<< Background >>Sustainable development is a core principle of the EU Treaty and a priority objective for the EU. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN and the European Green Deal, represent, for the leather industry, enormous opportunities and challenges.The transition to a business model that focuses on sustainability requires first aware and trained human capital. Leather professionals and businesses, especially micro-enterprises and SMEs (as are most leather businesses in Europe and Turkey), are insufficiently trained for a successful implementation of sustainability and its measures. Furthermore, well-informed policy making and enforcing institutions with the necessary tools and policies are needed to successfully integrate social, economic, and environmental strategies and initiatives into the industry at a local level. This is especially true for the leather industry often, mistakenly, considered as obsolete and unable to follow technological progress.<< Objectives >>The SULEAP project aims to:- remedy the detected lack of knowledge on sustainability implementation in the leather industry and broaden the knowledge of target groups about the practical implementation with innovative training tools and platforms- raise the awareness of the direct beneficiaries and target groups (professionals, staff and manager in Leather making SMEs and policymakers), as well as indirect beneficiaries (associations, authorities, staff and managers from other relevant industries) about the risks and benefits of sustainability in the leather production- present the opportunities that are emerging for the sector and support them in the transformation of the leather industry into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive industry.<< Implementation >>The project will start with the creation of the Standard Skills’ Profile of the sustainability-minded leather professional in an SME, followed by mapping the existing industry standards and schemes for certifications operating in the area of leather sustainability; both will provide the partnership the necessary insights to deliver the curriculum and project results that better fits the needs of the target groups. The partnership will design and implement an online training course, which will be the core of the project, to enable professionals, staff and managers of leather SMES businesses to better understand what sustainability is and what is asked of them in order to be compliant with the various requirements of the industry and their customers. The training content will be offered on the open-access e-learning, supplemented with the Self Evaluation Tool that will guide the users to the appropriate steps to upgrade their knowledge towards a sustainability-compliant business transition. A freely available to all multilingual Resource Toolkit to be used to support further improvement and scaling up of leather production towards sustainability will also be developed, which will include:- A Guide to Environmental and Social Compliance to Leather Standards & Legislation, to provide users a direction on their path towards sustainability, and-Factsheets for Sustainability in Leather, to motivate and persuade about the benefits, risks and solutions available regarding sustainability. A common Policy Recommendation paper will be also created and sent to key people and important stakeholders in each country so that the advancement of the Leather Sustainability in each national context will be promoted. Finally, during the project an intense Training Activity addressed to the project’s direct target groups, using the blended learning approach to enhance the participants’ knowledge in the aspects of sustainability in the leather supply chain and to finalise, validate and put in practice the outcomes of the project results will be carried out.<< Results >>At the end of the project, a set of project results will be available:An open access e-learning platform, complete with a Self-Assessment Tool to guide users to the appropriate learning modules; for those completing the Training Course, primarily professionals, staff and managers of leather SME businesses, but also any person interested to know about sustainability in leather, will be able to better understand what sustainability is and what is asked of them in order to be compliant with the various requirements of the industry and their customers.A Resource Toolkit, comprising two main components:- A Guide to Environmental and Social Compliance to Leather Standards & Legislation, a document that will provide users a direction on their path towards sustainability, and-Factsheets for Sustainability in Leather, to motivate and persuade about the benefits, risks and solutions available regarding sustainability.Finally, a common Policy Recommendation paper, consisting of good examples of policies from each partner country, successes and challenges, and recommendations for a course of action based on the information, experiences and lessons learned in the course of the project to policymakers and high-level stakeholders in each partner country.

The main output of the project will be two training and innovation centers which will be set up in four universities in Russia and Mongolia, which will provide training services for tanneries, support the design and the implementation of curricula for university studies, and also implement research on the use environmentally friendly technologies for tanning raw materials and recycling of collagen-containing waste. The centers will have the form of innovation hubs which will solve the problems that are acute for the leather industry community of the EU, Russia and Mongolia.The established centers will be equipped with modern analytical and testing equipment, professional literature, magazines, and regulatory documents in force in Russia, Mongolia and the EU. These centers will act also as technology brokers for local leather industry. The partners of the EU, as well as trade unions (the Russian Union of Leatherworkers and Shoemakers and the Mongolian Tanning Association) of the two countries will help in the establishment of the centers and the evaluation of their work. The specific aim of the project is to create the appropriate environment for the establishment of the universities as innovation hubs for Leather industry in Russia and Mongolia. Towards this aim the following activities will be implemented: • 4 training and innovation centers in leather sector (1 in each HEI in region 4 & 6)• online Platform for Transferring Research and Innovation through project based training and also for Supporting the Collaboration between industry and academia• re-engineering model for leather industry management systems for a better adaption to the new era• a bouquet of scouting and brokerage services will be offered along with networking and match-making activities that will directly link needs with the technology and business offering