Following the local elections held in Italy on June 21st 2009, Mr
Giorgio Silli has been appointed new Councillor for EU Policies of
the City of Prato. Mr Silli succeeds Mr Fabio Giovagnoli as ACTE Executive
Secretary.
Please find the new contact details of the ACTE Executive
Secretariat here
On 23rd November, the ACTE Executive
Committee was held in Lille (France) to discuss
about new proposals and initiatives of the association as of 2010. The members
of the Committee were received by Mr Michel-François Delannoy,
1st Vice-president of Lille Métropole Communauté Urbaine and
Mrs Colette Huvenne-Guilleminot, Vice-president ACTE France
and Regional Councillor of the Nord-Pas de Calais Region. On 24th November
the ACTE delegation attended the Kick-off-meeting of the European project
CROSSTEXNET.
In
the framework of the Open Days 2009 - European Week of Regions
and Cities - ACTE participated in the local event "The participation
of local governments in European networks - the added value for territories",
organised by the Diputación de Barcelona on 27 October
2009. The event aimed at debating on how European networks can represent an
asset for local governments in the current economic situation.
Upon
invitation of the Lithuanian Apparel and Textile Industry Association
(LATIA), ACTE President Teo Romero visited the 18th
International Trade Fair BALTIC TEXTILE + LEATHER that took place
in Vilnius from 24 to 26 September 2009. In the framework
of this event, Mr Romero participated in the round table discussion "Cooperation
in the development of the apparel and textile sector between the EU and CIS
countries" to present ACTE as good example for cooperation between
European local and regional administrations. Also, a meeting was organised
with representatives of the Lithuanian Ministry of Innovation and the municipalities
of Kaunas and Siauliai to introduce ACTE and its activities.
Students from Winchester School of Art (United Kingdom) and
Cenatex School (Portugal) participated in the first study
visit of the Eurotex ID project in Terrassa on 24 and 25 November.
During a workshop the young designers presented ideas and projects for their
own collections. A digital catalogue of textile samples from
several textile museums will serve as source of inspiration for the creation
of new textile and clothing products.
The City of Terrassa (Foment de Terrassa, SA) organised
on 11 November the conference "The thread of sustainability.
Public procurement, tendencies and new business opportunities".
The event is part of the "ACTE:
a network for innovation" project.
Until
7 March 2010, the Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia
(mNACTEC) in Terrassa hosts the exhibition "CONNECT WITH INNOVATION".
ACTE members Leitat and UPC are collaborating in this exhibition
aiming at bringing Catalan innovation centres closer to society, presenting
new products along with the research groups who have devised them.
The
City of Manresa organised on 2nd December the seminar "Strategies
for the future in the textile sector". The event was basically
addressed to textile enterprises of Central Catalonia with the objective to
raise awareness for business cooperation. Among the participants were Lluís
Ramis from Cluster Development, an expert in business
cooperation and clusters. Fashion designer Miriam Ponsa and
Antonio Egea, manager of the enterprise Stitch Way BCN AIE,
were presented as two examples of business success.
The
TEXMEDIN partners met from 2 to 4 December in Lyon,
at the IFTH premises, for their 2nd Operative Meeting in
order to discuss about the development of the project knowledge base that
will be available in a few months to young designers and stylists. The meeting
included visits to the exhibition "Textile sense and senses" at
the Textile Museum of Lyon and to the Designers'
Village, an incubator for starter companies in the fashion industry
in Lyon.
The EU's ERA-NET scheme is about the coordination and cooperation of research activities carried out at national and regional level. The Nord-Pas de Calais region, with the support of the competitiveness cluster UP-TEX, will be the first French region in coordinating such a scheme being leader of the CROSSTEXNET project. The project aims to foster cooperation of research in the field of innovative textiles in 17 European regions. The kick-off meeting of the project took place on 24th November in Lille.
The EU Innovation Manifesto calls for an increased private and public investment
in knowledge in Europe and for putting creativity at the heart of culture,
design and innovation.
The DG Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission has published
the report "Economic Crisis in Europe: Causes, Consequences and
Responses" which calls for a strong EU coordination of policy
at all stages of crisis: control and mitigation, resolution and prevention.
The European Commission has recently launched the European network
of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors with the objective to boost
female start-ups in Europe. The network is currently made up by 130 successful
businesswomen from 10 European countries who will help promoting entrepreneurship
in schools, universities and the media, in order to inspire women and young
girls to set up their own businesses.
The
Committee of the Regions (CoR) has launched the European Enterpreneurial
Region award, a new pilot scheme aimed at rewarding EU regions with
outstanding entrepreneurial vision and at encouraging an enhanced commitment
of local and regional authorities to the promotion of small businesses.
Textile Museum Prato (Italy), 10 September 2009 - 10 January
2010
Textile Museum and Documentation Centre Terrassa (Spain),
1 December 2009 - 28 February 2010
The Summit will be organised by the Barcelona Provincial Council,
in co-operation with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and
Provinces (FEMP) and the Spanish Government. The
event is part of the official programme of the upcoming Spanish Presidency
of the EU.
The General Call for proposals 2010 and the Guide to the programme are now
available
