The 3-years EDU4Fashion-Tech project aims at developing an innovative fashion-tech curriculum to advance and boost designers skills and knowledge on smart textiles, wearables and digital manufacturing. The project aims also to enhance the quality of the learning experience by developing innovative teaching methods and tools together with thematic educational resources to support the learning in this area. New models of delivery are needed to superfuse fashion and technology in the curriculum so the project recognises that training needs to be geared towards co-creation, peer-learning and hands-on activities to prompt a more entrepreneurial and creative mindset. As a result, the project will produce a benchmarking report (O1) to lay the foundations for the preparation of the fashion-tech curriculum (O2). These outputs will provide the specifications to develop a tool-kit (O3) for teachers and to design a series of modular learning units that will serve to implement the curriculum (O4). An online community (O5) using mature state of the art ICT solution will be deployed to favour blended learning and to provide a repository of learning resources. The educational pathway and the resources will co-designed and piloted by the partners through a series of training and learning activities such as a hackathon open to 30 students (C1), a short-term joint staff training involving 15 faculty members (C2) and three intensive programmes involving 45 students (C3-C5). Findings, results and methodologies developed and piloted will be shared through the delivery of two multiplier events co-organized with two associate members Cumulus and IFFTI (E1, E2). The partners at the local, regional and EU level will carry out further dissemination in order to foster the curriculum adoption by other HEIs. The project is implemented through a public partnership covering three key countries (SE, IT, UK) advanced in the fashion eco-system and involving three leading Fashion and Design HEIs (HB, POLIMI and UAL). The partnership is further extended by the involvement of two key stakeholders at international level such as Cumulus, which will provide access to the largest community of designers and HEIs and IFFTI the largest association of Fashion technology institutes. This diverse consortium will ensure that contemporary industry practice will be embedded into the programme, informing curriculum even beyond the project completion. The partners are committed to implement the curriculum to widen and enhance their own educational offers capturing the demand for talents in Europe for a fast-growing and emerging market.
The Education4Fashion-Tech project (2017-2020) aims to advance and boost the skills and knowledge of designers in the areas of smart textiles, wearables and digital manufacturing. The growing heterogeneous sector of fashion-tech has potential for socio-economic impact, and the changing innovation landscape requires the fashion industry to adapt and advance collaborative practices to boost its competitiveness. However, the skills and knowledge between the fashion and technology fields are not shared, regardless of the European market’s position to exploit the potential from smart textiles and wearables. The project enhanced the quality and relevance of the learning experience through an innovative approach to fashion-tech higher education by supporting innovation and creativity through a strategic partnership and inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. The novel approach enabled a breaking down of barriers between the communities of design and technology to build meaningful collaborations. The partnership included three key countries (SE, IT, UK) by involving three leading fashion and design higher education institutions (HEI): Swedish School of Textiles – University of Borås, Politecnico di Milano and University of the Arts London - London College of Fashion. The diverse consortium, also involving relevant associations and an advisory board, aimed to ensure that the developed curriculum is informed by the industry´s practice and need for hybrid professionals. A Benchmarking Report was produced, laying the foundations for the development of the Fashion-Tech Tuning Document, by defining the state-of-the-art of didactic experiences of HEIs, research centres and industry, in Europe and globally. A Teacher's Toolkit and Learning Units propose a modular approach to fashion-tech education, providing teachers with appropriate methods and tools, as well as content specific units. Complementary to the Tuning Document, the set of resources allow HEIs and involved teachers to develop interdisciplinary fashion-tech design curricula, supporting the production of hybrid professionals needed by the industry. The Community Platform (https://www.e4ft.eu) serves as a central meeting point and a source of inspiration for those interested in the field. The final deliverable “Education for Fashion-Tech: Design and Technology for Future Fashion Creatives” provides a comprehensive reflection on the research conducted within the framework of the project to offer examples of didactic configurations, encourage further experimentations and transnational partnerships, as well as identify future scenarios of the fashion-tech field. A total of 298 learners, teachers and external experts and industry stakeholders participated directly in the project´s activities, including a variety of workshops and dissemination events. With a wide range of backgrounds, such as fashion and textile design, textile engineering, fashion innovation and entrepreneurship, interaction design and smart textiles, the participants were supported in the development of generic and subject-specific competences. The activities carried out included a fashion-tech hackathon, a workshop specifically aimed to train the trainers, and 3 intensive programmes focusing on digital manufacturing, wearables and smart textiles. Dissemination events, including the project´s own and external events focusing on fashion-tech and development of education, have contributed to informing academia and industry of the developed resources and novel approach to merge fashion and technology in an MA curriculum. As a first of its kind, the proposed curriculum will engage academia and industry in the discussion of skill sets required by professionals active in the field, leading to concrete measures in the implementation of such curricula to contribute to industry growth and employability of designers. Other short- and long-term benefits and impact include the establishment of a transnational partnership committing to the development of the fashion-tech field, enhancing the quality of the knowledge and skills of participating learners and teachers, as well as supporting open and innovative practices in the digital era. The project ignited follow-up projects and collaborations, such as the FTAlliance - Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance project (https://fashiontechalliance.eu/) involving twelve partners across academia and industry.