With this new initiative, MedWaves is extending the European Week for Waste Reduction to the southern Mediterranean. This year’s edition focuses on the textile sector and will reward 5 action developers with 2.900-euro vouchers.

Are you an NGO from the southern Mediterranean and you would like to develop a media campaign to propose the reuse of clothes? Are you an educational entity and you would like to develop awareness-raising activities on textile consumption with schools? You have other ideas of actions to develop around sustainable and circular textiles? This call is for you! 

MedWaves is thrilled to announce the first edition of the Euro-Med Weeks for Waste Reduction! This edition, focusing on sustainable textiles, includes a call for action developers opening today and aiming at rewarding the most outstanding actions carried out in the southern Mediterranean region. The 5 selected action developers will be awarded a voucher of 2.900 euros to cover the costs linked to the implementation of the action they propose to develop if they win the contest. 

What is the Euro-Med Weeks for Waste Reduction? 

The Euro-Med Weeks for Waste Reduction is a raising-awareness campaign on waste prevention in the Mediterranean region, highly inspired by the consolidated experience and results of the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR). The campaign is led by 2 organisations with a solid network and expertise on circular economy and on the Mediterranean area:  ACR+ and MedWaves, the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre for SCP. This First edition is entirely funded by the EU through the SwitchMed Programme.  

The Euro-Med Weeks for Waste Reduction (EMWWR) will contribute to catalyze actual behaviours toward more sustainable consumption and production patterns, aligning to the key objectives of the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) while reflecting the social, economic, and political specificity the Southern Mediterranean brings about.  

The Thematic Focus of the 2022 edition will be Circular and Sustainable Textiles, in alignment with the EWWR 2022 thematic focus. 

Who can apply to the call? 

The call for actions is open to action developers that are legally established and respond exclusively to one of the following categories:  

• NGO/Civil Society Organization 
• Educational Establishment 
• Public Entity 

The action developers should be legally based in one of the countries in which SwitchMed is implemented, namely: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia. 

The action developers should, through their activities, engage youth (18 to 35 y.o.) in the implementation of waste prevention and treatment actions in the field of Textiles. They should also pay special attention to gender balance. 

The EMWWR Action proposals need to respond to one of the following categories:  

1. Reduce: reducing the amount of clothing we buy, offering advice on how to avoid or reduce textile waste and/or on the environmental impact of the fashion industry in the Southern Med area.  

1. Reuse/Repair: Actions that involve youth in promoting the reuse of clothes instead of buying new ones and to remind the public that clothes can have a second life (repair); actions that promote delaying the purchase of new clothes by opting for repair and/or reuse.  

1. Recycle/Donate: Actions that involve youth in promoting the recycling of clothes that can no longer be used and on bringing textile waste to the appropriate recycling facility; and/or actions that promote the donation of clothing to charities/organizations.  

How can I apply to the call for action? 

From today (3rd November) until Wednesday 30 November 2022, action developers are invited to submit action proposals that mobilize youth (18 to 35 y.o.) in the prevention and treatment of textile waste in the southern Mediterranean area.  

The action developers must submit their applications through this page:  https://ewwr.eu/take-part/euro-med-weeks-for-waste-reduction/ 

This initiative will contribute to implement one of the measures of the set of regional measures to support green and circular business and strengthen the demand for sustainable product and services, adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention at COP22.