Second and last call out is being launched by WEAR Sustain for its competition, presenting a funding of €2.4m in total for groups of technologists and imaginative to develop together a new generation of principled and feasible techs like wearables and electronic textiles.
Teams are needed to share their concepts online any time from 15th of November 2017 to 15th of January 2018. €50K is set to be the cash prize for each of the selected 26 projects.
During the time of this competition, WEAR sustain will organize events of launch information through out European cities Aarhus, Paris, Guimaraes, Athens and Milan. Web seminars are also being held to help people who are interested in signing up.
Initial Round
21 projects in total were selected to be awarded the first series of funds to grow their concepts after first tournament’s open call in May this year.
Seven organizations from all over Europe have collaborated to launch WEAR Sustain. These seven organizations include London’s Queen Mary University and University of the Creative Arts, UK.
Rachel Lasebikan, QMUL’s Senior Research & Innovation Manager, said “Our first round has funded exciting projects that are addressing issues facing society today. Our awardees are creating prototypes for air pollution, circular design in production and recycling, reuse of electronic components, health, stress, biodegradation, human impact and more. We are looking for new applications that propose valuable solutions to real problems,”
Sustainability and Ethics
This program is looking for applicants from groups of artists, designers, technologists, engineers and businessmen to work together and develop ethically principled and feasible solutions involving wearables, smart and electronic tech textiles. This comprises of wearables and electro textiles that can take data about your body as well as your environment and surroundings.
Appliers are needed to deal will one of the themes of sustainability and ethics for example use, recycle and waste; or data collection and personal privacy during the growth of origination of their prototype. Without consideration of any theme or themes, addressing both the affairs of sustainability and ethics in the propositions is also necessary. Question about personal privacy, ethics and data and its use are at the crux of projects which is covered by WEAR sustain in its project Rationale.
Unparalleled online ecosystem
The Two-year project has initiated an unparalleled online scheme of skillful professionalism in feasible and ethical wearables and business related to it all over Europe. Teams will be provided with help from innovations vouchers and mentors’ expertise as well to help reach out to the market with their ideas.
Infrid Willems, We Connect Data’s CEO and Co-founder said “It is the art of collaboration that gives small and medium sized enterprises a strategic advantage in a competitive marketplace. Businesses that operate within a collaborative network can take decisions and adapt to new trends and customer bases much faster. This new WEAR Sustain ecosystem has grown quickly and now has over 700 actors in the wearables and e-textile field across Europe,”
48 award-receiving projects will be displayed publicly at final showing event in later months of 2018 which will set an example for feasibility and ethics in technological wearables and e-textiles. Collective findings of this project from WEAR Sustain will be showcased a free Sustainability Strategy and Toolkit, to mention the most excellent practices for upcoming creatives and technological groups, sustainable and ethically principled inventive methodologies.
