ENI-CBC Med Programme /
STAND Up! is a new project funded by the European Union under the ENI CBC Med Programme focusing on the support to eco-innovative entrepreneurs and enterprises within the textile and clothing sector.
LVPx is an upcycling and embroidery service where clients can send their clothes or home-wear and get them uniquely hand-embroidered by female artisans living in Beirut. Clients can customize colors and placements before the items are returned to them beautifully packaged and uniquely revived.
La Boutique Sociale is a social enterprise working on zero waste in textile by doing upcycling and recycling. They collect unwanted donated clothes and items and sort them into different categories to be reused in different ways: selling pieces in very good condition to vulnerable people at a very low price, while pieces that are in a bad condition are upcycled in their outlets.
Sisters of the World are making washable, healthy, eco-friendly and affordable menstrual pads and period underwear to substitute the existing single-use, plastic, unhealthy and expensive menstrual products.
Lebamoz collect wasted banana stems and process them into fibers, yarns, and fabrics creating locally produced natural and sustainable raw materials for both local and international markets. Their labor-intensive process empowers rural communities, increases farmer income, and reduces waste and carbon footprint.
Berytech is a partner of STAND Up! Sustainable Textile Action for Networking and Development of circular economy business ventures in the Mediterranean, an EU-funded project under the ENI CBC Med programme.
The STAND Up! project addresses the need for transition to an environmentally and socially responsible circular model in the textile sector, a traditional key industry in the Mediterranean with an undoubtful cross-border nature.
The project intends to support textile entrepreneurs and eco-innovative ventures in 5 participating countries and help them seize the business opportunities and employment that the green evolution will inevitably generate in the region.
STAND Up! goal is ambitious and so is its scope with many actions to be undertaken in training, financial grants, market stimulation, technology transfer, Intellectual Property Rights protection, etc.
As a result, the SMEs of the sector will be more competitive and, at aggregate level, the value chain will be strengthened, and new cross-border linkages established.
Activity period 30 months (July 2020 – December 2022)
Total budget: Euro 3.693.986,68
EU contribution: Euro 3.324.588,68 (90% of the total budget)
Main source of funding: European Union (ENI CBC Med Programme)
The Stand Up! program will be implemented by 6 partners, distributed among several countries in the Mediterranean basin: Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Spain, Tunisia.
The clothing industry has become strategic to the process of economic development of the area but serious concerns have been raised in terms of social and environmental side effects. It is one of the planet’s biggest polluters.
Home to some of the world’s most ancient civilizations, hub for trade and transport, unique hotspot for biodiversity, the Mediterranean faces a multitude of common challenges, including climate change, pollution, youth unemployment and social inequality.
Acting together to address these challenges and improve the lives of men and women across the region is the impetus for the 2014-2020 ENI CBC “Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme”. ENI CBC Med is the largest Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) initiative implemented by the EU under the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI).
The Programme brings together the coastal territories of 14 EU and partner countries, including Lebanon, in view of fostering fair, equitable and sustainable development on both sides of the EU’s external borders.
The STAND Up! project aims to enhance scalable, replicable and inclusive circular economy ventures in the Mediterranean by developing an ecosystem of business support, innovation, and technology transfer that will lead to sustainable job creation for youth and women.
Over the last 3 decades, numerous Mediterranean countries have emerged as textile and garment producers and exporters. Nowadays, the garment lifecycle closely links the regions of the Mediterranean Sea Basin, where textiles are produced, clothing manufactured and consumed and then disposed of or recycled.
The clothing industry has become strategic to the process of economic development of the area but serious concerns have been raised in terms of social and environmental side effects. It is one of the planet’s biggest polluters; the current system creates more greenhouse gas emissions than international flights and maritime shipping combined. The issue is doomed to get worse: global clothing production has doubled in the past 15 years and according to current forecasts, it will increase by another 63% by 2030.
Despite the priority given to sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in the policy agenda of the Mediterranean, various market and social challenges continue to hinder the shift towards more sustainable market patterns and to unlock economic opportunities along the value chain locally and nationally.
In light of these challenges and the opportunities a transition to SCP offers, the Sustainable Textile Action for Networking and Development of circular economy business ventures in the Mediterranean (STAND Up!) was created.
According to STAND Up! partners, the solution lies in innovative entrepreneurialism, start-ups and recently established enterprises that have a pivotal role in the sector’s transition to SCP and environmentally and socially responsible circular model.
In order to support entrepreneurs and eco-innovative ventures in Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Spain and Tunisia, STAND Up! will:
STAND Up! will lead to an increase in the income of existing green SMEs as well as the creation of new sustainable textile enterprises. This will generate a natural demand for new jobs that will be met by high skilled people.
Concretely, 400 ideation-stage ventures will be supported to help them create future employment opportunities; 20 early and growth stage ventures to maintain stable employment and create, at least, two new direct jobs each.
Besides this direct and indirect impact, the stimulation of innovation and sector aggregation will minimize negative environmental impact along the garment lifecycle and smooth the region’s transition towards sustainable consumption and production in the textile and clothing industry.
All in all, the project will mark a significant step-change in each region’s ability to harness the power of eco-innovation and entrepreneurialism in the textile (Italy and Spain) and clothing (Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt) sectors.
Meet the team members in charge of the STAND UP! Project at Berytech.
If you have any questions about the STAND UP! Program
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