Vigonza (PD – Italy), 21–23 April 2026 – From 21 to 23 April, Politecnico Calzaturiero hosted the fourth European workshop of the METASKILLS4TCLF – Alliance for Cooperation on Digital and Circular Economy Skills for the TCLF sector across Europe project, bringing together in Vigonza partners and educators from several European countries to continue their joint work on strengthening digital and sustainability-related skills in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear (TCLF) sectors.

Funded by the Erasmus+ programme, the METASKILLS4TCLF project aims to support the green and digital transitions of the sector through the development of innovative training methodologies, immersive digital tools and micro-credentials designed to meet the concrete needs of companies, schools and training providers.

The workshop opened on Tuesday, 21 April with a project recap session, focusing on the presentation of the materials developed so far, including e-books, VR/AR content and the results of the piloting phases. The day also revisited the outcomes of previous meetings held in Prato, Igualada and Pirmasens, providing participants with a shared overview of the project’s progress and the feedback collected during the different validation stages. Discussions focused on lessons learned and on the potential application of the developed content across different education and training levels.

The second day, Wednesday 22 April, was dedicated to operational design. Following an introductory masterclass on prototyping and assessment tools, participants worked in groups to design a practical lesson based on METASKILLS4TCLF materials. The activity focused on creating hands-on learning experiences, identifying expected outputs and defining appropriate assessment criteria. Work was developed around realistic scenarios related to the TCLF sectors, with the aim of transforming theoretical content into concrete, flexible and easily transferable teaching tools.

Participants also continued developing assessment models aligned with the defined learning outcomes and target levels, creating activity proposals and prototypes to be presented during the final session. Throughout the day, additional masterclasses were held on 3D printing, artificial intelligence and other digital tools applied to education and training.

The day concluded with a technical visit to Industria del Design (IDD), a modern and cutting-edge footwear company, where participants explored a concrete example of immersive content development and digital applications for innovation in design.

The final day, Thursday 23 April, was devoted to the review of the projects developed by the groups, the presentation of the final prototypes and the second validation phase of the e-books, which made it possible to collect further observations and suggestions from the partners. The four presentations produced, one for each sector, illustrated the activities designed and their corresponding assessment methods, offering a concrete overview of the solutions developed during the workshop.

The meeting concluded with a final closing session and shared discussion, during which participants reflected on the results achieved, future perspectives and next steps for the project, confirming the value of European collaboration in developing training tools that can support digitalisation and sustainability processes in the TCLF industries.

Hosting the workshop further strengthened Politecnico Calzaturiero’s role as a reference point for technical education and innovation in the footwear and leather goods sector, underlining the importance of European cooperation in building training tools for the future of the TCLF sectors.