CONTEXT, the international network of experts in advanced textile materials, led by the Catalan cluster of advanced textile materials, AEI TÈXTILS, has been very active during the last semester.

 

On 21^st to 23^rd September, CONTEXT collaborated with the German network SmartTex in the organization of InMotion 2022 – Smart Textiles International Conference, held in Weimar.

 

During the conference, CONTEXT Action Chair, Dr. Ariadna Detrell, presented the main outcomes after 4 years the network was stablished. Other members had an active participation in the event, such as Dr. Daniela Zavec from the Slovenian company Titera and Dr. Dorin Ionesi, from George Asahi Technical University of Iasi.

 

The event also included workshops, co-organized by CONTEXT, dedicated to textile-based electronics, rapid prototyping of inflatable textile structures and embroidery of personalized LED bags.

On 13^th October, some WG5 (smart textiles in sports and wearables) members traveled to Boras in Sweden, to hold its periodic meeting. The meeting was hosted by the University of Boras. During the meeting, the participants discussed on novel resource effective processes for smart textiles and wearables among other topics.

On 26^th and 27^th November, a core group meeting was organized in Casablanca, hosted by the Moroccan partner of the network ESITH. The Action chair and some working group leaders and coleaders worked on the preparation of the roadmap for the advanced textiles’ industry and the last activities to be held during the first quarter of 2023.

The first activity of 2023 has been the celebration of meetings for the 6 working groups and the last Management Committee Meeting. They took place on 12^th and 13^th January, in Lagoa, Azores, Portugal. More than 40 experts, from 21 countries, attended these events, which included visits to the technological centers Fibrenamics Azores, the Regional Civil Engineering Laboratory (LREC) and AÇORGEO.

Last activity of CONTEXT will be a final event, which will be held on 23^rd and 24^th March in Prato and Florence.

 

 

CONTEXT is part of the COST program of the European Commission and aims to join efforts at European level to facilitate the market uptake of new advanced textile materials, reducing the gap between research and industry.

The CONTEXT Management Committee, which was formally constituted on October 2018, is made up of representatives from 35 countries. The network is open to all professionals in the field of research, companies, clusters and end users, who can participate in the different activities that will be carried out during 4 years.

CONTEXT is structured in 6 working groups, 5 of them focused on different applications of advanced textile materials: healthcare/medical, automotive and aeronautics, personal protection, building and living, sports and wearables. The sixth group focus is dissemination and communication.