HUB will be a place for gathering, exchange of experiences, a place to develop new creative ideas and a place to create new “creative skills”.
Žepče Development Agency is working on establishing an innovative HUB for the textile industry that will bring together all stakeholders, from the private sector in the textile and clothing industry, individuals in the field of fashion design, creatives from other industries, primarily tourism, including academia, all in order to create a unique structure that will work to improve the competitiveness of the textile industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Textile HUB is the idea of the Žepče Development Agency since the establishment of the Center of Business Competences in 2018, where one part of the space, fully equipped and adapted to training for the textile sector and inventory to support fashion design and creativity in the textile industry, is fully focused on development of textile sector. Its directing and positioning is the activity of the CreaativeWear Plus project, financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interrreg Mediterranean program“, representatives of the Development Agency stated for Akta.
Development of ideas and creative skills
This program is aimed at transnational cooperation in the Mediterranean review through the promotion of sustainable development, with a special focus on the protection of natural and cultural resources and strengthening innovation.
“CreativeWear Plus project is a continuation of the CreativeWear project, implemented in the period 2016-2019 and connects three original partners from Italy and Greece with three new hubs established in Portugal, France and Bosnia and Herzegovina to further integrate the CreativeWear network by directing creativity towards new challenges of the circular economy and sustainability in the textile and clothing sector, including areas such as – textiles, recycled clothes and reinterpretation of cultural traditions and the like“, they explained.
HUB will be a place to gather, exchange experiences, a place to develop new creative ideas and a place to create new “creative skills”.
The Development Agency said that all companies, crafts, NGOs working in the creative textile industry, designers and other creative persons involved in the textile sector are HUB stakeholders, can be its member and participate in its work.
“HUB should be a place where the creative industry will contribute to the development of economic capacities of the wider community. The basis for such thinking is a simple link between the fact that the creative industry offers creative services and products, and these products and services usually get their commercial value for everyday use and as such are valued on the basis of their use, not creative value – through economic activity”, they emphasized for Akta.
Thematic strategy of HUB
The thematic strategy of HUB is the use of post-industrial waste in order to create new products.
“The goal of this is to create a pilot project that will point to the untapped opportunities of the circular economy, which will, for example textile industry, point to its potential in other sectors. Certainly, this concept aims to encourage a different way of thinking about raw materials and encourage new concepts of self-employment in the textile industry,” the agency explained, adding that the project plans to pair three original partners from Italy and Greece with three new HUBs in Portugal, France and Bosnia and Herzegovina (RAŽ) in order to transfer the gained experience of the CreativeWear project by directing creativity towards new challenges of the circular economy.
The Agency said that the project is implemented in the best possible way, especially when it comes to the development of the concept of products based on post-industrial waste.
“Currently, research is being done on the state of post-industrial waste in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be the basis for further work on the implementation of the thematic strategy. The work is focused with fashion designers who, within the created groups of creatives, work on conceptualizing the idea while transferring their experiences from the fashion industry to younger colleagues, thus creating the potential for creative thinking that will be available to textile companies,” they said.
Circular economy and recycling
The textile industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina is considered one of the leaders when it comes to foreign trade and the number of jobs.
“What is characteristic is the connection with the EU market through a strong engagement in lohn business and a few initiatives to build your own brand. Certainly, we should pay tribute to the successful BH brands from this sector, which with their example and long-term work can be an inspiration to companies that do not dare to go beyond the contracted lohn services. This is certainly something that the textile industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina needs in order to compete in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the foreign market“, they explained from the Agency.
The Agency added that the import of companies from this sector is stronger, the strengthening of human resources for the textile industry, and the tested concepts in the EU are opportunities to further strengthen this sector and encourage development.
“In the textile industry, we could see a strong organization of production, experience and dependence on the prices of materials that are controlled by centers outside Europe. Circular economy and recycling can be a chance for our textile industry. Strong support from EU funds can certainly be expected for this sector“, they emphasized, adding that it is important that the experiences of EU partners are placed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be an additional task but also a motive for them as a development agency and all their associates. These experiences will certainly bring some new changes and projects.
