On 7 and 8 November 2017, the partners of the Erasmus + Fit2Com project met in Madrid to take stock of the outputs achieved so far and to kick-off preparations for the pilot exercise, which will test, refine and validate the course contents to be completed soon. The course will provide essential knowledge on incorporating health and comfort features in the manufacture of footwear designed for the fashion sector.

While the footwear fashion industry is always coming up with original and stylish designs, creating new shapes and experimenting with new materials, there is an increasing demand for comfortable shoes, as evidenced by a consumers’ survey conducted by the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC) last year.

The study showed that 50% of consumers in Europe have difficulties finding the shoes they want, and the main reason is the low offer of stylish comfortable shoes. Many consumers believe that fashion and comfort are incompatible, but the Fit2Com partners are dispelling this misconception by showing that the fashion industry simply needs to invest more in skills in comfortable footwear manufacturing to merge the latest knowledge and expertise on footwear anatomy and fitting, among other features, with fashion trends and popular footwear styles. With the increase of life expectancy, consumers are focused on ensuring a healthy lifestyle from an early age in order to prevent future back or foot problems.

The pilot exercise to test the course contents will start in early 2018

The pilot, to start soon after the completion of the course contents in early 2018, will test the course modules on trainees in collaboration with companies from Germany, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. This will allow the partners to evaluate contents with a view to streamlining and refining them and to provide a robust course which is clear and comprehensive.

The E-learning tool to be used in the pilot will allow trainees to take the course online, enable interaction between trainer and trainee, redirect trainees to additional activities that can consolidate and improve their knowledge, and include PDF versions of the Learning Units to facilitate the learning.

After the pilot exercise, the partners will work towards certifying and validating the profile and training on Comfort and Healthy footwear in their respective countries, which will eventually reinforce footwear comfort skills in companies in order to satisfy their customers’ wishes!