The three-day cooperation program “CODES Creative Residency” organized by the Business & Cultural Development Centre (KEPA) in the framework of the CODES, Co-Design for Sustainability Project, was an exceptional success. The program was hosted at the new premises of KEPA in Thessaloniki, at the Hellenic Design Centre, from June 17 to 19, 2024.

After the open invitation initially addressed by the three partners of the project, Enter Koprivnica, Romagna Tech, and KEPA, to the Fashion & Design professionals active in Croatia, Italy, and Greece, 15 designers were finally selected to join the program. The participants had the opportunity to undergo a unique experience of networking and collaboration, to use the digital tool “CODES Platform“, in order to utilize co-design practices and promote their products.

More precisely, on the first day of the CODES Creative Residency, the representative of the lead partner Enter Koprivnica, Ms. Vesna Vrhovec, presented the milestones and evolutionary progress of the project, while well-known speakers shared with the beneficiaries, “key” points for the fashion and textile industry, regarding sustainability, new trends, alternative business models that can be used by the participants as a first step in selecting ideas and opportunities for international cooperation. The themes developed and highlighted during the first day:
– Successful business models in the fashion & design industry by Ms. Maria Vytinidou, Founder & CEO, Athensfashionclub Fashion School
– Sustainable Fashion by Ms. Arabella Salonikidou, Fashion Designer & Stylist, Zero_waste_Thessaloniki Team Coordinator
– Digitization and new technology trends in the Fashion & Design industry by Mr. Tasos Papazoglou Halikias, Researcher, UX Engineer, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas / Information Technologies Institute
– Fashion trends forecasting by Ms. Venetia Koutsou, Fashion Designer, Professor at the Creative Design & Clothing Department of the International University of Greece
– Introduction to the Design Thinking Methodology and Co-Creation Practices by KEPA and HDC facilitators, Popi Oikonomou, Nikos Rovatsos, Ylenia Orfanidou

The second day provided more opportunities for interaction and “hands-on” experiences, such as the presentation of the CODES digital platform, developed by Romagna Tech, our project partner from Italy. The representative of Romagna Tech, Ms. Silvia Mercuriali presented the platform giving participants the ability to:
* practice, create an account on the digital tool the CODESplatform.eu
* navigate and explore the platform and
* get accustomed to its functions and possibilities of networking, collaboration, and promotion of their products.

Afterwards, even more interactive co-design tools and teamwork followed, through which the participants broadened their horizons by knowing tools of the Design Thinking methodology through a human-centered approach, in order to develop new ideas (brainstorming), co-create fashion products (co-creation), and showcase their creations internationally.

The third and final day of the CODES Residency unfolded at a pace of inspiration and creativity, with participants utilizing co-design tools and working in teams, managing to:
– transform their ideas into fashion products by giving a distinctive feature and a story behind each product (storytelling),
– co-create prototypes (prototyping),
– present their creations to the project partners (pitching),
so that their final creations be included in the catalog of fashion items, which will be published at the CODES Festival, the final event of the CODES project!

Within the framework of the CODES Residency and in cooperation with KEPA, one of the Keynote Speakers, Mrs. Maria Vytinidou, appeared on a broadcast show of the national TV Channel ERT3 and made the project known at a local level.

All project partners, Enter Koprivnica, Romagna Tech, and KEPA delivered a very successful event in the light of co-design within fashion sustainability!!

The project was funded by the European Union (Creative Europe Program).