METASKILLS4TCLF Celebrates New Regional Skills Partnerships to Boost Europe’s Textile, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear Industries

Partners from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine gathered in Athens, Greece, on 2–3 July to advance the Erasmus+ Blueprint METASKILLS4TCLF project, aimed at equipping Europe’s textile, clothing, leather and footwear (TCLF) industries with the skills needed for the green and digital transitions.

The meeting was marked by a major milestone: the European Commission officially published 10 new regional public-private skills partnerships on its website. Developed with the support of the METASKILLS4TCLF project, alongside its sister project AEQUALIS4TCLF and the TCLF SkillBridge initiative, these partnerships strengthen regional collaboration to address current and future skills needs across Europe.

Within the METASKILLS4TCLF project, the approved partnerships include those for the TCLF sectors in Portugal’s Norte region, Sweden’s Borås region and Poland’s Małopolska region, as well as the leather and footwear sectors in Spain’s Valencian Community. These regional partnerships form part of the European Pact for Skills initiative, bringing together businesses, education providers, public authorities and other stakeholders to promote upskilling and reskilling. Members benefit from access to expertise on emerging skills needs, guidance on funding opportunities, and collaboration within a growing European community committed to building a resilient and competitive workforce.

Alongside fostering regional cooperation, METASKILLS4TCLF is delivering innovative training solutions on digital and circular fashion to prepare learners and workers for the future of the industry, which will be hosted on the online platform the European Virtual Fashion Campus. Ten education providers from across Europe are jointly developing a range of educational resources, including e-books, quizzes, an augmented reality app and immersive virtual reality courses showing authentic European TCLF working environments filmed in the project countries.

The project is also working to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in the TCLF industries. Across participating countries, partners are organising activities such as children’s holiday workshops, open days at vocational education centres and video interviews showcasing young professionals working in the sectors. National fashion competitions will culminate in an international final, where four outstanding student designers will present prototypes of their creations at the prestigious MICAM Milano trade fair.

Supporting the integration of migrants into the European labour market is another important project objective. To facilitate this, METASKILLS4TCLF is developing a web-based tool that will help identify, validate and recognise migrants’ skills through multilingual, accessible profiles and CVs. By improving communication between jobseekers, employers and training providers, the tool will support better skills matching, more targeted training pathways and smoother labour-market integration across Europe.

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