Close collaboration between students and smart textiles experts from companies
We participated in the Erasmus+ project to develop an innovative web-based platform. The core of the project is to support co-creation-based learning (a design-based learning methodology) with a special focus on entrepreneurship. In T-CREPE co-creation cases, different student teams develop solutions for real problems from society or industry together with stakeholders.
The aim of the Erasmus+ project "T-CREPE" (November 2019 - March 2023) was to develop an innovative web-based open-source platform to support co-creation-based learning and coaching in remote learning environments with a focus on entrepreneurship (in textile design technology). The platform is based on constructivist learning theory and the principle of game-based learning.
As an industry partner, we or richter+partner worked on the practical, market-oriented implementation of the co-creation projects in order to qualify students for entering the working world by means of real-life examples.
- Co-development of scenarios for so-called ChoiCo games based on different heating textiles with different variants and selection of a preferred variant
- (Building on this) Implementation of co-creation internships for the manual production of a heating backpack, a heating jacket and on the topic of "digital nomads", including market research, planning, realization, presentation
The consortium consisted of a geographically balanced team of 4 academic partners with a background in co-creation in education, business and textile technology and (virtual) design. Industry was represented by 2 industry clusters and 2 SMEs specialized in ICT in textiles. By applying the Design Thinking methodology, student teams collaborated with stakeholders to playfully develop solutions to real problems from society and/or industry. In the future, this should make coaching and learning more effective, playful and time-efficient for students and teachers.
Two problems in particular needed to be addressed that limit the impact of design projects at the university:
- The enormous amount of time and effort required for appropriate coaching between teachers and learners, and
the commercial underutilization of student ideas for innovative products and/or services. - A brief overview of the selected work https://www.t-crepe.eu/content/publications
In March, the final event of the project took place in Roubaix, France. Here are a few impressions from it: