Achievements

The European Skills Council - Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear (ESC TCLF) delivers concrete results:

• the creation, for the first time, of a Europe-wide Sector Skills Council, with its established network involving several partners at different levels: European, through national, to local; paving the way for other Sector Skills Council, such as the one dedicated to Commerce.
• the creation Osservatorio Nazionale Concia, Italy's National Tanning Observatory, which acts as the national ISP for this country, and is already participating in the joint effort at European level.
• the provision of consistent, structured and reliable sectoral intelligence, increasing the knowledge on the sector specificities (labour market, employment structure and needs,...), best practices, skills education programmes and policy recommendations, through the publication of annual reports.
• the stimulation of joint initiatives among national observatories.
• the communication and active work through the web portal, designed to support and simplify the networking among partners, sector's stakeholders and to provide updated information and news.
• the dissemination through regular publication of a newsletter to a network of 500 specific partners in the business world, trade union movement, research institutes, universities and schools, press, etc.
• the enhancement of the sector's attractiveness through the production and diffusion of promotional videos.
• the organisation of EU-wide and national events on targeted topics.

Past Activities

The ESC TCL – now TCLF – has been active since 2011. Its activities have focussed on different aspects:

Development of Sectoral Knowledge

One of the key priorities for the ESC TCL has been the development and dissemination of sectoral knowledge, monitoring the constant changes of labour market and training needs. A series of surveys and analysis on education- and training-related themes has been therefore carried out, resulting in three analytical reports:

1. The evolution of Employment and Skills Needs
2. The evolution of good practises and the consequent reduction of skills mismatch
3. innovative tools in employment and training policies in TCL industry

A fourth report, based on the above analysis, details seven recommendations directed at institutional, social and industry stakeholders at both European and national levels. Reports are available for download in the Reports section.

Involvement and Awareness

Since the setting up of the TCL Skill Council, members have invested in strengthening joint activities, widening the existing network and deepening the involvement of new stakeholders. Tool deployed to pursue these objectives have been:

• the creation of this Web Portal, acting as a base for dissemination on activities and achievements of the Council, gathering communication material and including services available within the Council organisation (Wiki knowledge base, online training facilities, skills matchmaking).
• Regular production and distribution of sector-specific Newsletter
• Promotional videos, to increase awareness of the sector and its attractiveness.

Other joint awareness-raising activities target directly the wider public: for instance, in 2014, the ESC TCLF has supported the translation from Dutch to French of the Belgian Edugame aimed at youth and dedicated to textile, which is now available online:

• in the original Dutch at www.textielexpert.be
• in the French version at www.experttextile.be

Annual Conferences

At the end of each year of activity, an Annual Conference has been organised, gathering European Commission representatives, the Social Partners, the Industry Skills Partnerships, sectoral stakeholders and the press.

• The 2011 Conference marked the official launch of the European Skills Council for Textile, Clothing and Leather.
• The 2012 Conference showcased the outcome of the first year of operations, with the presentation of the analytical reports and the release of the first set of recommendations.