European initiative for a circular textile and fashion industry
Jenny Kornmacher, you work with cultural and creative industries. What roles do you have?
- I have previously worked on Region Skåne with the development of the cultural and creative industries. In addition, I am the Director of Innovation at EIT (European Institute of Innovation & Technology) Culture & Creativity since 1 July 2022. After our application for a KIC in Cultural and Creative Industries was granted this summer, we have built an interrim organization to get everything in place and to be able to start the project. The project is huge, we are currently 50 participating organizations but it will be 150 organizations and a total of 7000 members. We are building a structure for almost the entire KKN industry in Europe.
Among other things, Lund works to create benefits by blending the textile industry with technology. What do you see going on in that area?
-Textiles and fashion is one of our focus areas because there is a need for change towards greater sustainability in that industry. The EIT is about green, social and digital transformation in and through the sector, and we have several areas of focus that come from knowing that they are high carbon emitters. Now we are going to create the first European innovation agenda for a circular textile and fashion industry. We are working to bring together all the actors who work on this, but one difficulty is to bring together people with different perspectives. Industry, policymakers, trade associations and cluster organisations, among others, will come together and agree on the next course of action.
What will be the most important thing to focus on in the textile and fashion industry in the future?
- We need to ensure that there is not so much overproduction of clothes, and there we will, among other things, create transparency to see how much clothing is actually needed. Once the clothes are in the hands of consumers, it is important that they last as long as possible. Today, garments are used an average of five to seven times before being thrown away and burned. We also need to make sure that we produce all textiles as sustainably as possible. Cotton needs a lot of water when it grows, and one may wonder if we will be able to produce it in the future or whether we have to choose between food and cotton? What alternative materials can we produce in a more sustainable way? We need to think about what is truly sustainable and circular and there are many parts and many different actors involved. We need to look at everything from, for example, cotton growing in Egypt to production in Bangladesh and other countries - and very much at how we work in Europe because we create the conditions for all this.
The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) manages the huge innovation initiative KIC, Knowledge and Innovation Communities aimed at strategic development areas. Lund University has previously been linked to the EIT through, among other things, a Climate-KIC and a Food-KIC. Now, a venture linked to a Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) for Cultural and Creative Industry awaits, and Lund University can also become a part of it there.