The problems to be solved are complex, systemic and of great consequence. From an ecological perspective, the textile industry is considered one of the most polluting industries in the world due to the use of harmful chemicals, high consumption of water and energy, generation of large quantities of solid and gaseous wastes, huge fuel consumption for transportation and use of non-biodegradable packaging materials (Choudhury, 2014); (https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/waste/resource-efficiency/textiles-in-europe-s-circular-economy).

TCLF is the fourth-worst-ranked pressure category for use of primary raw materials and water (after food, housing and transport). Most of the pressures and impacts related to the consumption of Textiles, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear in Europe occur in other regions of the world, where the majority of production takes place. This is the case for 85 % of the primary raw materials use, 92 % of the water use, 93 % of the land use and 76 % of the greenhouse gas emissions. Another major environmental challenge relates to the end of the product life cycle. Textile waste is a huge problem around the globe. The majority of textile waste still ends up being incinerated or landfilled.

Large amounts of used post-consumer clothing are exported from developed countries to developing countries, for example, from Europe to Africa. That creates a challenge for local textile production, which is not able to compete with the imported used textiles. That also shifts the textile waste problem from developed countries to developing countries, adding to their environmental and waste challenges. In March 2016, the governments of the East African Community, which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, proposed a ban on imports of second-hand clothes to their regional trade bloc. While there are many traders earning a living through the sale of these donations, the governments proposing this ban argue that they will be able to create better jobs within the textile industry, more than offsetting any economic loss faced by the traders. Reducing the environmental and climate pressures and impacts from textiles production and consumption — while maintaining economic and social benefits — is at our rich but it will need a systemic deep game-change, rethinking the way TCLF industry produces and consumes.

Three key driving forces must be considered: 1. The TCLF industry must jump into the sustainable bio-economy era, which is by definition circular, circularity applied to a fossil-based production model is not the way forward; 2. Invest in research and process technology innovation based on the most advanced outreaches in environmental and industrial biotechnologies and primarily novel enzyme 3. Team up with the major developing and emerging economies which are an integral part of the value chain.

This is what the BioCRES project aims to do. BioCRES is a project concept designed by European Research labs and businesses, localised in Central European countries (Italy, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey), within the framework of Interreg Central Europe. BioCRES proposes to carry out an exemplary and highly transferable systemic action through the integrated use of Industrial biotechnologies, ICT (IA, IoT, Digital advanced communication), and Eco – Design as powerful drivers for new sustainable industrial ecosystems and fast job creation. BioCRES proposes to transform natural resource waste into entirely new bio-based products for the textile, packaging and nutraceutical markets destinated to new generation consumers in a virtuous loop with the social development of the communities.

BIOCRES-CONCEPT

The project endeavours to achieve this goal through the installation of a novel flexible small-scale biorefinery (combining enzyme with mild thermomechanical technologies) in pilot European rural areas as the driver of front-run innovation in circular bio-economy models with multiple effects on cross-connected industries (textile, speciality paper & packaging, nutraceutical industry ecosystems).

In particular, the multipurpose modular bio-refinery technology GINEXTRA®, already a European Registered Brand (EUIPO Registration Number 018019052), will enable integral and innovative fractionation process to produce good-quality cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose for established or newly emerging market applications.

The BioCREs project will install small biorefineries in the pilot territories to process plants and lignocellulosic waste deriving from the maintenance of natural ecosystems, fibre crops’ cultivation, and spontaneous vegetation. Local business ecosystems (bio-clusters) will emerge around the small-scale GINEXTRA® biorefineries. Such ecosystems will adhere to a social principle of sustainability which binds together aware citizenship, community identity and landscape preservation with a vibrant and fast-growing new circular bio-economy-based industry.

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Forested rural areas can be a driver of the European sustainable bioeconomy model if their valuable non-fossil raw materials can be used effectively

In the circular sustainable bioeconomy perspective, forested rural areas represent a precious source of the lignocellulose and non-fossil raw materials for established or newly emerging market applications. Within the European Green Deal we need to debate and share visions on how to tap the potential of forested rural areas as a driver of the European sustainable bio-economy.

We are at the dawn of a new techno-economic system. Nowadays, the main challenge is to carry out sustainable innovation processes in order to re-convert the production of manufacturing industries to be competitive while respecting the target of climate neutrality.

The incumbent climate crisis and dramatic impact of the pandemic, along with the extraordinary progress of green, environmental and white biotechnologies and digital communication, potentially pave the way to disruptive innovation for the sustainable growth dynamics of territories. The same concept of “rural” (being remote and under demographic decline) and “urbanization” (driver of innovation and progress) is going to change.

Proper policies, duly redesigned according to a systemic approach, could allow rural communities to start an extraordinary journey into a more sustainable and innovative future.

Cities face the risk of increased impact due to climate change, pollution and conflicts among societal groups. Conversely, rural areas, less densely populated and rich in cultural and natural heritage, could become highly attractive alternatives. These rural areas could provide healthier environments offering a more affordable lifestyle to (young) people looking for job opportunities.  Advanced manufacturing and service businesses, operating in the international markets, might thrive in these areas, given that suitable technological infrastructures are put in place.

Properly infrastructured rural areas, respecting the potential of natural ecosystems, could become highly attractive. The same concept of remoteness can change, as working remotely for a part of current duties of employees working in cities and offices is becoming more and more frequent. Also, electricity powered transport (such as short distance electric aircraft and drone technology) may provide new approaches to the transformation of peripheral conditions that ensure climate change neutrality. Moreover, the most recent advancement in biorefinery technologies and digital technologies (IoT, IA, …) must be duly studied to identify the most appropriate applications that enable the decoupling of growth from the consumption of natural resources.

Present evolution in biocatalytic small-sized modular multipurpose biorefineries offer an attractive combination:

• Robust research-driven cluster start-up connected to the biorefinery of lignocellulosic feedstocks and industrial valorisation of their outputs (natural primitive fibres, regenerated cellulose, lignin, hemicellulose and other biochemicals)
• High quality of life and vibrant creative industries such as tourism and hospitality, visual and media industry.

Currently, forests in EU provide 3.5 million jobs (many more than the three heaviest and most energy-wasting industrial chains – steel, chemicals, cement). The sector includes 400,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and 16 million forest owners. Rural, Mountainous and remote areas constitute 80% of the EU territory.

These territories can provide sustainable leverage for the Green Deal, not merely because Europe must ensure cohesion, but because they are the major source of bio-based raw materials for a European autonomous capacity to inspire the bio-based industry of tomorrow. Forested rural areas must become the champions of the Green Deal Agenda and Next Generation EU if the Green Deal is to become a reality and not just a promise.

Forest policies as a vital component of the EU Green Deal

No doubt the EU Green Deal is the most courageous and  transformative European political initiative in recent decades. However, such great vision and ambition cannot be delivered without rethinking the way we produce and consume, including how we conceive territorial planning. Circularity applied to a fossil-based economy is not the way forward. We must jump into the sustainable bioeconomy era, which is usually circular from inception.

A starting point for incisive and transformative new policies must be the revision of data provision and accessibility.

Attention should be given to build accessible, integrated, multilevel databases, like the ones of Eurostat and FAO, that combine quantitative and qualitative data and ensure a detailed understanding of the very diverse typologies of rural territories with a new perspective. Data must be complete, updated and specific. For instance, they must include the extension of private and state-owned forests, the percentage of forests classified as protected zones and by different typologies, climate zones and plant species (including woody and non-woody species). We should design rigorous indicators to rate environmental, cultural and socio-economic values.  It is also necessary to estimate the potential of plant waste that could be harvested to maintain the landscape and prevent fires and hydrogeological disaster.

Policies aimed to build a circular bio-economy model must optimize the sustainable exploitation of European lignocellulose biomasses while enabling a viable upgrading of the social and economic livelihood in rural territories.

In the post-covid era, coexistence of ecological innovative industries with lifestyles that reinforce cultural values and traditions could become reality in precious and often unique rural ecosystems.

Culture and heritage protection and valorisation are the connecting values of the European communities and we must take into consideration how to bind together the need for transformation with historically resilient and sustainable settlement models. In the past the relationship between natural and anthropic landscapes with built environments has resulted in rural settlements that reinforced the sense of societal identity and fostered social cohesion. At the same time, the local building culture was naturally sustainable, since it utilized local natural resources and materials.

If disruptive changes are introduced early in the policymaking, the past will meet the future and generate potent alternative means of development in contrast to the consumeristic approach of present society.

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The world is experiencing a major shift in the learning system. The previous forms of recognition of learning are becoming obsolete, and so are the referencing definitions and taxonomies related to education and training. Learners develop their skills and competences in a variety of learning environments, and not only in the context of formal education (for examples schools and universities). Economists of innovation recognise knowledge, and therefore learning, as the most important resource in today’s society. However, the formal education system seems unable to cope with these rapid societal changes. Companies and institutions struggle to find the appropriate skills for their job vacancies, and at the same time individual learners lack tools for certifying the whole set of capacities and experiences that they own, very often gained outside the formal education and training system.

The Open Badge system tries to address these issues by providing a flexible and adaptive technology of recognition and certification of competences, which could be potentially applied to all learning environments.

However, in order to become widely recognised as a credible certification method, Open Badges must solve some critical issues, which still represent a source of debate among experts. These issues are related to the reliability, validity and quality of the credentialing with Open Badges. In the Discussion Paper on Open Badges for Individuals, recently published by ARTES within the framework of the European Erasmus+ project Open Badge Network, has addressed these issues. It comprehensively illustrates, without preconceptions, the major theses which defend the unique beneficial role of Open Badges from the individuals’ point of view, but also investigates the “risks” implied by this instrument.

The paper targets all educational sectors, formal, informal and non-formal as well as the employment and social sectors and presents an overview on the current opinions and points of view related to the hottest issues around Open Badges, with the hope to provide less experienced users with a useful introductory tool and to stimulate further discussions within the community of Open Badge practitioners.

Specifically, the discussion paper focuses on the following key questions:

• What are the major challenges the learning and training system is facing?
• How can Open Badges address these challenges?
• How would the individuals benefit from the introduction of a valid system based on Open Badges?
• What are the risks involved in the introduction of a certification system based on Open Badges?
• What is the role of individuals in the process of legitimation of the Open Badge standard? Can individuals contribute, and in which way?
• How are Open Badges applied around the world? In what fields?

People interested to deepen the topic and contribute to the discussion are invited to register to the Open Badge Network portal and add their voices in the forum.

Abstract of the Discussion Paper on Open Badges for Individuals

Individual users may benefit from earning Open Badges in various ways, in their education, in their work life and in their leisure activities. The recognition of soft skills, prior learning and abilities developed in informal and non-formal environments may increase employability and acknowledgement of skills by the employers, while also facilitating introduction into new working places and positions. Students may add this set of credentials to their resumes at the end of a degree and be recognised for their extra-curricular activities. Open Badges may also help transform talents and passions into actual competences and therefore open new job opportunities.

Individuals can gain control over their education pathway and easily compose and display their digital resume on the web, collecting Open Badges they earned from different sources (schools, online courses, external organisation).

In the paper, we briefly present the dispute regarding the effect of gamification of the learning process, acknowledging the point of view according to which “external motivators”, such as Open Badges, may have a detrimental effect on learning. However, we support the idea that rigorously designed Open Badges may improve learning performance and motivation during class and training.

Open Badges may find useful applications also in the context of promotion of citizenship and social integration, for example in the case of recognition of skills of migrant workers or academics. Citizens may be rewarded with Open Badges for the activities within their community, which would in return increase the group cohesion and their sense of belonging.

However, individuals will play an important role in the future of Open Badges also as designers and issuers. The Open Badges technology is free and relatively easy to access, which gives a chance to independent communities of learners to develop and award their own set of Open Badges, using their own criteria and competency frameworks. However, an opposite view argues that this could carry some risks.

Individual issuers can use Open Badges to provide organisations and institutions with suggestions and benchmark their needs. Innovative and responsive organisations will build systems of Open Badges that consider contributions from a grassroots level.

In general, the response of the final consumers of Open Badges is fundamental to reach the critical mass for the technology to be widely recognised. Beside this, in the paper, we discuss how the “value” of a single Open Badge is closely related to the users’ perspective and to the establishment of networks of trust among Open Badge issuers, earners, companies, institutions and education providers. We discuss also how the “endorsement” feature contributes in achieving this result by enabling Open Badges to be peer-reviewed.

The future of Open Badge will depend on the engagement of the whole community, including individual users, in the construction of value and trust.

In the paper we support the idea that the education system could play a major role in this regard, by helping education providers and the community of learners to familiarise themselves with this tool and by providing the right indication for rigorous application of competency frameworks and evaluation methodologies. Institutions and organisations should facilitate the encounter between the expectation of the users and the intents of the issuers, while ensuring absolute freedom and the cost-free basis for everybody to design, issue and obtain an Open Badge, without imposing a common standard. They should provide Open Badge designers and issuers with appropriate guidelines and frameworks, to nurture the building of trust networks among issuers, earners and viewers and support individuals in the recognition of the right methodology to assess the quality and reliability of Open Badges.

* Image by: Casilli, C. (2016). Badges + credentials, another visual take. Retrieved May 9, 2016, from https://medium.com/@carlacasilli/badges-credentials-another-visual-take-9a5350b8c1de#.6ufwbt4q6

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A wide view on the early moderns

For the 360^th anniversary of his death, the University of Calabria and the Palazzo Severino hosted a series of discussions and talks about the state of medicine in the 16^th – 17^th century. The intervention focused both on Severino’s life, on the evolution of medicine and surgery in that era, and on the correspondence and influence among the different scientists of the time. Among others has been discussed the contribution of Ambroise Paré to surgery and medical knowledge, Severino’s interpretation of Harvey’s work on blood circulation, or his work on the Aristotelian studies on air and water.

To project ourselves into the future

The organisation of the seminar, made possible thanks to the commitment of Professor Emilio Sergio from UNICAL-DISU, also confirmed the willingness to further develop the work done on Marco Aurelio Severino through the establishment of a proper foundation. The purpose of such an institution would be threefold. The first, goal would be the rediscovery of Marco Aurelio Severino’s life and work. This first objective directly serves a second one, which is the valorisation of the regional treasures and heritages. The redevelopment of fragile regions and communities is at the core of ARTES’ engagement and this project continues this tradition. Finally, the rediscovery of Severino’s work may also help for the understanding of the importance of cooperation and correspondence among scientists in the progression of knowledge. To reopen discussions and debates between organisations and scholars specialised on different scientist from the modern era, may help to better understand one of the major factor of the spread of knowledge.

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Between July 27th and 29th, ARTES realised the dense program of meetings that had been planned for months. The leaders of research and industry from all over the Mediterranean basin had the chance to come together both in formal meetings and informal situations, which facilitated the creation of small discussion groups for deeper insights on specific topics and the evaluation of new forms of cooperation. As usual, ARTES is glad to publish the presentations and a report enriched with images, in order to allow our followers to be a part of our initiatives.

Day one: ARSAC and ENEA-Trisaia

On July 27 ARTES led the foreign partners of the project Ginestra, from Lodz (Poland) and Sousse (Tunisia), and the researchers of the Italian company Tintoria Emiliana, to the discover of the local laboratories and the research centres, where the same project Ginestra is carried out: the ARSAC centre of San Marco Argentano and the ENEA-Trisaia complex. Meanwhile, the partners of the project SUSTEXNET, who had landed the day before in Bari, were visiting firms in Puglia.

In the evening, thanks to the cooperation of the municipality of Altomonte and particularly of its mayor Giuseppe Laetano, the two groups met in order to explore the history and the artistic beauty of Altomonte. The partners also enjoyed a delicious meal made of local products and a magnificent view on the town, both provided by Hotel Barbieri.

Day two: the Seminar

On the 28 the partners opened their discussions to the public thanks to the seminar “NEW NETWORKS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: THE FASHION INDUSTRY RESTARTS FROM SOUTH” held in Altomonte, in the Serragiumenta Castle. Among the results, the confrontation of new realities and the foundation of new valuable partnerships: the main actors of the fashion industry are now ready to accept the new challenges of competitiveness, armoured with the shared experiences and in a perspective of environmental sustainability and respect of local specificities. In this regard, the presentations of two entrepreneurs from Calabria were particularly relevant: Vicenzo Linarello of Cangiari and Emilio Salvatore Leo of Lanificio Leo showed their experiences in innovating while respecting both the environment and the ancient textile traditions of Calabria.

More information on the Open Seminar available here.

Their presentations took place in the morning, after the welcome by ARTES, UNICAL and the institutional representatives of Calabria. The morning session was chaired by IVACE (the Valencian Institute for Industrial Competitiveness, Spain) and focused on the project SUSTEXNET, its results, and the sustainable models of competitiveness in the Mediterranean. Among the speakers of this session: Lilia Infelise, President and Founder of ARTES; Piero De Sabbata of ENEA, and Liliana Lodi of Tintoria Emiliana.

The afternoon session was chaired by Lilia Infelise, and focused on the textile value chain in Southern Italy thanks to the presentation of experts such as Olimpia Ferrara, Researcher of SRM – Studi e Ricerche sul Mezzogiorno and Emilio Sergio, Professor at the University of Calabria. The seminar ended with a discussing among the participants and a social dinner that the mayor of Tarsia, Lawyer Roberto Ameruso, and a delegation of the local government also enjoyed. The suggestive scenery of the Serragiumenta Castle, Altomonte, hosted all the activities of the day.

The speeches

OSCAR CALVO – Introduction to SUSTEXNET project and preliminary results

LILIA INFELISE – Competitive models in the Mediterranean: a comparative analysis of the T&C system in Egypt, Italy, Spain and Tunisia

PIERO DE SABBATA – A sectorial approach to benchmarking and Energy Efficiency best practices towards SMEs: the EM2M experience in Italy

EMILIO SALVATORE LEO – Lanificio Leo: tradition as engine for innovation (link al video)

VINCENZO LINARELLO – The GOEL Group: the ethics of competitive efficiency (link al video)

LUIGI BATTEZZATI – Supply chain of fashion: how to improve the environmental impact of transport and logistics

OLIMPIA FERRARA – The Southern Italy that innovates and produces: the textile, clothing and footwear chain

EMILIO SERGIO – The relationship between industry and craftmanship: the Calabria case study

Day three: the SUSTEXNET meeting

On the 29 the partners of the SUSTEXNET project gathered for a closed-doors meeting in order to discuss the results and to plan a dense work agenda, including many international meetings in Spain, Egypt, Tunisia and, again, in Italy, until the end of the project in December 2015.

The results, the conclusions and the perspectives

After these three intense working days, hosted by the municipalities and the stunning landscapes of Altomonte, Spezzano Albanese and Tarsia, the partners of the two projects are ready to draw their conclusions and plan the next steps. New and interesting possibilities for cooperation have arisen, along with new potential alliances; all the actors involved agreed that fragile regions such as Calabria must not be abandoned, but supported and granted a fresh start fuelled by their invaluable human, cultural, and natural heritage. The support of the local community and press was also exceptional: everyone showed great interest for the initiaves and welcomed the foreign partners as allies, opening to them the gate of their land, too often forsaken.

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