HEREWEAR is proud to launch its on-line Community Space.   

The aim is to provide information and services developed, residing on a separate server from the project website. The Community Space is designed to offer community members exclusive interaction with ongoing activities in the HEREWEAR project and evolved as a rich service that ultimately required a specific development path. Access is password-protected, and community members are registered only upon completion of the Sign-up survey. The information and services present are structured according to the thematic framework of the project: Circular Design for Bio-based textiles, Bio-based textiles, and Local production ecosystems.

The entry page into the Community Space presents these three main topics, each of which has a dedicated section with a common structure based on three tabs:

  • The “Intro” tab presents an introductory page that develops the theme’s definition.
  • The “Actions and outputs” tab lists the key HEREWEAR project actions related to that thematic area, with a short description, an illustration, and the expected date of availability.
  • The “Learn” from the experts tab gives access to the individual expertise in the project consortium, with videos from the expert talks of WP 8, profiles and social media links for key researchers, and suggested reading and viewing from the participating project partners.

The Drupal server on which the Community Space is hosted is configured to allow different levels of user access rights. This makes it possible for WP7 partners to manage each thematic area and the Community Space overall in a distributed fashion.

The Community Engagement Strategy involves three types of interaction with community members:

  • A full-day hybrid workshop in the context of TCBL Days, a month-long event consisting of 15 sessions lasting from 11 November through 3 December 2021. The HEREWEAR day covered two sessions on November 25th and focused on the regional strategy for a “Circular Wallonia”. A morning session presenting the project and the regional initiatives were followed by an afternoon session of pitches and a discussion with four local businesses.
  • In-person workshop events were planned for the three quadruple helix partnerships in Aversa (Naples, Italy, area), Iasi (Romania), and Antwerp (Belgium). The first event was held in conjunction with the University Luigi Vanvitelli of Naples, on 29-30 April 2022 
  • a three-day, on-line Community Meet-up was designed to replace the in-person workshops as the launch event for the Community Space. Each day followed the same agenda but focused on one different theme:
    • March 1: Local production ecosystems
    • March 2: Circular Design for Bio-based textiles
    • March 3: Bio-based textiles

The Community profile at the end of March with its 83 members. The Sign-up survey procedure allowed an analysis of the evolution of the profiles and opinions of participants compared to the initial sample, with the following main insights:

  • There has been a proportional increase in researchers and employees, with a significant increase in knowledge about fibers and textiles.
  • The overall priorities remain focused on the circular economy and sustainable fashion.
  • Community members express the greatest interest in engaging concretely with HEREWEAR to test products and build local production ecosystems.

The community has essentially grown since its launch, and now it counts more than a hundred members. The development of the community only happens due to the unique contribution of each member – and your collaboration can play an essential part in the enrichment of the HEREWEAR community. 

You are very welcome to become a member. It takes you only a few clicks: https://herewear.tcbl.eu/