Dear reader,

Our project continued to develop the planned activities, with the involvement of all partners.

From August to November 2025, the activities included in Work Package 3 - Standards Trainings and Work Package 4 - Awareness Meetings / OERs stand out.

The activities included in these Work Packages focus on preparing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and traditional craftsmen to adopt sustainable practices, remaining competitive, with the creation of practical tools, training and digital materials, which will be available on the project website.

Following the training of trainers in Ankara on the quantification standards and reporting for ISO 14064-1 Greenhouse Gases, Carbon Footprint 14067 and Water Footprint 14046 with the participation of fourteen trainers from eight partner organisations, training on those standards involving companies is taking place in each participating country. These trainings will take place between October 2025 and January 2026. Portugal has already carried out a first action and will follow the actions in the other countries.

The digital platform that will contain training materials for a training path on the impact of double transformation on SMEs is being developed at a good pace, under the leadership of the Italian partner CNA. Training was provided to the partners on the development of the contents and its incorporation into the platform.

The topics of the modules to be developed by the partners have been defined:

• Module 1 Digital Product Passports for SMEs: Unlocking Sustainability and Digital Innovation
• Module 2: Digitalization of the Production Process for Sustainable Growth in SMEs
• Module 3 Integrating Circular Economy in SME Green and Digital Transformation
• Module 4 Water Footprint Management and ISO 14046: Principles and Application
• Module 5 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Management: ISO 14064-1 Quantification and Reporting Standards
• Module 6 Understanding and Applying ISO 14067: Carbon Footprint of Products.

At the same time, the partners analysed and selected the five priority sectors, which will guide the development of this content. The leather and footwear sector is clearly one of those included.

3rd Transnational Project Meeting

We also note in this newsletter the transnational meeting No. 3 of the project, which took place from November 13 to 14, in Elche. Hosted by AVECAL, the meeting clarified our shared mission: empower SMEs in the footwear and leather industries with the skills to embrace the twin transition.

At this meeting, an analysis of the state of play of all project workpackages was carried out.

In addition to the activities already presented above on WP3 and WP4, we highlight the presentation of the consolidated report, foreseen in WP2, compiling the current state of play and best practices in terms of green and digital transformation in the project partner countries.

As part of the meeting the partners were received by the Alcaide of Elche and we had the opportunity to visit two companies:

• Simplicity Works
• PIKOKAIZEN, Pikolinos Group

where we were able to observe different approaches in the production of footwear, the first based on 3D Bonding Technology, a simplified and more sustainable process, by reducing materials and energy, and the second, despite starting from the traditional production model, is distinguished by the organization of processes allied to technology.