The 3-years journey HAS started: Fostex partners met and planned
The 18th-19th of February 2019, the kick-off meeting of Fostex project was held at the textile engineering department facilities of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, located in Terrassa, the historical reference industrial area of the Spanish textile sector. Coordinator of Fostex project is the cited Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), an institute of excellence on the Iberian Peninsula in training future technicians and experts of the T&C sector. The Fostex partnership involves a total of 13 organisations, 7 coming from the south of Europe – Spain, Italy, Greece and Romania – which will transfer their skills and knowledge to the 6 partners located in Morocco and Jordan. During the two-days meeting all the partners had the chance to deeply discuss and plan the first six month of project implementation. In conclusion of this first fruitful consortium meeting, the partners had the opportunity to visit different labs of the hosting partner UPC and to access the nearby located cluster organisation and research centre AEI Textils, being also part of the initiative.
Primary purpose of the project is the implementation of advanced technology transfer centres for the textile sector in the two partner countries of the European Union, specifically the modernisation of two textile centres in Morocco and the creation from scratch of two textile innovation centres in Jordan. Once the project is completed, the new hubs will offer a series of services dedicated to the T&C sector: quality tests for the issue of certifications, training seminars, organisation of meetings on business opportunities and financing, promotion services in fairs, missions abroad, etc.
This international collaboration will also be an opportunity to strengthen the exchange of knowledge between university research and industry, and allow stakeholders of all the partners involved to be able to expand their trans-European network. In support of the creation of the hubs, various activities are envisaged that will include round tables with a focus on innovation and business opportunities in the sector. During its implementation, the project will involve companies, industry associations, training centres, international financing institutions as well as government authorities. Stay tuned, the next project meeting will take place in Bucharest- Romania the 10th-11th of July 2019.
