WORTH is always on the lookout for initiatives that align with our dedication to assist and grow the European design industry and facilitate SMEs and up and coming entrepreneurs through funding and industry support, we are therefore happy to align ourselves with the inspiring work of WEAR Sustain.

WEAR (Wearable technologists Engage with Artists for Responsible Innovation) Sustain is a 2 year project funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 research and innovation initiative to engage art, design and creative industries to work more closely with technology and engineering industries, to shift the development of the wearables and e-textile landscape towards a more sustainable and ethical approach. WEAR Sustain fosters cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral collaboration through the co-design and co-development of ethical, critical and aesthetic wearable technologies and smart textiles. Our aim is to develop a framework within which future prototypes can be made, to become examples of what the next generation of wearables, and e-textiles, could or should be.

The project will lead new approaches to design, production, manufacturing and business models to help entrepreneurs, stakeholders and citizens become more aware of the issues involved in making and using wearable technologies, and demand better from technology companies, manufacturers and governments. The project runs between January 2017 and December 2018. All stakeholders across Europe are invited to participate and share in WEAR activities. They invite art, design and technology practitioner to apply to one of their funded Open Calls, all stakeholders to Join our online network, to take part in Sustain activities. They encourage all parties to actively share their learning outcomes and to help increase awareness and adoption of ethics and sustainability in this field.

The project has objectives that align with what WORTH is encouraging within the European design industry by:

• Encouraging cross-border and cross-sector collaborations between artists, designers and technology developers through two thematic Open Calls;

• Building a sustainable and structured dialogue through organisation of local and international networking events and symposia;

• Setting-up a pan-European WEAR Sustain network of stakeholders and local advocacy hubs, to connect and push the boundaries in the design and development of critical, ethical and aesthetic wearables;

• Developing local hubs across Europe to become future advocacy centres for wearable technologies, with a mandate for ethical – critical – aesthetic development processes;

• Creating a Sustainability Strategy and Toolkit that will set the benchmark for ethical and sustainable technology development.

For further information on WEAR Sustain click here.

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Image: https://wearsustain.eu/