Small But Perfectly Formed
x Impact Hub Lisbon
2022
Lisbon (PT)
Facilitation | Community Activation
System Dialogue
Action
Dialogue
Highlights
Small But Perfectly Formed is a 30-month (January 2021 - July 2023) collaborative project co-funded by the European Commission’s COSME program.
Departing from the idea that systemic change within the fashion industry will come not from any one place, but through collaboration, education, and innovation within the SME (Small Medium Enterprise) ecosystem, Impact Hub launched a 30-month (January 2021 - July 2023) project to accelerate small and medium fashion enterprises to transition to circular and sustainable models.
Among other actions taking place in the different Impact Hub locations, the Impact Hub office in Lisbon organised a 2-day networking event where fashion entrepreneurs and enthusiasts could meet the 38 small businesses selected to participate in the acceleration program. Its aim was to develop a network of stakeholders from across the industry that can exchange knowledge, learnings and best practices.
The Dialogue Lab was in charge of facilitating the exchanges, organising a series of workshops to collectively prototype solutions through dialogue, ease the connection between participants and set the right tone for new potential collaborations to emerge.
The Challenge: To set the first stone of a future network of collaboration
The Small But Perfectly Formed network facilitates cross-border collaboration which supports the transfer of knowledge, skills, support, and best practice. Members can access a vast library of tools and resources, plus workshops, networking, mentoring and more to level up sustainable and circular business models.
As a first setting stone, the program organised a series of in-person meetings with the SMEs selected to take part in the accelerator. From designers and brands, producers, suppliers, fashion technology and innovation companies, fashion communications and media companies, textile recycling and waste management initiatives, to fashion councils, fashion associations, fashion weeks, incubators and accelerators across fashion and the creative industries, creative hubs and innovation labs, community platforms and activist movements, fashion media, local and national governments and policymakers, any individual or organisation could join the event.
The challenge was clear: How to break the ice between participants and ease the communication all together? How to connect easily? How to collectively prototype solutions? How to host and hold the space for a successful event where knowledge exchange and connection are key?
A 2-day event, at the same time intimate and open to the broader community
Impact Hub Lisbon’s proposal was to host a 2-day event, that would have an intimate moment with the 30+ participants from across Europe on July 28th and 29th and an event open to the broader ecosystem in the afternoon of the second day.
The whole event aimed to “accelerate the accelerators” by working alongside business support organisations to embed circularity, social and environmental sustainability into support and showcasing initiatives. At the same time, its goal was to ‘accelerate the policymakers’ by mapping the policy landscape that affects sustainable and circular fashion SMEs, ensuring a lasting impact is made across the fashion industry from start to finish.
The results: A showcase of local talent
For the first day, The Dialogue Lab set the tone by hosting the program's introduction and agenda with a participant mapping session, followed by a series of interactive workshops. The group was then divided into smaller teams to work around real challenges through dialogue, building concrete solutions and collective peer-knowledge. In between all different workshops and sprints The Dialogue Lab wove between moments of individual exchange and energizers for building a collective group feeling.
On the second day, The Dialogue Lab facilitated an inner/outer circle experience and an Open Space for real-case proposals. In the afternoon all the attendees were invited to participate in the roundtable talk “Made in Portugal” and what it means to be an active country player in the current turning point of the fashion sector. Throughout the event, there was a showcase of local talent: the Transparency Fair, and a Clothes Swap where attendees had the chance to swap up to 3 items of clothing to the sounds of DJ Lizatron, plus food and drinks.
