The online course Green VETRINE: an introduction to sustainable garment design and manufacturing It is establishing itself as one of the leading tools in Europe for introducing a sustainable approach to garment design and manufacturing. It is being developed within the framework of the European project. VETRINE, co-financed by the program Erasmus + of the European Union, the course has already attracted 270 participants in the various countries that are part of the initiative, of which 201 have completed successfully completed the entire training program.
In this context, the answer in Spain It has been especially significant. The Spanish version of the course adds 96 people registered, with 84 participants who have completed all modules and 3 certifications Issued in connection with the iCert program. The results are complemented by figures from the other countries involved in the pilot:
Overall, almost 60 people have already obtained a European certification associated with the course, which confirms the growing interest in rigorous training in sustainability applied to fashion, both in the educational field and in companies.
Green VETRINE is a free online course developed by European training entities specialising in textiles and clothing. Its main goal is to present, in a clear and applicable way, the key concepts of responsible garment production, the environmental impact of raw materials, the relationship between textile engineering and sustainability, and the fundamentals of entrepreneurship in sustainable fashion. In addition, it introduces learners to emerging tools such as the Digital Product Passport, which will be shaping the sector’s agenda in the coming years.
The programme is structured into five chapters with a total of twenty learning units, combining videos, support materials and self-assessment tests. It is aimed primarily at VET students and higher-education students in fashion design, but it is also useful for SMEs in the textile and clothing sector that want to update the skills of their teams with a “green” focus. The course is available in seven languages (Spanish, English, Portuguese, Greek, Bulgarian, French and Lithuanian) and offers a European certificate of achievement upon completion of all modules.
The course is part of the project VETRINE – Vocational Education & Training towards re-inventing apparel procedures, which brings together universities, vocational training centres, and business organisations from several European countries with a clear mission: reducing the environmental impact of garment production through training.
The initiative works in two complementary directions: on the one hand, it seeks to identify the real needs of the labour market in terms of sustainability in clothing manufacturing; on the other hand, it aims to design specific training modules that help incorporate these “green” criteria into design, material selection, production processes and, also, business models. VETRINE aims to be a bridge between the classroom and the business world, bringing students closer to the realities of the sector and offering companies concrete resources to move towards more responsible practices.
In this ecosystem, Texfor – Confederación de la Industria Textil participates as a project partner, contributing the perspective of the Spanish textile value chain and acting as a link between training centres, companies and sectoral stakeholders. Texfor helps to align the course content with the real needs of the industry and to encourage the participation of students, teachers and professionals in the different project activities.
The strong results of the Spanish version of the Green VETRINE course, together with the high completion rates in countries such as Bulgaria and Portugal, show that there is a clear demand for quality training in sustainability. They also confirm that the transition towards more responsible fashion inevitably involves investing in new skills, new perspectives and new ways of understanding garment design and manufacturing.