Leather Cluster Barcelona, collaborator in the international Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Innovative Leather Technology

On Friday 3 June at the Adoberia Bella, headquarters of Leather Cluster Barcelona, the management of the Higher Polytechnic School of the University of Lleida -UdL- (Magda Valls), the coordination and members of the Master’s in Leather Engineering (Anna Bacardit and Felip Combalia) of the Igualada-UdL Campus and A3 Leather Innovation Center UdL (Sílvia Sorolla and Concepció Casas) led the first face-to-face meeting with the international partners and institutions making up the joint master’s project in innovative leather technology under the Erasmus Mundus Programme.

Erasmus Mundus master’s degrees are integrated high-level university study programmes taken in an international setting, promoted by higher education institutions from different countries around the world which design and deliver the programmes. Other partners, whether or not from the educational field, with specific experience and interest in the field of study in question may also take part in the partnership.

Jordi Vidal, executive director of the cluster, took part in the technical working meeting on behalf of Leather Cluster Barcelona, a collaborating partner in the new master’s project, together with other stakeholders of the leather sector such as AcexPiel, the Asociación Española de la Indústria de la Piel para el Comercio Exterior, and the Confederation of National Associations of Tanners of the European Union, COTANCE.

The EU funds these programmes, as well as competitive scholarships that the programmes offer to the best students from around the world who apply for them, students who within the programme will live for a year and a half between Igualada, Izmir (Turkey), León (Mexico) and Lyon (France).

Erasmus Mundus Master’s degrees pivot around a curriculum designed jointly by the participating institutions (a minimum of three higher education institutions from three different countries and, where applicable, collaborating partners), fully integrated and developed. The aim of the working meeting held at the Adoberia Bella was to begin work on this curriculum.

The Higher Polytechnic School of the University of Lleida, which currently offers the Master’s in Leather Engineering, is developing this joint Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree with the Institut Textile et Chimique de Lyon – ITECH (France), the only French engineering school descending directly from the textile, leather and chemistry schools founded by professionals in Lyon more than a century ago and closely linked to fashion brands; Ege University of Izmir (Turkey), founded in 1955 and one of the country’s most important universities; and the Mexican university CIATEC, with which the School already had collaboration links and offered an international double qualification, the double master’s in Leather Engineering & Posgrado especialista en curtidos de pieles.

Leather Cluster Barcelona is an environment of competitive cooperation for promoting cross-cutting, transformative strategic projects with the aim of driving the ecosystem of the Catalan leather sector. The cluster is an accredited entity within the Catalonia Clusters programme and is supported by Acció.