Materially

This innovator got selected for Phase 2!

Solution Name: CIFORCE-F: Circular Footwear Resource Finder

Target Challenge: Enabling the footwear industry to increase the use of sustainable materials and processes via an innovative digital tool.

Digital platform of sustainable materials effectively enabling the transition to circular economy in the footwear industry.

Solution Description

CIFORCE-F answers the need for a digital solution to support the reduction of the environmental impact of the footwear industry starting from design and manufacturing. The digital platform is a comprehensive, one-stop tool that can be easily used by company employees and shared with multiple industry actors. By offering a reliable access to information on sustainable materials and technologies, CIFORCE-F supports and accelerates the sector’s circular shift. It also helps spread the knowledge of what sustainability is with reference to materials, addressing misconceptions and promoting a data-driven approach to sustainability.

CIFORCE-F encompasses a database of sustainable materials, technologies, and providers of circular resources from design to EOL. Information is organised by sustainability features and manufacturers’ contacts. It also lists other suppliers of sustainability-related services and technologies and supports plug-ins to explain the main sustainability concepts that apply to the footwear industry. Search filters answer the specific needs of the footwear industry (e.g. by components). While merging technical, industry and social expertise of the actors involved, CIFORCE-F pilot training and up-skilling of disadvantaged workers aiming at their reintroduction in the work market.

Programme Results

Follow the innovator’s journey through the SoTecIn Factory funding & support programme.

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Stepping into Innovation: Materially Insights from SoTecIn Factory Phase 1

Social and Technological Innovation Factory for Low-Carbon and Circular Industrial Value Chains – SoTecIn Factory is a new project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme.