Partnership Members got together at the Working Meeting in Cologne

In the "Bauwerk", a converted industrial building in Cologne Kalk, around 160 members of the Textiles Partnership met on 11 and 12 July to work together. The participants focused their thoughts and discussions in eight workshops, setting the course for the further development of the Textiles Partnership in terms of content and structure.

In the "Supply Chain Transparency" group of around 50 members, participants presented their own case studies. Reports of blockchain solutions for passing on information in the supply chain or barcodes that provide information on the origin of a product directly to the smartphone showed the possibilities of digital innovations.

As an annual theme for 2018, "Living wages" were also taken up in a workshop. In a specialist lecture, it was presented how the challenge of achieving higher wages across the board can be tackled in the first steps. The participants also discussed how the Partnership can work more closely with other initiatives to create synergies.

More than 40 Partnership members worked on regenerated fibres, synthetic fibres and biobased plastics under the title "Man-Made Fibres". Challenges for the use of socially and ecologically more compatible man-made fibres were identified. Meanwhile, the workshop "Chemical and Environmental Management" focused on relevant instruments and practicable objectives, especially for the lower supply chain.

In order to take even greater account of the issue of corruption prevention in the future, the responsible expert group drew up a proposal for integrating the issue into the Partnership's questionnaire. The workshop on "Impact assessment" also dealt with indicators. Here, the members exchanged views on how the impact of our activities can be measured on the ground. A concrete proposal for the topics "living wages" and "chemicals and environmental management" is to be drawn up before the end of this year.

The participants in the workshops on "Internationalisation" and "Communication" were more concerned with structural issues: How can the Partnership become more international in the future and which arguments are the most convincing to win new members for the Textiles Partnership?