• TEXTILL4ALL is a European project funded by the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education (SEPIE) through the ERASMUS+ program, with a budget of 60,000 euros and a duration of 19 months.
• It is led by the Spanish non-profit association Educación, Cultura y Solidaridad (ECyS), and formed by a consortium between the Greek entity Envolve and the Finnova Foundation from Belgium.
• The event coincided with the celebration in the Belgian capital of the Textiles Recycling Expo, which brings together European experts in circular economy, textile recycling and social inclusion.
• This forum was held within the framework of the European GREEN WEEK.

Brussels, June 5, 2025 – Yesterday, on Tuesday, June 4th, the closing ceremony of the European project TEXTIL4ALL: Opportunities in the textile sector for people and the planet, an initiative that for 19 months has offered training and job opportunities in the textile sector to 70 women in vulnerable situation, mainly women between 30 and 50 years of age, was held in Brussels. The participants were from the San Cristóbal de los Ángeles neighborhood in Madrid and from Thessaloniki in Greece. Funded by the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education (SEPIE) through the ERASMUS+ program, with a budget of 60,000 euros and a duration of 19 months, TEXTIL4ALL is led by the Spanish non-profit association Educación, Cultura y Solidaridad (ECyS), and formed by a consortium between the Greek entity Envolve and the Finnova Foundation from Belgium.

The event, held as part of the EU Green Week, brought together representatives of public-private institutions, European experts and pioneering project leaders, all in the field of the textile circular economy.

Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova, was in charge of the institutional opening and highlighted the importance of expanding projects like TEXTIL4ALL to other programs such as LIFE, Erasmus VET and Interreg. The opening was also attended by Óscar Suárez Miranda, General Director of the Business Promotion Area of the Madrid City Council, who saw first hand the results of this project that trains women at risk of social exclusion.

From the European perspective, Aizea Astor, Senior Legal and Policy Officer at FEAD (European Waste Management Association), shared the EU’s vision of the future of textile recycling and the need for multi-sectoral alliances. She was followed by Marie-Jeanne Gaertner, Environmental Policy Lead at RREUSE, who underlined the importance of reuse models and the work of social enterprises in the textile value chain.

Alberto Egido, Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer at MODA RE-, presented at a strategic level the latest advances in the textile recycling process and circularity in the social economy, taking into account the importance of extending the useful life of products, while José Monzonís Salvia, Executive General Manager of the Textile and Fashion Observatory, emphasized the need to link innovation, traceability and training as keys to the competitiveness of the sector, and highlighted how eco-design, ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation) and producer responsibility are being implemented.

Furthermore, Belén Ceular Villamandos from SADECO – Saneamientos de Córdoba S.A. also participated in the event, explaining how a public company can lead textile collection, sorting and recovery projects. For her part, Natalia Castellanos, deputy director of AERESS, highlighted her collaboration in the Circular Economy Committee of the Biannual National Environmental Congress CONAMA.

In the block dedicated to the partners of the TEXTIL4ALL project, Almudena Martí, project manager from ECYS, presented the networking activities carried out, such as the visit to the job fair, soft skills workshops and the visit to the LABORAFIT recycling plant. “This project has been transformative. We have seen how women at risk of exclusion have learned about the world of textile recycling,” outlined Martí.

Elena Mondouri, from the Greek organization Envolve, explained the training and entrepreneurial approach developed in Thessaloniki, while Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation, highlighted the importance of TEXTIL4ALL “as an example of how European cooperation can generate real impact: social inclusion, green jobs and useful training. From Finnova, we are committed to continue connecting vulnerable talent with opportunities in key sectors such as circular textile,” concluded Revuelta.

Ibagüé Red-Nova Startup Europe Awards

The event closed with the statement of Jaime Almanza from the public company Ibagüé Limpia, a Colombian organization led by Milton Restrepo, focused on sustainability and circular innovation. Almanza proposed lines of continuity for the project through new transatlantic alliances and introduced the “First International Circular Economy Summit Red-Nova Summit Startup Europe Awards”, to be held in the city of Ibagué, Colombia, in November 2025 “to attract innovative solutions to the country”. Additionally, the next edition of the Ibagué Startup Europe Awards (SEUA) was presented, which will recognize different initiatives related to innovation in organic waste management; innovation for obtaining new materials from waste for sustainable and energy-efficient construction of social housing and public buildings, reducing construction and maintenance costs; innovative and economically and environmentally efficient systems for wastewater and sewage sludge management.