Europe employs more than 278.000 people in more than 21.000 companies, mainly SMEs, adopting a development strategy based on higher quality of products and services, flexibility, short time to market, product differentiation and added value producing 3,2% of the 24.3 billion pairs worldwide (figures 2019 www.worldfootwear.com ). It is a very manufacturing intensive sector with more than 35% of the employees over 50, which highlights strong need of attracting motivated and qualified young talent to replace the future retirements. The Pact for Skills in TCLF (S4TCLF https://www.s4tclfblueprint.eu/ ) as a consequence of the European Skills Agenda, outstands the need of addressing innovative ways of delivering IVET and CVET to capture and maintain a younger generation of employees inside the sector and calls the attention to the urgent need of a digital transformation at the level of training/education.All these factors are currently further amplified by the impact of COVID-19.A survey performed by S4TCLF project to VET providers and High-Education institutions providing VET on the impact of COVID-19 in the training/learning activities resulted in the following findings:- Urgent need of changing the ways of delivering training, opting preferentially by “at distance” approaches- Difficulties in “delivering practical training”- Difficulties from trainers and teachers in adapting their own practices to the new “normal” due to the lack of digital literacy and materials adapted to the new approaches. difficulty in keeping trainees and student within the courses, calling the attention to the need of creating attractive pedagogical resources and environment.- VET providers surveyed also confirmed that after COVID-19 the training approach will change definitely compared to the past and nothing will be as it was, highlighting the priority of developing robust Digital teaching and learning approaches. Therefore, CTCP Portugal, CTCR Spain, POLICALZ Italy, TUIASI Romania, IPS Poland, together with CEC, the umbrella association, and a specialist on digital education, joined efforts to face up this European challenge, for the development of a Footwear virtual “learning by doing” approach targeted to:1st- Trainers/teacher/coaches in footwear sector willing to promote, develop, accompany and assess innovative digital training2nd- Students/trainees in footwear related IVET and CVET or others willing to go for a career in footwear sector and to know more about footwear manufacturing operations,And the expected contributes are at 4 levels:1-Preparation of VET Providers and HE providing VET and their correspondent staff, including trainers, teachers and coaches, for the implementation of comprehensive digital strategies for the learning By Doing in Footwear Manufacturing, including approaches, methodologies and autonomation in contents development.2-EU network of VET providers and HE providing VET to excel in the digital delivering of practical training, toward the development of the practical skills, in footwear manufacturing, including IT educational experts and Umbrella Association.3-Creation of a free complete digitally environment for training/teaching/leaning of practical skills in Augmented reality and correspondent contents.4-Creation of a joint international digital course certified at National level and recognized at EU level for the development of practical skills in Footwear manufacturing.The expected results will be in 3 groups and will be released in English plus the 5 languages versions of the partnership: Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Romanian.1- Joint International course for digital “Learning by Doing” on Footwear manufacturing for the practical learning on Footwear manufacturing, integrally anchored in digital strategies. 2- Joint virtual Shoe Fab Lab and correspondent contents in Augmented Reality (AR) This also includes a course for trainers, teachers and coaches on how to use authoring tools (for the development of innovative and attractive contents in AR. 3-Common methodology on training/teaching/coaching for training itineraries based on augmented reality (AR) which includes manuals for trainers/teachers, coaches and trainees and training opportunity for end users (students and trainees in IVET and CVET).

The Textile, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear (TCLF) industries in Europe with an annual turnover of €195 billion in 2019, employs 2 million workers in 220.600 companies, 99% SMEs concentrated in Italy, Romania, Poland, Portugal, Germany and Spain, more precisely in a few regions. TCLF has now to tackle with the challenges presented by the new digital era at a higher level, within a framework of transition to a greener, circular economy increasing the resilience of the organizations involved. The new METASKILLS4TCLF proposal, allying 30 partners, is robust and ambitious, responding to all objectives of the Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills (implementing the “Blueprint”), crosses the PACT4SKILLS TCLF pillars, and, with the compromise of consolidating and updating part of the former Skills4Smart TCLF Industries 2030 project outcomes, namely skills strategy, curricula and contents, results in a stronger and a wider scope cooperation, anticipating and responding to new skills gaps with innovative educational multilevel resources and delivering methodologies, involving new actors in the educational scene of TCLF across Europe, raising attractiveness and inclusion, preventing that “no talent is wasted”, together with a strong dissemination campaign and sustainability plan.The new outcomes will be:-Strong skills partnership with relevant stakeholders-Skills Intelligence for Forecasting and Monitoring TCLF Emerging Skills Needs-New modular training curricula/training modules “Inside Fashion” (both for initial education & training and upskilling-reskilling of the workforce), all tested in due piloting opportunities-Innovative modular contents, VR training and learning tools and update the ones developed in the former blueprint -A European Virtual Reality Campus-A train the trainers and teacher package to strengthening skills supply to demand -An awareness raising campaign on attractiveness and inclusion in the TCLF industries and correspondent tools.

The main aim of the project is to support the modernisation of the leather and leather products industry in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, through the establishment of four Leather Products Centres (two in Uzbekistan and two in Kazakhstan) in order to address the identified need for strengthening and enhancement of modernisation, innovation and competitiveness of the Leather Sector in the two countries. Through the creation of these centres and their operation, the leather sector in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will be offered access to business services, such as quality testing, product certification, specialised training, fashion trends, modern design, production organization, and funding opportunities. The professionals, with a special focus on women, and students of the subject will improve their qualifications and skills, which will in turn upgrade the capabilities of the leather and leather manufacturing companies.