A total of 118 organisations have signed a new Pact for Skills that Europe's main representative bodies for textiles, clothing, leather and footwear have drawn up. As part of an initiative promoted by the European Commission and by the umbrella organisations for textiles, clothing, leather and footwear in Europe, the pact calls for recognition of a "skills challenge" in these industries, and for a commitment to address this. Industry bodies involved (COTANCE for leather, CEC for footwear and EURATEX for textiles and clothing) want companies throughout Europe to address the issue by investing in reskilling and upskilling workers, integrating green and digital skills and improving the attractiveness of their industries to potential new employees. Employers, social partners, national and regional authorities, plus education and training providers will all be involved in fulfilling these ambitions. Benefits that signatories to the pact will receive include networking, guidance and resources offered by the European Commission; this assistance should be available from the early part of 2022. The Freiberg Leather Days conference will take place for the tenth time this year. The conference will go ahead on May 11 and 12 in Chemnitz. Organisers have issued a call for papers for the event, which will take place in person in the Chemnitz Congress Centre and, at the same time, be available online for those unable or not allowed to travel. Germany's leather technicians and chemists association (VGCT) and research organisation FILK are co-organisers of the event. They have invited experts, researchers and other specialists from the global leather industry to "play an active part in shaping the technical content". Specifically, they said they hope to receive submissions for prospective presentations on subjects including new technologies for leather production, advances in analytics, the use of sustainable raw materials, automation, new trends in finished leather products and Industry 4.0. Those who would like to speak at the event need to submit their ideas by March 28.
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