Leather Cluster Barcelona holds its 2022 Ordinary General Assembly

On 29 June, the cluster held its 2022 Ordinary General Assembly just after the session presenting the results of Re-Genera, the global Circular Economy project on the valorisation of leather by-products.

At the assembly, the activities and projects carried out during 2021 were reviewed.

As regards the activities and actions of 2021, those recalled included the renewal of Leather Cluster Barcelona as a cluster within the Catalunya Clústers Programme of Acció (the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya), the organisation of events such as the presentation of the Aqeic Leather Audit, the webinars on the Next Generation European recovery funds and on the innovative online training proposal of the European Smart4Skills programme, the MOOC, the cluster’s presence at the Universitat de Lleida UdL careers fair, the cluster’s adhesion to Leather Naturally’s Leather Manifesto and its support for the world days of Recycling and Agriculture, the presentation and implementation of Leather Cluster Barcelona’s communication plan, and Leather Cluster Barcelona’s benchmarking trip to Italy to explore the sector of waste and organic resource valorisation. Also the cluster’s participation in the annual Aqeic congress and in various events aimed at highlighting leather as a benchmark of the circular economy and sustainable fashion, such as the Sustainable Experiences of the Espai Guasch, the Master Talks of the Higher Centre for Fashion Design (CSDMM) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and the workshop for the international design school LCI Barcelona.

As regards projects, the highlights were the launch of the technical feasibility study ‘Vision and Artificial Intelligence for hide grading’, a project coordinated by Leather Cluster Barcelona involving three member companies of the cluster — Intarex, Picvisa and Curtidos Badia — with the support of ACCIÓ (Ministry of Business and Knowledge); the first phase of the Re-Genera project, focused on an exhaustive study of how to optimise the valorisation of by-products and waste from the production process across the entire value chain of the leather industry; and the report on the socio-economic impact of the leather sector, a study promoted by the cluster and carried out by the research department of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the University of Barcelona.

The financial and management report was then presented, after which the 2021 accounts and the 2022 budget were approved. The projects and objectives planned for 2022 were also announced, along with the guiding principles of the strategic plan.

The members unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to the sustainable use of natural resources, to minimum environmental impact in production and to the efficient management of the waste generated by the leather sector. In this respect, it was defined as a priority that Leather Cluster Barcelona should move forward with the next stages of Re-Genera, a major project to optimise the valorisation of by-products and waste and to turn waste into resources, which will take the leather sector towards zero waste.

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 Catalan leather sector. The cluster is an accredited body within the Catalonia Clusters programme and has the support of Acció.