Leather Cluster Barcelona hosts ACCIÓ’s creativity and sustainability day within the framework of the Districts of Creativity

On Thursday 26 May, a delegation from the worldwide Districts of Creativity network, represented by twenty-five professionals from countries such as Finland, India, Belgium and Germany, visited Leather Cluster Barcelona.

The Districts of Creativity (DC) Network brings together 13 of the most creative and innovative regions in the world, among them Catalonia. The network’s aim is to help the economic and social prosperity of the different regions by fostering the cross-fertilisation of the virtuous triangle of technology, creativity and entrepreneurship. ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya, is a member of this international network that promotes creativity and innovation.

The network seeks to exchange experiences and knowledge between the different regions with the aim of stimulating potential collaborations and identifying new ways of combining experience, technology and resources. The approach is to combine creativity, technology and entrepreneurship in order to generate new solutions (new products, services, processes and/or business models) that represent a source of growth, prosperity and social wellbeing.

In addition to the ongoing contact between the network’s members and the meetings of its governing body (the International Council), the DCs organise two main events each year: the Creativity World Forum and a Reverse Mission.

This year, the Reverse Mission has been organised in Catalonia by ACCIÓ and the central theme has focused on creativity and sustainability, the same theme that will be the focus of this year’s Creativity World Forum. In the Reverse Mission, one member of the network invites the others to visit its territory in order to show the most relevant trends and projects at home on the agreed theme. It is an opportunity to promote, before representatives of the whole network, the potential and the opportunities that are being generated.

ACCIÓ organised one day of this year’s mission at Leather Cluster Barcelona to discover, through active learning combining guided tours with presentations, the leather ecosystem of Igualada and relevant projects of the cluster, its members and the city of Igualada from the perspective of sustainability and creativity.

The day began at the Adoberia Bella, where the councillor for Education and Sport of Igualada Town Council, Patrícia Illa, welcomed all those attending. Various presentations then took place: by Leather Cluster Barcelona on the circular economy of the leather sector and the cluster’s challenges; by REC.0, with Ricard Vila, sharing the benchmark fashion, heritage and culture pop-up event in Catalonia; by the director of sustainability and research of Curtits Badia, Diego Navarro, a member of the Technical Committee of the Leather Working Group, giving an overview of the company’s and fashion brands’ approach to sustainability; and closing the session of talks, a presentation by the IDR treatment plant, an example of sustainability in wastewater treatment.

The visit continued at Curtits Badia and then at Cal Granotes, ending with a human tower display by the Moixiganguers d’Igualada team (an example of cooperation and intergenerational work) and lunch at the Somiatruites restaurant.

An experience for enjoying Leather Cluster Barcelona and the city of Igualada as a whole, with content on sustainability, creativity, industry, fashion, culture and gastronomy.

Leather Cluster Barcelona is an environment of competitive cooperation for promoting cross-cutting and transformative strategic projects with the aim of driving forward the ecosystem of the leather sector. The cluster is an accredited body within the Catalonia Clústers programme and has the support of Acció.