GUIDE FOR SMART PRACTICES TO SUPPORT INNOVATION IN SMART TEXTILES

Smart Textiles for STEM training (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math’s).is an Erasmus+ project aiming to bridge Textile Companies with the Education sector via Smart Textiles Innovation and Training. Industries have been surveyed to analyze the needs for new jobs and skills in Smart textiles, contributing to improve the links with VET Schools training and closing the gap between industry and education. During the project a number of smart textiles examples and prototypes are worked to be transferred to Schools and used by students and teachers, aiming to foster STEM training. This paper presents the results of the survey applied to selected textile companies on Technical and Smart Textiles, based on data collected from 63 textile enterprises in Romania, Belgium, Slovenia, Portugal and Czech Republic. The survey identifies existing opportunities for producing smart textiles in enterprises and forecasting expected occupations and work profiles for young trainees. The guide for smart practices presents the results of this survey and aims to transfer smart practices from enterprises to Vocational Education and Training (VET) schools and young students. Providing real life prototypes and multi-disciplinary working activities on smart textiles will make textile occupations more attractive to young students, and will improve knowledge, skills and employability of VET students in STEM related fields.