European Commission launches the 2020 European Social Innovation Competition with EUR150,000 for three innovations in sustainable fashion

Brussels (ots) - The European Commission is today announcing the launch of the
2020 edition of the European Social Innovation Competition. Under the theme
Reimagine Fashion: Changing behaviours for sustainable fashion, this year's
competition is looking for early stage projects that will change the ways we
produce, buy, use and recycle fashion and encourage a more sustainable change in
consumer behaviour. The competition is open to entrants from across the EU
Member States and Horizon 2020 associated countries until the application
deadline on Wednesday 4 March. A jury will select three winning ideas in
November, each of which will receive an award of EUR50,000.

"European consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impacts
of their consumer habits. Building on Europe's position at the forefront of
global fashion, this year's social innovation competition is looking for
innovations that change the ways we produce, use and wear fashion and encourage
more sustainability across the fashion industry," says Slawomir Tokarski,
Director of Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing, DG GROW.

The aim of the 2020 European Social Innovation Competition is to improve the
environmental and social impact of fashion. EU citizens on average buy more than
12kgs of clothing yearly, the production of which contributes 195 million tonnes
of CO2 to the atmosphere and uses 46 billion cubic meters of water. Clothing
accounts for between 2% and 10% of the environmental impact of overall EU
consumption. At the same time, more than 30% of clothes in Europeans' wardrobes
have not been used for at least a year. Once discarded, over half the garments
are not recycled, but end up in mixed household waste and are subsequently sent
to incinerators or landfill.

To address these issues, this year's competition is looking for ideas that
contribute to improving the sustainable production, use and consumption of
fashion as well as the end of life stage of fashion products. These ideas should
aim to reduce the overall environmental footprint of fashion, improve its
societal impact, and help change behaviours in a sustainable way by helping to
develop new products, services, processes and innovative business models.
Solutions presented at the competition should also be scalable at the local,
national or European levels. The competition is open to all with innovative and
creative ideas on making the fashion industry more sustainable, including social
innovators, entrepreneurs, students, designers, businesses and other doers,
makers and change creators.

The competition will complement several measures the Commission has already
implemented to address the problem of sustainability in fashion. The circular
economy package, adopted in 2018, will for the first time, require Member States
to ensure that textiles are collected separately. The new Waste Directive
requires Member States to set up such schemes at the latest by 2025. The
Packaging Waste Directive introduces targets for the recycling 60% of all
packaging by 2025 and 70% by 2030. The currently binding Textile Regulation of
2011 lays down rules for labelling and marking of all textile products,
including an obligation to state the full fibre composition of textile products
at all stages of industrial processing and commercial distribution, and rules on
textile fibre names.

End notes:

Applications are open until Wednesday 4th March noon CET.

For full details visit: https://eusic.challenges.org/

or go to
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/policy/social/competition_en

More information about European Social Innovation Competition:

Launched in memory of social innovation pioneer Diogo Vasconcelos, the European
Social Innovation Competition is a challenge prize run by the European
Commission across all EU Member States and Horizon 2020 associated countries.
Now in its 8th year, the Competition acts as a beacon for social innovators in
Europe, employing a proven methodology for supporting early-stage ideas and
facilitating a network of radical innovators shaping society for the better.
Each year the Competition addresses a different issue facing Europe.

This year, the focus is: Reimagine Fashion: Changing behaviours for sustainable
fashion. Today's launch of the competition online will be followed by a formal
launch event in Valencia, Spain on 12 February, as well as a series of
post-launch webinars. Thirty semi-finalists will be invited to the European
Social Innovation Academy in July where they will receive mentoring and training
to structure their development plans. A second round of judging will identify
the 10 finalists.

The Competition is organised by the European Commission with support from Nesta
Challenges, Kennisland, Ashoka Spain, the European Network of Living Labs, and
Scholz & Friends.

For information on earlier editions and winning projects, visit:
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/policy/social/competition_en

Questions about the Competition can be sent to: info@socialinnovationprize.eu

Follow the Competition on Twitter: @EUSocialInnov #diogochallenge

Subscribe to the Competition newsletter here: https://eusic.challenges.org/

Contact:

Alison Bell / alison.bell@s-f.com / +49 30 700186-371

Additional content: https://www.presseportal.de/pm/130028/4497417
OTS: European Social Innovation Competition

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