Joint Master Erasmus Mundus in Innovative Leather Technology
LEATECH project will reinforce the skills of three EU Universities (UdL-Spain, ITECH-France, EGE-Turkey) and
one academic institution (CIATEC-Mexico) to develop an innovative Joint Master Degree in Innovative Leather
Technology, designed to tackle the latest technologies in leather production according to the needs of the international market;
modernising the curricula and the teaching practices.
Cross-border/international
Spain
France
{Empty}
{Empty}
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
ERASMUS
Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2021-EMJM-DESIGN
(Erasmus Mundus Design Measures)
Topic: ERASMUS-EDU-2021-EMJM-DESIGN
Type of Action: ERASMUS-LS
Proposal number: 101050652
No
Yes
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: Anna Last name: Bacardit Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: University of Lleida (UdL). The UdL of the 21st Century is an entrepreneurial university that promotes a comprehensive educational model. It caters for the requirements of different educational contexts through its involvement in the development of initiatives to ensure all students have the basic skills, the ability to think for themselves and the tools needed to deal with life as citizens in an ever-changing social arena.
The University is working along these lines by using innovative methodologies and a course structure that is coherent with the parameters of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Nationality: Spain Function: Director of A3 Leather Innovation Center Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Plaça Víctor Siurana, 1. Town: Lleida Postal code: 25003 Country: Spain Direct Tel:+34 636 53 43 36 E-mail:anna.bacardit@udl.cat Website:https://a3center.cat/index.php/en/
The LEATECH project is focused on reinforcing the skills of three European Universities dedicated to the Leather Technology to develop an innovative Joint Master Degree based on a new transnational study programme, designed to tackle the latest technologies in leather production according to the needs of the leather
international market; modernising the curricula and the teaching practices. Besides that, transversal competencies directly related to the leather sector will be introduced in the development of an innovative study programme, such as sustainability and the circular economy, and the strict quality regulations pursued by the manufacturing companies of leather goods to avoid hazardous chemicals by new designed chemicals and processes.
The LEATECH project will also include as an associated partner the Confederation of National Associations of Tanners and Dressers of the European Community (COTANCE / www.euroleather.com), the employers’ umbrella organisation of the European tanning industry and member of the Executive Committee of the International Council of Tanners (ICT/www.leathercouncil.org), the leather industry’s governance body at international level. COTANCE has been developing strategic activities in the area of leather education since the turn of the Millennium including the creation in 2012 of the first European TCLF (Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear) Sector Skills Council with the financial support of the European Commission, followed by two Erasmus+ actions of which one of the first 6 Blueprints for Strategic Sectoral Alliances for Skills (S4TCLF).
By providing professionals with the knowledge needed to perform responsible tanning processes that have the potential to generate innovative, high added value and eco-friendly leathers to support the greening of the industry and improve the welfare of populations across leather producing countries, it aims at contributing to building a sustainable leather industry at global scale.
Leather Tecnology
Sustainability
Circular economy
Strategic Sectoral Alliances for Skills
Students mobility
The launch of the LEATECH project will contribute to the diversification in the current offer of thematic areas of Joint Master Programmes, as there isn’t an existing previous project intended to modernise and update the training offer at the Masters level in Innovative Leather Technology at worldwide (a new Joint Master Degree of Level 7 (EQF-7) of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011). Besides that, there is a clear gap in the training offer to meet the current needs of technological transition in terms of safety, sustainability of production and adaptation of production to the principles of the circular economy and its expectations for 2030. The introduction of these topics into the transnational academic program will allow the new Joint Master Degree to be aligned with the Green Deal policies and the industries, changing towards more sustainable production processes and introducing the principles of the circular economy in companies and the life cycle of the finished leather product.
The LEATECH project is directed to the development of a new, innovative and high-level integrated transnational
study programme at Master level, led by UdL and engaging 3 HEIs from Programme Countries (UdL- Spain, ITECHFrance
and EGE-Turkey), jointly with a Research and Academic Institution from a Partner Country (CIATEC-Mexico)
and the Confederation of National Associations of Tanners and Dressers of the European Community (COTANCEBelgium),
the leather industry’s governance body at international level.
Leather Engineering and Manufacturing agglutinate a wide range of subjects directly related to the transformation of rawhide/skin into leather, waste that is generated (reusable collagen-keratin fractions, special waste, wastewater), chemical industry (new trends in substituting hazardous chemicals with newly designed chemicals), polymer science, circular economy, nanoparticles, and fashion in end-manufacturing companies.
Europe is a Global leader in leather production and trade in terms of value. With a turnover of some 7.4 billion Euro annually and a share of 30% in the value of all finished leather produced worldwide, Europe still remains the number one in front of China, Brazil or India. Thanks to EU leather about 200.000 companies generate employment for some 10 million people worldwide and a wealth estimated at 120 billion Euro. European tanners have successfully transformed their factories into the most environmentally performing and socially accountable leather industries, aimed to comply with the restrictions in substituting hazardous chemicals and reducing pollution by applying innovative technical solutions to meet the expected quality requirements among costumers. This success story has made European leather producers the suppliers of all the major luxury brands, with high quality leather for footwear, leather goods, upholstery, gloves and garments. European leather covers the most exclusive suites and chairs and provides comfort to interiors and seats of leading car, train and airplane manufacturers. If Europe keeps this leading role at Global level, it is due by and large to the excellence of the education and training in the field of leather science and technology that it developed during the course of the last century. However, this enviable position is at risk. Industry in general and leather in particular have lost appeal among the younger generations on the European continent. Failure to anticipate this trend and adapting to the conditions of a mature industry in a mature economy has led in the last few decades to the closure of leather departments in major Universities (from Darmstadt in the ‘90ies to Iasi in 2019) and dedicated vocational schools (Reutlingen). Nevertheless, leather still exerts its attractiveness in Europe notably at the level of clusters, where the relationships
between the people, the material and the territory remain strong.
The leather industry in Europe and at global level needs new executives integrating knowledge that encompass the sense of beauty of the material, its circular economy nature and the essence of social accountability and environmental performance. Tanners know that well, as well as their suppliers in the raw materials sector and the chemical and machinery sector, and the customers and brands in all downstream sectors, from footwear to luxury bags and car interiors. This interest is here to stay, and UdL through the LEATECH project is determined to grasp this opportunity to teach the leaders of tomorrows leather industry and offer to the sector’s companies at global level qualified executives with a solid social and environmental basis. For succeeding in its objectives, there is a need to
combine several factors:
- Public hand support for overcoming a certain academic inertia and its limited resources; this is needed for starting the cooperation between HEIs and the promotion of the new Joint Master’s Degree available for the leather industry;
- Industry participation for disseminating the new education offer and for conveying the academic ambition to global leather value chains;
- A policy of open doors to the integration of new HEIs into the consortium and spreading the opportunities of a highquality modern tertiary education in leather science and technology to all countries with a leather industry.
In this context, the LEATECH project intends to start small with the few willing like-minded HEIs in Erasmus+Programme countries and one HEI in a Partner Country: Mexico, with which there is already a good working relationship and academic cooperation. Encompassing with the Blueprint Skills4TCLF strategy, the project will expand the promotion of this new Joint Master’s Degree across Europe and try and gain new possibilities of scholarships at regional and local level, supporting financially ambitious young people with fewer financial resources.
The TCLF industries in the European Union in 2018 directly employed a total workforce of 2.25 million people across 220,000 companies. While over 1.5 million TCLF jobs were lost in the EU in the decade of 2004-2013, the employment numbers have largely stabilised in the last 5 years. 78% of current employment is linked to small or mediums-sized companies of less than 250 employees. In this context, the EU tanning sector is the smallest subsector in the group with a directly employed workforce of some 33.800 people in about 1.600 companies, of which only a handful (4%) have more than 250 employees. In spite of the small size of the EU leather sector and of its companies, Europe’s tanneries play a crucial role in the global industry. Recognised as producers of higher added value goods, the EU leather industry generates a turnover of some 7.4 billion Euro annually and holds a share of 30% in the value of all finished leather produced worldwide. Europe remains a global leader in front of China, Brazil or India. Thanks to EU leather about 200.000 companies generate employment for some 10 million people worldwide and a wealth estimated at 120 billion Euro.
In Europe, a rapidly ageing workforce means that the wider leather industry has an image problem. It failed to transmit to the general public in mature economies the societal values of leather (creating beauty & wealth by recycling a residue), the understanding of leather, and the enthusiasm to learn how to make - and live from - leather. Today young people largely ignore that leather has much to offer precisely to the younger generations, notably in Europe: a substantially circular industry, transitioning to 0-pollution, adopting new technologies and business models and addressing key consumer market needs and the most stringent regulatory requirements.
The LEATECH proposal offers a concrete response and value added to the needs of the European and Global leather industry.
The stakholders of LEATECH are Associate Members. The Associate Partners’ roles in the LEATECH Master include:
-participation on a Consultation Panel.
-participation in the definition of LEATECH Master contents according to their area of expertise.
-participation in the selection of dissertation topics, as appropriate.
-hosting and co-supervision of joint master thesis, when appropriate.
-attendance of LEATECH administrative and scientific meetings, when relevant.
-participation in the promotion of the LEATECH program.
-searching for private companies’ grants.
The Consultation Panel includes all associated partners. The Consultation Panel will have the following roles:
-review the annual activity of the Master.
-advise the partners’ institutions on the contents of the study programme.
-cooperate in students’ secondment for the Master’s thesis preparation.
-participate in the promotion of the LEATECH program.
-offer grants for self-payed students, as appropriate.
-offer internships to students, as appropriate.
The Consultation panel is formed by the National Associations of leather companies of France, Turkey, Spain and Mexico. Also, it is formed by different chemical companies, like Stahl, Cromogenia, Pulcra Chemicals, Leather Química, etc. As well, it is formed by different tanneries like Omega, Curtidos Badia, Miret &Cia, etc.
And other organisms like CTC in France.
This cooperation with the leather industry at European level and through COTANCE at global level (it is a member of the ICT – International Council of Tanners – Executive Committee and of GLCC – the Global Leather Coordination Committee, gathering the 3 international industry organisations, tanners (ICT), Hides & Skins suppliers (ICHSLTA) and leather chemists and technologists (IULTCS)), is an essential element of the LEATECH strategy in the medium and long term for developing the Joint Master’s Degree.
The skills and competences resulting from LEATECH program has been treated as a set of learning outcomes from the six elements of the innovative teaching approach:
1. Knowledge of Innovative Leather Technology and its applications: Our program provides our students with the skills and abilities necessary to contribute to the competitiveness, sustainability and innovation of activities related to the tanning and auxiliary industry worldwide. LEATECH approach the student to the innovation of activities related to the innovation of the manufacturing process, product development, standardization of physical and chemical parameters as well as industrial sustainability and the environment.
2. Research skills: Possess and understand knowledge in all the fields of the LEATECH program that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context.
3. Special abilities: Students should be able to apply the knowledge acquired in the LEATECH programme and have problem-solving skills in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study.
4. Communication skills: That students know how to communicate their conclusions - and the ultimate knowledge and reasons behind them - to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
5. Learning skills: That students possess the learning skills that will enable them to continue studying in a largely self-directed or autonomous manner.
6. Social responsibility: That students deal with the complexity of making judgements based on information which, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social and ethical responsabilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgements.
The disciplines delivered in the respective HEIs, that is in UdL (Spain), ITECH (France), EGE (Turkey) and CIATEC (Mexico), will be taught by world-class professors, experts in their fields. The extensive professional careers of the HEIs’ professors will ensure the achievement of the objectives regarding knowledge acquired during the Joint Master Degree implementation. There is no other Masters’ Degree that combines the excellence of the World’s most reputed Leather HEIs and delivers outstanding learning outputs acquired in at least 3 different countries. With this Master’s Degree, the European Higher Education Area acquires for the first time the possibility to offer a joint diploma in leather science and technology. This allows the EHEA to contribute to the “Green Diplomacy” indicated in the “Green Deal” of European Commission President von der Leyen.
The Joint Master’s Degree is conceived to lead to either a professional career in the leather industry at international level or to dedicate further activities in the area of research and development in academia. Students remaining in academia after completion of the programme in the involved HEIs will result in a strengthening of the European higher education system in absolute terms. The project proposal offers to the European Higher Education Area the possibility
to list a Master’s Degree in Leather Science and Technology imparted by the World’s most renown leather HEIs. This will result in increased interest in the EHEA, in particular by developing countries with emerging leather industries and increasing environmental issues related to the domestic manufacturing sector.
Replication and dissemination of project results at regional and national level will be in charge of Leather Cluster BCN and COTANCE. Cotance will promote the replicability of the project results to the EU tanning associations of Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, Romania, etc.; who will in turn promote the replicability of the project results to their members. Two annual events/workshops will be organized to promote the project results to stakeholders (tanners at regional and national level, slaughterhouses from Spain, National and EU leather associations and employers’ association of tanneries, end-users manufacturers of footwear, leather goods, etc.).
COTANCE will play a highly relevant role in the promotion strategy, as it is the entity representing EU leather associations and, as such, a key player in the TCLF Pact for Skills. COTANCE, in its capacity as member of the Executive Committee of the International Council of Tanners (ICT) as well as participant in the Global Leather Coordination Committee (GLCC), will be using all its communication channels (newsletter, webpage, etc.) and the programmed international events to disseminate the information on the Joint Master Degree to leather value chain companies and students in EU and International Universities to attract students or sponsors for student scholarships.
National Leather Associations in each country (Spain, Turkey, France, and Mexico) will participate in the outreach campaign with their own distinct communication channels.
Potential students will have all the information available for participating in this exciting initiative; from the access profile, the exit profile, access routes, options, cut-off grades, study plan, and all the teaching guides for the subjects and, among others, a short file with essential information on the degree.
The sustainability concept should be part of the entire spectrum of education and training, including curricula, professional development for educators, as well as buildings, infrastructure and operations. LEATECH project aligns with the principles defined in the Erasmus+ Programme through the following objectives that have been included in the Joint Master’s Academic Programme:
-To develop knowledge, skills and attitudes on climate change and supporting sustainable development both inside and outside the European Union, through the internationalization strategy of HEIs as well as COTANCE;
-To increase the number of mobility opportunities in future-oriented green fields that foster skills development, enhance career prospects and involve participants in strategic areas for sustainable growth: management natural resources, environmental protection, recovery/reuse of waste and wastewater, substituting hazardous chemicals by renewable resources, etc.);
-To develop skills within the framework of the contribution of education and culture to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as those aimed at developing strategies and methodologies for green sector capacity building, future-oriented curricula, and initiatives that support the envisioned approaches of participating organizations to environmental sustainability. The Joint Master’s Degree in Innovative Leather Technology incorporates green practices in its new designed joint academic program. The students will be encouraged to discuss and learn about environmental issues, to reflect on local actions and to introduce alternative, greener methods of running the activities.
LEATECH is conceived to lead to either a professional career in the leather industry at international level or to dedicate further activities in the area of research and development in academia. Students remaining in academia after completion of the programme in the involved HEIs will result in a strengthening of the European higher education system in absolute terms. The project proposal offers to the European Higher Education Area the possibility to list a Master’s Degree in Leather Science and Technology imparted by the World’s most renown leather HEIs. This will result in increased interest in the EHEA, in particular by developing countries with emerging leather industries and increasing environmental issues related to the domestic manufacturing sector.
The main objective of the LEATECH project is to tackle with the development of a new, innovative, high-level integrated transnational study programme at Master level. The first step was to design, develop and validate the complete study programme for the Joint Master Degree in Innovative Leather Technology. This task was finished in September 2022. The second step was to set up the compulsory physical mobility for all the enrolled students in the Joint Master’s Degree in Innovative Leather Technology. Students will have to attend to the four semesters which accounts for the joint training program. UdL will oversee the students’ admission. UdL (Spain) will be also the HEI imparting the first semester of each students’ intake. The second semester will be imparted by EGE (Turkey), followed by a 6 ECTS Summer School that will oversee CIATEC (Mexico). The third semester will be held in ITECH (France). The fourth semester is launched in the form of elective subjects, where the students will be able to choose between four different course options to develop a total of 12 ECTS, as well as the final dissertation work (12 ECTS).
In the third step the student selection criteria was designed. A common application, selection, and admission procedure for the jointly integrated program was developed. This will be publicly available on the HEIs website to maximize transparency as well as in the specific web page of the Joint Master Degree (https://www.leatechmaster.com/). The web page will open in March 2023.
A common promotion and students’ recruitment action plan was established by the partnership in March 2022. The promotional actions started in September 2022 with the launch of the LEATECH leaflet. It was circulated at the international sectoral fairs and technical congresses that took place in late 2022. A Draft Partnership Agreement has been made by UdL and the associated partner HEIs (EGE, ITECH and CIATEC) and COTANCE.
It is expected to launch the master in March 2023.
