- The T-Lab brought together vocational and university students alongside industry professionals under the same roof for a week of intensive training and collaboration.
- The T-Lab could test the modular approach of the Curriculum and the tools developed in the Transitions project, producing contents on the topics of digital design, circular strategies, systemic design, more than human design, shared governance.
During the first week of February 2025, Città Studi Biella hosted the members of the Transitions European project consortium, alongside with professionals and students. Biella, renowned for its long-standing tradition in textile manufacturing, became the setting for an intensive week of learning, ideas exchange, and innovation within the framework of the Transitions Lab (T-Lab)—an innovative training program designed to prepare changemakers for the circular and digital transition of the textile and fashion industries.
The training program combined lectures, workshops, and industrial visits, all aimed at fostering sustainability and innovation in the textile industry. The T-Lab provided participants with practical tools and knowledge to lead and actively contribute to the circular transformation of the sector, both at a local and global level.
The opening session welcomed participants to the university and featured three inspiring talks by Slow Fiber, Artknit Studio, and Consorzio di Biella The Wool Company. Each speaker highlighted the urgent need for a transformation in the textile industry, emphasizing that the traditional model is no longer sustainable from both social and environmental perspectives.
The T-Lab program was structured into three pathways, adapting training to participants’ backgrounds:
Vocational Education and Training (VET) students attended the path“– Digital design for circular practices” where they could explore and practice zero-waste pattern making and digital design with the CLO3D software.
Higher Education (HEI) students followed the path ”Designing beyond sustainability” where they were introduced to systemic design focused on hemp and local wool production and mrore than human design perspectives.
Professionals (PRO) attended the path “Glocal partnerships for the Circular Transition of the Textile and Fashion Sector” in which the Loopholes Toolkit was used to explore circular business models strategies, shared governance and ecosystem ecologies.
This modular approach, developed by the Transitions project partners, allowed training to be tailored to each level, integrating theoretical knowledge with practical applications. In addition, all the participants visited local textile companies such as Piacenza, Marchi & Fildi, and Magnolab, where they observed firsthand sustainable and innovative production processes. Moreover, they hold a gathering and networking at the Pistoletto Foundation, known as “Cittadellarte” where they could revisit the work of local artists and network with each other in the former textile mill building.
Participants also received an exemplary of- , The Loopholes Toolkit, which was the core methodology of the training, developed by the Transitions team to provide a problem-solving framework tailored to the textile and fashion industries. Rooted in systems thinking and creative problem-solving, this tool was co-created by project partners, offering new methodologies to advance digitalization and circularity in the sector.
The T-Lab edition in Biella, gathering more than 60 participants, was a unique opportunity for professionals and students to share experiences, best practices, and strategies for the sustainable transition of the textile and fashion industry.
Transitions is a strategic alliance for innovation formed by research and technological centres, Vocational Education and Training (VET), Higher Education Institutions (HEI), policy actors, SMEs and other sectoral organizations from Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Sweden. The aim is to nurture the textile and fashion transition to a 4.0 system and a circular economy by developing new learning methods, tools and practices to help students, young designers and professionals, to face real challenges. It is an EU Funded Project in the Erasmus + Program.
