web site: www.eedri.pl, as well
as in the form of reports, analyses and
scientific journals published by the
Publishing House of the Academy of
Management, etc.
Research results are also spread
through papers and scientific announcements presented at conferences, workshops and scientific seminars
including the ones that are organised
by the Institute.
The EEDRI staff are members of research teams working for the development of the textile and clothing industry, and are also actively involved in the
improvement of vocational education.
It is worth noting that it was the EEDRI’s initiative to establish the Advanced
Textile Technologies Cluster, which is
now promoting the development of the
industry.
In 2009, EEDRI was awarded by the
Polish Textile Association for its sustained effort in the development of the
textile industry in Poland.
125
CETEMMSA, Mataró (ES)
CETEMMSA opened in 1991 as an innovation and technology centre dedicated to serving the industrial and professional network of Maresme.
The company was formed pursuant to
a joint initiative between business associations and several public administrations, in order to facilitate the process involving technological innovation
and business development, providing a
consultancy service and the opportunity to share technical resources.
Over the past years, CETEMMSA has
increased its sphere of action and is
currently recognised by several regional, national and international entities
and bodies as being a technological
centre of reference in the field of research applied to Smart Materials and
Smart Devices, providing a wide range
of significantly evolved services, which
have made it become a centre for comprehensive innovation services.
126
On the other hand, information technology, organisation consultancy and
training are other complementary axies within this portfolio of services. All
these factors together favour the fact
that the concept of innovation is still
managed as a global strategic process.
The synergies between these lines of action allow the company to take on the
role of intermediary entity, coordinating the efforts of all the agents involved
in a certain innovation plan, regardless
of whether it is specific to a company or
affects the specific activity of a sector.
CETEMMSA is organised into different
research groups, with clear orientation
towards markets and applications: Energy and Photonics, Health and Wellness, Smart Materials, Electronics and
Sensors, Smart Textiles and Radiofrequency Identification, RFID. One of
the main functions of the technological centre is to establish collaborations
with other research centres and universities in order to develop joint projects.
The capacities of the research team are
distributed over a wide range on scientific and technological fields, covering
specialities such as: Chemistry, Electronics, Telecommunications, Physics,
Industrial engineering and Textile Engineering, among others.
CETEMMSA carries out research applied to intelligent materials and devices, Smart Material & Smart Devices, by
means of systems and technologies for
deposition, printing, laminating and
surface treatments. Providing companies with a joint project for creating intelligent and Smart Objects.
127
CITTA, Córdoba (ES)
The Regional Government of Andalusia
brought about the creation of the Textile Innovation and Technology Centre
of Andalusia (CITTA) in 2006, taking
on the legal status of a private nonprofit Foundation.
CITTA was created as a tool to promote
the textile industry within Andalusia
through innovation and technological
development, covering 2,094 businesses.
Within the region, this sector employs
approximately 10,000 workers, and its
turnover was 940 million Euros.
All this has been done through Innovation and Technological Development,
carrying out its main activity within
the Regional Government of Andalusia.
One of CITTA’s main objectives is to
search continuously for new opportunities for the sector, in spite of the
competitiveness of the current times,
128
identifying the following lines for development: Fast Fashion – improving the manufacturing flexibility and
the speed at which products can be
launched, Technical Textiles in the
health and protection scopes and new
textile applications for construction.
The headquarters of the Textile Technological Centre are located in “La
Vega” Industrial Estate, in Priego de
Córdoba, roughly in the centre of the
Andalusia region.
The facilities span over more than
2,000 m2. Soon, the same industrial es-
tate will house the quality control and
research laboratory.
CITTA holds, among others, the following credentials: Member of Research &
Development Entities, member of the
Andalusian Knowledge System, member of RETA, currently involved in the
implementation and certification process of its integrated system for quality,
environment and R+D+I management.
The services CITTA provides are included within the following scopes: Support
to design and manage R&D projects,
support for internationalisation of
businesses within the sector, training,
organisation and production and product development.
CITTA’s main clients and collaborators
are businesses within the textile-clothing sector and prestigious designers, as
well as research institutions.
The Foundation’s board is currently
comprised of 20 businesses and institutions from several regions.
CITTA has started the creation of a Scientific-Technological Advisory Committee, aiming to advise the Centre on
R+D lines to be followed, as well as its
participation in research and technological development projects.
129
INCDTP, Bucharest (RO)
The National Research and Development Institute for Textiles and Leather
of Bucharest, Romania, is the only institute of this type in the country and
is a promoter of innovation and scientific excellence.
With an experience of over 60 years,
the Institute has evolved and adapted
its work continuously over time, in correlation with the development of the
textile-clothing industry at European
level and acting in support of the economic agents of the sector.
Thus, the Institute carries out mainly
applied, technological research activity,
as part of the National RDI Plan and in
the European 7th Framework, Leonardo da Vinci, EUREKA Programmes, bilateral collaborations.
Additionally, following Romania’s
membership to the European Union,
the Institute has focused its efforts to-
130
wards accessing the Structural Funds
to finance RDI projects.
By approaching complex multidisciplinary research areas, INCDTP becomes
one of dynamic actors of R&D, promoting scientific excellence, innovation
and contributing to the achieving of
the European Research Area objectives.
The priority areas of research concerns
are:
• Custom textiles and interactive
products
• Technical textiles for environment
protection
• Medical destination articles
• Textile products for the aeronautic
domain
• Technologic equipment and automation for the textile industry
• Quality testing for textile products
In addition to RDI, INCDTP carries out
a series of related activities:
• Consulting activity, in the form of
assistance regarding the quality
and maintenance of textile materials, the identification of problems
emerging in the processes of spin-
ning, weaving, knitting, finishing
(dyeing, printing, pre-treatment),
etc.
• The editing of specialized publications: “Textile Industry” magazine
which is ISI rated since 2007, guides,
handbooks, specialized books
• Organizing national and international scientific events for the dissemination of RDI activity results;
there can be mentioned TEXTEH
annual international conference,
which this year was on its third edition
• Services offered to test the quality of
textile raw materials, semi-finished
and finished products, enabling producers to optimise the technologic
manufacturing processes, correcting
from the early stage those features
that do not comply with the requirements; INCDTP has been also appointed at national level to carry out
tests and checkings for rendering
the eco-label in some product categories
• Professional training, at intermediate and higher level; the Institute
is in the final stage for receiving the
certificate of training for the following occupations: textile designer,
clothing designer, leather technician
• Micro-production activity in which
the following is achieved:technologic
experiments for research projects
conducted by the Institute, by providing the necessary technical frame
and logistics
• Technology transfer and exploitation of results obtained in the research activity in technical filter textiles, medical textile articles
(non-absorbable surgical thread,
woven vascular protheses, bandages for treating wounds), for which
INCDTP works directly for hospitals
and health clinics
131
LEITAT, Terrassa (ES)
LEITAT is one of five Advanced Technological Centres, which are recognised
by the Regional Government of Catalonia, and as such, is an active member
of one of the economic transformation
promoters who have affected Terrassa
city and the entire Catalonian region.
LEITAT was founded in Terrassa in
1906, within a society which already realised that association, knowledge and
innovation were the keys to improve
their business competitiveness.
In 1906, a group of entrepreneurs preoccupied with quality, certification and
research project regarding the wool
textile sector, decided to found an association to support the competitiveness of businesses, naming it Acondicionamiento terrasense.
Those entrepreneurs knew how to provide solutions for the needs of business
collective and they laid the foundations
of the current concept of a technological centre.
132
Over the years and thanks to the work
carried out, the entity evolved by expanding its activities, as well as changing its name to LEITAT Technological
Center.
Over the past years, the entity has
maintained its vocation to serve businesses and entities, although it has
changed the type of activities it develops, the organisational diagram and
the internal work systems.
The results over the past years have
proven that LEITAT’s commitment to
generating knowledge and its subsequent transference to the productive
network are effective models for increasing the fast sustainable growth of
the economy, as well as creating new
spaces and models for developing personal talent and performance for all
collaborators.
LEITAT Technological Center provides
multi-sector solutions for the technological needs of businesses within
the textile, chemical and marine sectors, among others. These solutions are
provided through its technological research units, which range from textile
technologies to surface at treatments,
including industrial biotechnology.
LEITAT believes that intellectual property is universal and can, therefore, be
promoted and developed anywhere in
the world, and firmly believes and promotes the “open innovation” concept
as the basis for collaboration, in order
to provide an efficient solution to the
technological challenges posed by the
clients.
LEITAT is a part of and collaborates
as a technological member with several different initiatives, which prove its
solvency as a motivating agent with regard to technological transference and
planning innovation in businesses, entities and institutions, through different national and international organisations.
133
NTT, Prato (IT)
Next Technology Tecnotessile is a research and services society that works
to improve technological innovation
and the competitiveness of businesses,
which are faced daily with the challenges which involve innovation, productive and management efficiency.
More than 30 years of work have enabled Next Technology Tecnotessile to
create and strengthen ties and collaborations with businesses, universities,
public entities, other research centres
and service centres at national and international scopes.
Next Technology Tecnotessile aims to
contribute to these services and thanks
to the efficiency of the professional
support team, contribute to the competitiveness of the businesses, seeking
the best solutions which can be applied
to the demands of the businesses.
The Society works in the fields of research, technological innovation and
training research technicians and researchers.
It develops technological consultancy
activities for businesses involved in the
textile industry and textile machinery,
as well as other related sectors, in order to resolve a range of different problems.
More specifically, with its activities, the
society has contributed to the technological growth of the textile sector and
textile machinery in Prato district and
to the development of national textile
realities.
134
Over the past few years, Next Technology Tecnotessile has expanded its
activities in the field of research and
technological transference through its
participation in numerous community
projects, playing the role of coordinator
or member.
By its activities, Next Technology Tecnotessile aims to respond to the technological demands of businesses and
the petitions for technological transference of institutional bodies.
The Society ensures the quality of its
services and its assistance by a management system which is certified according to the norm UNI EN ISO 9001:2000.
For implementing research projects,
Next Technology Tecnotessile’s clients
have benefited from financial support
from the Fondo Speciale per la Ricerca
Applicata dell’IMI (L. 46/82 and following modifications). Apart from them,
Next Technology Tecnotessile uses EU
funds for R+D and technological transference.
Next Technology Tecnotessile also has
experience regarding programming
and management of multi-annual and
multidisciplinary research projects,
with participation from industrial businesses, research entities and universities.
The operational structure responsible
for research and development activities is divided into the following areas
of competency:
Theme areas of interest:
• New textile technologies and new
products for automotive applications
• New textile technologies and new
treatment for applications to Health,
Healthcare and Safety
• Fabrics for sports
• Fabrics for construction
• Innovation of textile machinery and
sustainable textile
• Fast Fashion
• Textile technologies, chemical processes and finishing treatments
• Industrial automation and software
application
• Technologies for treating and reusing industrial wastewater.
• Laboratory trials
• Training
• Quality Management Systems and
Environmental Management Systems
• Soft loans for R&D
135
R.S. – Ricerche e Servizi srl, Prato (IT)
RS is a private independent centre
for innovation and technology transfer, working mainly in the Textile and
Clothing production chain. It promotes the implementation of research
projects oriented towards development
of new technologies and new products
with special attention paid to Textiles
and Clothing over the basis of a partnership specialising in technology
transfer. Its structure constantly monitors emerging technologies that exist
in the transition phase between laboratory and commercial maturity, as yet
little-known in contexts outside their
original ones. It is a contact point between technological knowledge sources (universities, research centres, supply companies) and end users (private
and public).
RS is a centre for innovation that stimulates, disseminates and supports the
technical aspects of technological innovation, particularly in the Textile and
136
Clothing sector for Italian and foreign
organizations.
This company comprises eight partners
with multi-disciplinary competences that range from processing of fibres
to production of clothing and relative
marketing, from textile IT to textile
analysis and research methodologies.
RS applies the methodologies backed
by its partners’ thirty-plus years of experience.
Partners provide complementary expertise in various fields of textile technology, from Chemistry to IT Engineering to Economics. Most are backed
by over thirty years of experience as researchers or company managers, and
currently hold positions as company
owners in the fields of IT, Textile Analysis, Managerial or Technical Consultancy.
RS carries out research activities for
the company itself or others. RS uses
its own resources for the development
of projects and orders. It makes use of
know-how gained through projects developed in various textile districts in Italy and abroad, plus a network of experts and systematic contacts with
research centres and Italian and foreign
universities.
RS has the mission to intercept or anticipate needs for technological development that are not met or are only
partially met, to stimulate ideas, development and experimentation for new
applications, to develop appropriate
IT, demonstration and service systems
based on concrete economic applications of knowledge and technologies.
The innovation processes considered
are totally innovative, incremental, for
products and processes.
RS develops and delivers its technological consultancy services in the different fields, such as: dissemination
of technologies and improvement solutions, promotion and setting up of
groups of interest for the realisation
of innovative projects, participation
of SMEs in complex high-tech research
projects, operational and technical scientific support for the development of
research programmes.
137
Fitex, Igualada (ES)
FITEX is the brand of the Private Foundation for Textile Innovation, a private
non-profit entity whose essential aim
is to encourage the innovation process
of the knitwear industry.
Since its establishment in 2000, FITEX has become a centre of reference for
those companies that perform R+D+i
linked to textile-fashion-clothing industry.
The founding members of this Foundation, FITEX from now on, are the Textile Association FAGEPI from Igualada
(Spain), and the City Council of Igualada.
The team of FITEX technological centre consists of several professional profiles, such as textile engineers, chemical engineers, knitwear engineers,
economists, physical science graduates,
etc. who ensure a multidisciplinary approach from the various research, development and innovation projects and
a wider approach when tackling scien-
138
tific, technological and market innovation challenges.
Supporting the innovation process
means for FITEX to integrate itself in
the value chain of its users, in order to
generate customer satisfaction and improve its results.
• Technical advice for the design and
development of new products and
the engineering of textile processes
• Specialized training
• Research and development
• Dissemination of technical and technological innovation
FITEX aims to encourage the innovation in the textile industry, especially
in textile-fashion, through four basic
fields of action:
Since 2005, FITEX is part of the Technological Transfer Centres Network of
the Generalitat of Catalonia, currently
known as TECNIO.
Regarding the research road map, FITEX focuses on three priority fields of
work:
• Conductive fabric
• Textile electroluminescence
• Pharmacopeia nano-encapsulation
for healthcare applications
139
3.d.2 Museums
CDMT, Terrassa (ES)
The Textile Museum and Documentation Centre (CDMT) is a reference
point in Catalonian and the Mediterranean area, specialised in the preservation, study and promotion of the
textile culture. Founded in 1946, the
Museum is now a Consortium formed
by the City Council of Terrassa and the
Provincial Council of Barcelona.
CDMT has more than 20,000 pieces
from all the styles and eras, and is currently focused on recovering and preserving the industrial textile heritage.
It is especially worth highlighting the
excellent collection of Modernism textiles, a collection which brings together
masterpieces by artists, designers and
Catalonian businesses of the nineteen
hundred, as well as the modern documentation of Catalonian businesses
(samples, all types of fabrics for cloth-
140
ing and household items, embroidery,
original designs and point cards).
The CDMT is a local public entity which
works and provides services in three
complementary lines:
• Services
for
professional
designers, decorators and interior designers, renovating interiors,
costume designers, antique dealers,
students and researchers are the focus of the specialised textile and
fashion library, which is continuously updated and has an online catalogue, and includes a vast collection
of fabrics, clothing garments, accessories, original designs and samples, most of which can be accessed
on the net (http://imatex.cdmt.es).
The CDMT team provides customised consultancy regarding technical or historic aspects, drafting studies or technical reports and helps to
search other resources and contacts.
• Training
The centre organises on-site and online courses regarding documentation, preservation and restoration of
fabrics, as well as courses related to
specific themes such as analysis and
knowledge of textiles and clothing.
We have signed agreements with
several universities and institutions
concerning the organisation of practical courses at the facilities. We provide made-to-measure courses for
individuals, businesses or entities,
according to their needs and using
our own resources and those of other
entities with which we collaborate.
The current course program is available at www.cdmt.se (training)
• Museum
The centre also carries out a range of
research programs, of which the results are published through temporary exhibitions and relevant publications.
CDMT publishes a biannual magazine,
Datatèxtile, which is focused exclusively on art, heritage and textile culture
and is the only one of its kind to today’s date.
The diffusion is complemented with an
educational service, including workshops and teaching courses, and a program of activities for all ages.
The Museum also has a restoration
workshop for fabrics and garments,
which services other entities and private clients.
141
Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź (PL)
The White Factory, the current site of
the Central Museum of Textiles, was
erected in the years 1835 – 1886 by the
family of Ludwik Geyer, immigrants
from Neugersdorf in Saxony.
This is a unique solution of industrial architecture, unobserved in other
mills. It was the first mechanical textile
cotton mill in Łódź. In 1840 -1851 about
700 employees worked in this factory,
which had 180 looms and 56 spinning
frames.
Before World War I the factory housed
the spinning room with 21,600 spindles, the weaving room with 717 looms
and the printing room as well as departments for mechanics and repairs.
There were 1.700 employees altogether.
In 1907 one of the first bathrooms was
built for factory workers in Łódź.
This building is an example of magnificent industrial architecture: a fourwing mill with the building of the Old
Boiler House with steam power machine in the middle of a big courtyard,
with a high chimney (stack), the first in
Łódź, two dust towers and two watertowers.
142
During the World Wars I and II the factory was devastated. In January 1945
the mill was nationalized.
Due to the bad technical condition,
it was used as a production place to a
small extent. There were situated only
storerooms, offices, vocational schools
and apartments.
Part of the spaces were leased. The
buildings were not renovated and its
technical condition was soon degraded.
In 1952 Department of Textiles was established within the structure of the
Museum of Art.
Two years later the City authorities decided to establish a separate textile museum. The White Factory was suggested as a suitable place.
In March 1959 this Department was
transformed into the Museum of Textile History, a branch of the Museum of
Art. In 1960 it was a separate institution, since 1975 – the Central Museum
of Textiles.
In 2002 the whole Eskimo factory was
closed, former Geyer’s industry, occupying the eastern wing. That year a tender was announced and solved for the
conception of the archictectural restructuring of this wing. The idea returned to found an open-air museum
in the park adjoining the museum. In
2006 – 2008, thanks to the European
and Municipal funds, investment was
carried out, which gave the museum an
additional surface of 4.110 m2 (all museum has 16,000 m2).
The last wing included into the museum houses magnificent exhibition
spaces, a reading room, technical facilities, hall with the working weaving and
knitting machines. Apart from exhibitions, symposia and concerts, fashion
shows and even wedding ceremonies
are organized here.
The interests of the museum concentrate around everything relating to the
textile manufacturing process – from
materials, through textile techniques
and technologies to textile products
representing various processing degrees.
This assumption results in the fact that
apart from textiles the museum also
collects other non-textiles fibers, felts,
knitting as well as garments made of
them, and contemporary artworks created from paper (because linen and
cotton “end” their lives in the mills).
Collections are gathered, scientifically elaborated, conserved and in various
forms displayed by the specialized thematic departments of the museum.
Since 1972 the museum organizes the
International Triennial of Tapestry,
and is the organizer and exhibitor of
important national Polish events (i.e.
National Exhibition of the Polish Tapestry).
143
Musée du Folklore, Mouscron (BE)
From its creation in 1953, at the instigation of the local historian Léon Maes,
the municipal Museum of Folklore has
for mission to collect, preserve, expose,
study and transfer on the heritage
of the mouscronnoise region, mainly
the period included between 1850 and
1950. Since 1980, collections are sheltered in a bourgeoise house of 1885,
the former house of the director of the
school of the city centre.
Today, a vast project of extension and
renovation is led with the support of
the French Community of Wallonia 144
Brussels to allow the development of
the increasing museum activities and
the new style of the permanent collections more directed on the cross-border life in the last century. The Museum is an institution recognized by the
Ministry of Culture, and a reference in
the field of regional ethnology.
The collections of the Museum, rich in
more than 15,000 objects and 45,000
archived documents, describe the peculiar life of Mouscron: a big rural village becoming a city strongly urbanized
further to the textile industrial expansion of the middle of the 19th century.
Situated in the border of two borders the one linguistics with Flanders, the
other political with France - the city
also distinguishes itself by its population growing in the middle of three different cultures.
The Museum becomes attached quite
particularly to these immaterial her-
itage, by protecting thousands of testimonies, oral traditions and specific
know-how.
The manual loom (l’ôtil in Picard) evokes
the secular textile tradition of the region.
For the 15th century, the work of the
weaver at home was centred on the
production of the linen, the plant also
cultivated on our lands. The mouscronnois manufacturers shaped quality (tissues). The ôtil was in the ward
of modest home of the weaver where
the regular “terlic-terlac” of the shut-
tle gave rhythm to the atmosphere of
the room.
He set to work, early in the morning
till late in the night, and received often only a starvation wage for his tiring
and meticulous labour.
The everyday life of the worker, the
modest housing environment, the social demands, the clubs and societies
strictly connected to taverns and to
popular games are the other aspects explained during a visit to the Museum.
From 1880, most of the craftsmen attracted by the fast development of the
industries will abandon their ancestral
loom to go to work to the factory.
The collections of the Museum evoke
also the textile work devolved to the
woman: the carding, the spinning, the
lace, the knitting, the sewing, the embroidery.
Today, this disappeared or threatened
textile know-how is passed on in the
young generations thanks to the training courses of heritage” Folklore Experiences”.
145
Musée de la Rubainerie, Comines (BE)
Nowadays, divided into two entities of
different nationalities around a ribbonriver playing the hyphen role, Comines
keeps the marks of a highly interesting
economic, historical and cultural past.
The textile industry has indeed a strong
presence there since the 13th century,
without interruption.
until 1719 so that the textile activity,
strong of its family and domestic components, became a real driving force in
the economic growth.
Located at a place named “Le Fort”, in
the geographical and strategic centre
of both Comines, exactly where the Ennetières ribbon manufacture was situated, destroyed during the First World
War, the Museum of the Ribbon Manufacture of Comines exhibits eight centuries of textile memory, know-how
and knowledge transfer.
From 1848 to the First World War,
Comines became the world capital of the utility ribbon with 400 million meters produced yearly by some
1,000 workers, and 3,500 machines.
Large groups were created, such as the
Ducarin factories. The infrastructures,
destroyed during the First World War,
had been almost completely rebuilt after the conflict according to contemporary standards. Still today, a whole
neighbourhood of Comines-France is
called “Ducarin Work”.
If the wars of religion of the 16th century, and the border conflicts that punctuated the reign of Louis XIV gave the
textile industry a blow without really
eradicating it from the economic spectrum, it would be necessary to wait
In the 1980s, many companies closed
down. The relocation process was coming. Countries with less expensive labour costs let the large groups that
had taken over the family ribbon factories, to carry out bumper profits. The
146
ribbon factories progressively disappeared from both Comines. The sawtooth roofs and the chimneys fell the
ones after the others. The banks of the
Lys and the intra-urban industrial areas acquired then a new look.
Still, the year 2000 does not yet hear
the sound of the death knell of the ribbon of Comines. Nine companies, located within the French territory, and
a last one within the Belgian territory, perpetuate the secular know-how
of the Bleu-Vintes (the ribbon workers
and their blue overalls), especially in
the fields of luxury and passementerie.
Nowadays, about 300 workers weave
and design, using advanced machines,
straps, escutcheons, decorative ribbons, luggage handles, seat belts, and
zippers. At the present time, in Comines, six hundred million meters of
high-quality ribbon are still produced
yearly.
Each year, two significant events take
part with this spirit in the collective memory: the festival of the Marmousets, each third Sunday of July,
with its procession recalling the life and
the work of Bleu-Vintes, and the traditional “souper à pierrot” of the HolyCatherine, the saint patron of the ribbon manufacturers, celebrated every
25th November.
At this occasion, the meals of the ribbon manufacturers of Comines are
shared among the members of the Ribbon Brotherhood and their sympathizers: a sausage, haricot beans and vinegar red cabbage remind, through this
modest dish, all the bonds that Comines wove and still weaves throughout
the world… like an eternal return of life
history!
147
Museu de la Tècnica de Manresa (ES)
Located within one of the city’s old water reservoirs, the Manresa Museum
of Technology comprises an exhibition
dedicated to ribbon manufacturing,
which allows visitors to view one of the
city’s most representative and important industries.
The building features an extraordinary
collection of textile-related machinery.
The exhibition provides an insight as
to how this industry of narrow strips
of cloth has evolved from using silk up
until the modern ribbons used in the
21st century, and also getting to know
the personality of the ribbon industry
of Manresa. This centre is considered
to be a specialised centre within the national and international market.
The exhibition is divided into five areas, each of which allows visitors to view
different historical eras and allows us
to relive the work which took place in
the early 18th century, ranging from
148
the workshops located within homes,
up to the modern 21st century factories
that produced ribbons.
The exhibition guides visitors through
a chronological itinerary starting with
the origins of silk and the braid workshop located in an old 18th century
house and finishing up with a workshop in a loft, the braid workshop and
the factory.
The exhibition has recovered looms
and machines which belonged to several workers and workshops in Manresa
and Catalonia.
These machines produced cotton
weaves, shoe laces and industrial slings,
which employed about 20% of the population.
It is also worth highlighting the industry which was created around ribbon
manufacturing, and was comprised of
fabric manufacturers, maintenance,
distribution, etc.
This industry still functions today, although in a much smaller way, but the
areas surrounding Manresa still produce 25% of the total amount of ribbon,
which is manufactured in Spain.
The Museum was opened with the aim
to recover the city’s industrial history
and preserve the memory of the many
thousands of people who worked in
this industry.
As the workshops and factories closed
down, the Museum recovered the pieces of the most historic value and included them in this exhibition.
Now, besides seeing the machinery, we
can also get to know the city’s industrial heritage by means of activities aimed
for children and adults, guided tours
and many other options.
149
Museo del Tessuto di Prato (IT)
The Prato Textile Museum opened in
1975, within the Tullio Buzzi Technical
Institute, the school which has trained
textile technicians and businessmen
within the Prato district for over 100
years.
The aim to create a museum as a useful tool in support of the schools’ educational programmes had already been
thought about in the 1950s. Some of
the teachers, along with some former
students and businessmen, started to
gather historical evidence regarding local manufacturing.
The opportunity to create a genuine
museum structure in the school matured within the school’s new head office in Viale de la Repubblica, which
opened a few years earlier thanks to the
donation made by the textile businessman Loriano Bertini, of a collection of
more than 600 textile fragments dated
between the 14th and 18th centuries.
150
The museum’s ultimate headquarters
opened in 2003, within the first part
of the renovated building, occupying
some 2,500m2 of the total of 8.500m2.
The renovation of the former Campolmi factory went on for another six years
and ended in 2009, with the opening of
the new and splendid municipal library.
The tour is divided into two different
exhibition areas. An introductory area
is devoted to explaining textile fibres
and their manufacturing processes.
This stage of the tour includes material
for visually impaired visitors and covers the hall with the old collections and
the old boiler room on the ground floor.
The former Campolmi factory is a monument of textile industrial architecture.
Its architectural development began
in the second half of the 19th century when the first covered areas were
built using groin vaults, which nowadays hosts the museum’s historical collections.
The tour of the mezzanine floor includes the areas intended for the textile history of Prato, the section which
houses modern fabrics and the halls for
temporary exhibitions.
The works on the building were concluded around a century later, with the
construction of an impressive ogivalceilinged vault which was initially used
for the dying works, and it is now the library’s monumental entrance hall.
The choice to assign an entire exhibition area to the modern section is due
to the need to closely link the museum
with the region’s manufacturing reality.
Since 2003, large venues have been
available for staging temporary exhibitions and events. This has made it possible to organise important textile and
fashion shows. Aside from the temporary exhibitions, the Textile Museum
Foundation organises periodical temporary rotations of the permanent old
collections, as well as modern ones.
151
Museo del Tombolo di Isernia (IT)
The Project Museo del Tombolo di Isernia comes into the historical tradition
of merletto (lace) in the Region Molise.
The house that will host the Museum is
located in front of one of the most representative places of the city: Fontana
Fraterna, symbolic monument of Isernia, in the circle dedicated to San Pietro Celestino, the beloved Saint born in
Isernia.
This place preserves and reflects the
modern historical aspect of the city.
It was also the favourite place for the
merlettaie (lace makers) to make their
beautiful linen filigrees, in the same
Piazza Concezione (Piazza San Pietro
Celestino, today) when this was a small
circle surrounded by houses, before
the bombing of September of 1943. The
presence of old houses can be found at
the perimeter marked by bricks.
The bobbin lace spun the history of the
city for five centuries. Thousands of
merlettaie have woven yarns and creativity mixed with the daily life of farmwork and housework.
These women have contributed to family finances and even to the city’s, selling
their handicrafts. The bobbin lace came
to Isernia from the Kingdom of Naples
around the 15th century, and it spread
in the period of the Queens Joanna III
and Joanna IV of Aragon.
It took the artistic style of the Convento
di Santa Maria delle Monache, a Benedictine monastery that housed the young
nobles from Naples forced to become
152
nuns, in order to preserve the family
assets.
Throughout the centuries, from the
16th century onwards, the bobbin lace
became synonymous of sophistication,
elegance, fine execution and continuous search for patterns and the knitting that traced its evolution.
The merletti di Isernia, known throughout the world, demonstrate the taste
for beauty that characterizes the city,
that it now dedicates them a Museum
promoted by the initiative of the City
Council, originating from a Project
born in 2010. The Museum intends to
be the centre of a series of activities
to promote the cultural interest in the
Molise Regional textile district, herein
supported by ACTE.
lo di Isernia in a Museum, but also to
become a creative forge and a place to
study for young students, and all those
interested in learning more about this
fascinating and peculiar world that
gives rise to a subtle and timeless beauty handicraft.
Subsequently to the attention paid to
the cultural and artistic heritage, forgotten for decades, after the publication of “Il Tombolo nel cuore di Isernia”
by Maria Stella Rossi and Olimpia Giancola, promoted by the President of
the Region of Molise, Michele Iorio, a
renewed interest for the tombolo and its
future has began.
The historical testimony of the bobbin
lace and its related events will be kept
up in this museum by initiative of the
City Council of Isernia and its Mayor
Gabriele Melogli, thus realizing the desire of many people in Isernia, not only
to protect the originality of the Tombo153
Museo Zucchi, Milan (IT)
Within the textile industry, Lombardy
historically represents one of the most
important areas in Europe. This is
thanks to highly integrated production
system and the entire value chain being
present in the region.
In fact, the Lombardy textile manufacturing sector contributes to about 30%
of the exports of products made in Italy. It is also inserted into a productive network involving research, service, imports, exports and distribution,
allowing for a substantial development
which can support the implementation
of rational productive processes in the
value chain and other economic sectors.
In 1987, Giordano Zucchi, a textile
group director sensitive to changing
tastes in the art of furnishing, came
into possession of a handblock of wood
and pewter which had formerly been
used for the production of hand-printed fabrics. Theses handblocks had been
154
the property of prestigious English textiles company David Evans & Co. who,
for more than 50 years, had been gathering them from Europe’s major printing houses.
Giordano Zucchi could not let the opportunity pass and in 1988, this legacy was renamed “The Zucchi Collection”. It was enhanced by the addition
of copper batik handblocks. Today this
collection is considered to be one of the
largest collections of handblocks for
hand-printed fabrics in the world. The
current value of the Collection gained
official recognition in 1997 when it received the Guggenheim Award.
The Collection’s 12,000 designs bear
witness, over a period which spans
three centuries from 1785 to 1935, to
a fashion that was both varied and sophisticated, and spanned over Europe
during one of the most vital and fertile
periods of its culture. This fashion lasted until the first stylistic experiments
of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements.
56,000 printing blocks, an extraordinary number, this also represents
a physical problem, as they take up a
great deal of storage space using structures able to support the weight of
many tonnes.
The Collection is currently housed in
different storage locations, the Via Foscolo in Milan and the location in Legnano.
To make the Collection accessible not
only to scholars but also to the designers, it was necessary to decide upon
criteria by which the artefacts could
be subdivided. In this sense, the Zucchi Collection has been divided into
six categories, which are identified in
terms of iconographic forms, abstract,
cashmere, floral, geometric, ornamental and pictorial.
Another subdivision has been based
on the specific uses for borders, foulards or scarves and for ties. Each series of blocks has been assigned with
a data card, printed and computerised,
which contains various items of information about the handblock, including
the style, the historical period, the conservation and the origin.
Thought was also given to the preservation of these pieces, as wood is a sensitive material, which needs to be stored
at constant temperature and humidity
levels in order to avoid any alteration.
The blocks also need to be treated with
beeswax and turpentine to maintain its
elasticity.
The Zucchi Collection does not only collect printing blocks, catalogue and preserve them for future exhibition in museums. In fact, a series of initiatives,
dedicated to several categories of people, ensures this legacy is continuously
available for the public.
In order for the general public to become better acquainted with the collection, carry out activities, to share the
value of the collection with anyone who
shows interest, a constant and dynamic
current value.
155
Vapor Buxeda Vell, Sabadell (ES)
Vapor Buxeda Vell was founded by
the Buxeda brothers, Miquel and
Domènech. It was the first industrial
business in Sabadell, which in 1879 had
its own electricity supplied by its steam
machine. The
Buxeda brothers rented parts of the
building and energy to a few financially
modest business owners.
In 1896, Vapor Buxeda Vell was sold by
the Buxeda family. Some of the reasons
for the business’s rapid decline were
that the generational inheritance of
the family business was not accompanied by a competent management.
The non-payment of the debts contracted caused for the building to be
embargoed and publicly auctioned.
Can Buxeda was an industry devoted
to producing and manufacturing wool
and cotton fabrics, as well as worsted
and wool wires. They took on the entire
wool production process and became a
vertically-structured enterprise (from
spinning, through weaving, including
the finishing process of the pieces).
In 1858, in their early years, the company produced between 400 and 500
pieces. By 1889, they were manufacturing between 5,000 and 6,000 pieces and had gone from 127 employees in
1858 to 350 in 1889.
156
Between 1905 and 1994, the building
was owned by La Mercantil Sabadellense, which suffered a downturn in the
1980s when the lack of operational ca-
pacity became evident, added to the
perspectives of this small industrial estate located in the centre of the city and
the obsolete facilities which were in
desperate need of modernisation.
In 1993, the Sabadell City Council approved the General Plan for Municipal Zoning, which included a building
process for plots which were occupied
by old unused factories and were located within the central area of Sabadell.
This plan forecast that half of the land
could be built on, and the other half
was to be transferred to the City Council and used for public facilities or green
zones.
In the case of the Buxeda Vell, the construction project was approved in 1997
and the following year the renovation
works begun. In 2000, part of the original building was demolished.
Having demolished a large part of the
original building, the available land
was used mainly to building homes.
Sabadell City Council is the owner of the remaining part and has subsequently renovated it and converted
it into the Museu de la Indústria Tèxtil
Llanera (Museum of the Wool Textile
Industry), which in turn depends on
the History Museum of Sabadell.
In the interior, the building still preserves some machinery and technology
applied to steam energy. Visitors can
also see the home of the old steam factory’s supervisor, the machinery room
(which still houses the Wolf semi-fixed
steam machine, from 1908), and the
boiler room.
The Vapor Buxeda Vell offers guided tours, during which visitors are explained the evolution of the building
since it was founded up until just before it was demolished in 2000. The
tours also explain the historic context of Catalonia and Sabadell during
that period, as well as the evolution of
steam energy towards electricity.
157
Contacts
Museums and Research Centres
AITEX (ES)
http://www.aitex.es
info@aitex.es
Plaza Emilio Sala, 1
E- 03801 Alcoy (Alicante)
+34 96 554 22 00
CETEMMSA (ES)
http://www.cetemmsa.com
Av. d’Ernest Lluch, 36
Parc Científic i de la Innovació TecnoCampus
E-08302 Mataró
+34 93 741 91 00
CITTA (ES)
http://www.citta.es
info@citta.es
Polígono Industrial “La Vega” parcela 1
E-14800 Priego de Córdoba (Spain)
+34 957 541 799
158
EEDRI, (PL)
http://www.eedri.pl
eedri@eedri.pl
PL-90-519 Łódź, ul Gdańska 121 ç
+48 42 664 22 40
Fitex (ES)
http://www.fitex.es
Av. Mestre Muntaner, 86
E-08700 Igualada (Spain)
+34 938035762
INCDTP (RO)
http://www.certex.ro
certex@ns.certex.ro
Lucretiu Patrascanu 16, sector 3
RO-030508 Bucharest
+40 21-340.49.28
LEITAT (ES)
http://www.leitat.org
leitat@leitat.org
C/ de la Innovació, 2
E-08225 Terrassa
+34 93 788 23 00
Next Technology Tecnotessile (IT)
http://www.tecnotex.it
tecnotex@tecnotex.it
Via del Gelso, 13
I-59100 Prato (Italy)
+39 0574 634040
RS – Ricerca e Servizi (IT)
http://www.riser.it
riser@riser.it
R.S. - Ricerche e Servizi s.r.l.
Via A. Volta, 42
I-50041 Calenzano
Firenze (Italy)
+39 055 8826628
CDMT (ES)
http://www.cdmt.es
info@cdmt.es
C/ Salmeron, 25
E-08222 Terrassa
+34 937 315 202
Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz (PL)
http://www.muzeumwlokiennictwa.pl
ctmustex@muzeumwlokiennictwa.pl
ul. Piotrkowska 282
PL-93 - 034 Łódź
+48 042 683 26 84
Museo del Tombolo di Isernia (IT)
http://www.comune.isernia.it
cultura@comune.isernia.it
Comune di Isernia
Piazza Marconi n. 1
(+39) 0865 4491
Musée de Folklore, Mouscron (BE)
http://www.mouscron.be
musee.folklore@mouscron.be
rue des Brasseurs, 3
B-7700 Mouscron
+32 56 86 04 66
Museo del Tessuto di Prato (IT)
http://www.museodeltessuto.it
info@museodeltessuto.it
Via Santa Chiara 24
I-59100 Prato (PO)
+39 0574 611503
Musée Rubanerie, Comines (BE)
larubanerie@yahoo.fr
rue des Arts, 3
I-7780 Comines-Warneton
+32 56 58 77 68
Museu de la Tècnica de Manresa (ES)
http://mtecma.blogspot.com
museu@parcdelasequia.cat
Carretera de Santpedor, 55
E-08240 Manresa (Bages)
+34 93 877 22 31
Vapor Buxeda Vell (ES):
http://www.sabadell.cat
mhs@ajsabadell.es
c. de Cervantes 68
Sector CENTRE
E-08201 Sabadell (Barcelona)
+34 93 727 05 14
Museo Zucchi (IT)
http://www.zucchicollection.org
info@zucchicollection.org
Via Legnano, 24
Via Legnano, 24
20027 Rescaldina (MI)
(+39) (0) (331) 448111
mNATEC (ES)
http://www.mnactec.cat
info.mnactec@gencat.cat
Rambla d’ègara, 270
E-08221 Terrassa
+34 93 736 89 66
159
Participating Organisations
Provincia di Novara
http://www.provincia.novara.it
urp@provincia.novara.it
Piazza Matteotti 1
I-28100 Novara
+39 0321 3781
Câmara Municipal de Guimarães
http://www.cm-guimaraes.pt
geral@cm-guimaraes.pt
Largo Cónego José Maria Gomes
P-4800-419 Guimarães
+351 253 421 200
Lille Métropole Communauté Urbaine
http://www.lillemetropole.fr
contact@lillemetropole.fr
1, rue du Ballon BP 749
F-59034 Lille Cedex
+33 03 20 21 22 23
160
Comune di Prato
http://www.comune.prato.it
comunicazione@comune.prato.it
Piazza del Comune, 2
I-59100 Prato (PO)
+39 0574 18361
Orbital-40
http://www.orbital40.com
orbital40@terrassa.cat
+34 93 789 11 11 ext. 2346
Ajuntament de Manresa
http://www.ajmanresa.cat
Plaça Major 1
E-08241 Manresa
+34 93 878 23 00
Ajuntament de Sabadell (ES)
http://www.sabadell.cat
Plaça de Sant Roc, 1
08201 Sabadell
+34 93 745 31 00
Promoció Econòminca de Sabadell (ES)
http://www.sabadell.es/estructura_
municipal/p/peconomsl_esp.asp
peconomica@ajsabadell.cat
crta. de Barcelona 208B
E-Sabadell 08205
+34 93 745 31 61
TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme (ES)
http://www.tecnocampus.cat
info@tecnocampus.com
Av. Ernest Lluch, 32
Edifici Tecnocampus
E-08302 Mataró (Barcelona)
+34 93 169 65 00
CENTR’ EXPO Mouscron (BE)
http://www.mouscron.be
c.expo.md@mouscron.be
Rue de Menin 475
B-7700 Mouscron
+33 056 860 140
Stad Ronse
http://www.ronse.be
info@ronse.be
Grote Markt 12
B-9600 Ronse
+32 55 232 711
Carpiformazione (IT)
http://www.carpiformazione.it
segreteria@carpiformazione.it
Via Nuova Ponente 22/b
41012 Carpi (MO)
+39 059 699554
Ajuntament de Terrassa (ES):
http://www.terrassa.cat
Raval de Montserrat 14
E-08221 Terrassa
(+34) 93 739 70 00
Łódź Art Center (PL)
http://www.lodzartcenter.com
info@lodzartcenter.com
ul. Tymienieckiego 3
PL-90-365 Łódź Poland
+48 42 684 20 95
COPEVO (ES)
http://www.consorciocupaciovalles.cat
consorci@consorciocupaciovalles.cat
Ctra. N. 150 Km 15
E-08227 Terrassa
+34 93 707 07 07
Foment de Terrassa (ES):
http://www.terrassa.cat
foment@terrassa.cat
Ctr. De Martorell, 95, BA
08224 Terrassa (Barcelona)
(+34) 93 789 11 11
Manufaktura (PL)
http://www.manufaktura.com
informacja@manufaktura.com
ul. Drewnowska 58
PL-91- 071 Łódź
+48 42 664 92 89
Maisons de Mode (FR)
http://www.maisonsdemode.com
contact@maisonsdemode.com
Lille - Le Jardin de Mode
58/60, rue du Faubourg des Postes
F-59000 Lille
+33 03 20 999 120
and
Roubaix - Le Vestiaire
27, rue de l’Espérance
59100 Roubaix
Ajuntament de Santa Margarida de
Montbui (ES)
http://www.montbui.net
ajuntament@montbui.net
Ctra de Valls, 57
E-08710 Santa Margarida de Montbui.
+34 93 803 47 35
161
Servei d’Ocupació de Catalunya (SOC)
http://www.oficinadetreball.cat
Carrer de Llull, 297-307
E-08019 Barcelona
+34 93 553 61 00
IMPEM – Mataró (ES)
www.mataro.org
impem@ajmataro.cat
C/ Herrera, 70
08301 - Mataró
+34 937582131
Reactivació Badalona (ES)
http://www.bcin.org
Polígon Les Guixeres
C/ Marcus Porcius, 1
E-08915 Badalona
+34 93 464 80 00
162
Euratechnologies (FR)
http://www.euratechnologies.com
contact@euratechnologies.com
165 avenue de Bretagne
F-59000 Lille
+33 03 59 08 32 30
UP-tex (FR)
http://www.up-tex.fr
Pôle de compétitivité UP-tex
40, rue Eugène Jacquet - SP15
F-59708 Marcq-en-Baroeul
(+33) (0)3 20 99 46 36
INNOTEX (FR)
http://www.innotex.fr
2 allée Louise et Victor Champier
BP 30329
F-59056 Roubaix Cedex 1
+33 03 20 25 75 70
Glossary
Acronyms
ACTE MFA ATC EEC
ECU
European Textile Collectivities Association
Multifibre Agreement
Agreement on Textile and Clothing
European Economic Community
European artificial currency unit between
1979 and 1999
EHEA European Higher Education Area
EFTA
European Free Trade Association
PPE
Personal Protection Equipment
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
LMI
Lead Market Initiative
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development
OLAF European Anti-Fraud Office
WTO World Trade Organization
GDP Gross Domestic Profit
PPE Personal Protection Equipment
SME
Small and Medium-sized Enterprise
I&D
Research & Development
164
REACH Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation T&A T&C EU EU-15 EU-12 and Restriction of Chemical Substances
Textile and Apparel
Textile and Clothing
European Union
Members of the EU before 2004 enlargement
Members included in the EU after 2004
Countries
BE
DE
ES
FR
IT
PL
PT
RO
Belgium
Germany
Spain
France
Italy
Poland
Portugal
Romania
References
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Communication of the European Commission COM(2003) 649 final of 29.10.2003 on “The future of the textiles and clothing
sector in the enlarged European Union”
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/texti_e/texintro_e.htm
Joan Canals: La indústria tèxtil i de la confecció a Espanya, a l’igual que a Europa, es troba en una cruïlla difícil i complexa de la qual
li costarà sortir-se’n. In: online journal of CTESCAT, http://www.ctescat.cat/scripts/larevista/article.asp?cat=13&arte=354
Lleonart, P. (Ed.) Forecast for the evolution of the textile/clothing sector in year 2015. (2009) Industrial Watch Group for
the Textile/Clothing Sector
Communication of the European Commission COM(96) 210final of 15.05.1996 on “The competitiveness of subcontracting
in the textile and clothing industry in the European Union”
Fabregat, V. Textil y Confección, Generalitat de Catalunya (Textile and Clothing, Regional Government of Catalonia) Department for Industry and Energy (1997)
ECU: The European Currency Unit was an artificial currency used between 1979 and 1999 and was replaced by the Euro.
Lleonart, P. Op. Cit. Page 9; Fabregat, V. “La internacionalización del sector textil confección” (The internationalisation of the
textile and clothing sector) in the ICE Economy Bulletin No. 2768 5 of 18 May 2003; WTO: WTO 2008 International Trade
Statistics available online at http://www.wto.org/spanish /nada_s/statis_s/its2008_s/its2008_s.pdf (containing information on the details of trade and production between 1990 and 2007
WTO: 2008 International Trade Statistics (available online at: http://www.wto.org/spanish/res_s/statis_s/its2008_s/
its2008_s.pdf, WTO: 2008 Report on worldwide trade (available online at http://www.wto.org /spanish/nada_s/booksp_s/
anrep_s/world_trade_report08_s.pdf
However, these numbers are limited due to limited statistics, which are caused by the proliferation of small businesses and
the existence, in some countries, of a significant shadow economy. In 1995, it is estimated that illegal employment added
up to about 150,000 workers. The cost of these activities, in unpaid taxes, was equivalent to the economic support which
the textile and clothing industry received from the European Union; COM(96) 210final of 15.05.1996 on “The competitiveness of subcontracting in the textile and clothing industry in the European Union”
165
11 The statistics on the number of businesses varies according to the sources which have been consulted, we talk of 132,000
business according to Lleonart (2009). Whose source is EURATEX.
12 El Sector Textil catalán ante el nuevo milenio, 1999, CIDEM. Quoting the OETH as source (L’Observatoire Européen du
Textile et de l’Habillement). European Commission: The Impact of International Developments on the Community’s Textile and
Clothing Sector, Comunicació October 1995
13 Lleonart, P. (Ed.) Forecast for the evolution of the textile/clothing sector in the year 2015. (2009) Industrial Watch Group for the
Textile/Clothing Sector, page 12 - 14
14 Catalonia is the only region mentioned due to the fact that in 2000 the Valencia region and Balearic Islands didn’t provide
data regarding the leather subsector, which is a sector of main importance in Valencia. Upon comparison, Valencia gained
strength with regard to 2000.
15 For Nord-Pas-de-Calais there are no numbers regarding year 2000, hence it is impossible to compare with current figures.
16 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/textiles/index_en.htm
17 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/textiles/documents/directive-2008_en.htm
18 Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008
19 Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003
20 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm
21 Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing of biocidal
products on the market
22 http://textile-platform.eu/textile-platform/?category_id=75
23 The European Apparel and Textile Confederation- EURATEX - www.euratex.eu; the European Network of Textile Research
Organisations - TEXTRANET - www.textranet.net and the European Association of Universities for Textiles - AUTEX www.autex.org
24 As displayed by Futurotextiles, a travelling exhibition which relates science, technology and art with textile innovation.
Created in 2006 by initiative of lille3000 (France), this exhibition shows how modern textiles are transformed technically, innovatively and intelligently.
25 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/textiles/single-market/eu27/index_en.htm
26 European Textiles and Clothing in a quota free environment. High Level Group Follow-Up Report and Recommendations
of 18 September 2006 online at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/textiles/files/hlg_report_18_09_06_en.pdf
166
27 Communication of the European Commission COM(2003) 649 final of 29.10.2003 on “The future of the textiles and clothing sector in the enlarged European Union”, page 36
28 European Textiles and Clothing in a quota free environment. High Level Group Follow-Up Report and Recommendations
of 18 September 2006, p. 14 ff.; online at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/textiles/files/hlg_report_18_09_06_
en.pdf.
29 http://www.leapfrog-eu.org/
30 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policías/innovation/policy/lead-market-initiative/index_en.htm
31 Accelerating the Development of the Protective Textiles Market in Europe. Report of the Taskforce on Protective Textiles.
Composed in preparation of the Communication “A Lead Market Initiative for Europe” [COM(2007) 860final], available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/lead-market-initiative/files/pt_taskforce_report_en.pdf
Text sources
Gli Abatoni, Prato (IT): Bettarini, Francesco (2009). Gli Abatoni a Prato. Un esempio di sintesi di vecchia e nuova urbanizzazione.
Florence: Società Editrice Fiorentina
Area Wild and Area Rotondi, Novara (IT): Bona, G.; Contina, G. (2002). Rinasce Sant’Agabio, la nuova Facoltà di Farmacia e la
sede del Dipartamento di Scienze Chimiche, Alimentari, Farmaceutiche e Farmacologiche di Novara. Vol. Passato e futuro, i luoghi
dell’Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amadeo Avogardo”. Wataghin Alessandria-Novara-Vercelli
Pictures
mNACTEC, Terrassa:
Picture of the former Factory Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover in Terrassa, home of the Museu de la Ciència i la Tècnica de Catalunya. File: mNATEC
Steam engine, named “la burra”. Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya. Archive: mNATEC
La Fàbrica Tèxtil Exposition. Warper. Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya. File: mNATEC. Author: T. Llordés
Area Wild – Rotondi (Novara): Studio CBS Architetti Associati e Servizio Tecnico Università (all pictures)
167
ACTE
European Textile Collectivities Association
20 Years of Innovation
www.acte.net
This book, published on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the European Textile
Collectivities Association (ACTE), shows how the association and its members have
worked and are working to anticipate and manage successfully the structural changes
of an industrial sector, textiles and fashion, that symbolise the transformation that
has led Europe from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy, through
projects in the field of urban renovation; restoration of the industrial heritage for diversified and innovative uses; development of employment and entrepreneurship policies;
museums and research centres that link tradition and innovation through knowledge.
The development, in short, of a set of performances based on the cooperation between
territories and on the involvement of socio-economic players that act within ACTE so
that Europe continues to make the most of its industrial DNA.