Scaling Textile Repair and Reuse in European Urban Centres: Systemic Levers

On 5 May 2026, SOLSTICE held its second regional event in Berlin, Germany, organised by Textile ETP with Circular Berlin. The half-day event looked at how textile repair and reuse can be scaled across European cities through cultural, governance and market-driven solutions. It brought together 58 participants from European and local industry, SMEs, research, policy and regional authorities.

Axel’One opened with an overview of SOLSTICE, and Circle Economy then presented the key findings of the Berlin regional study. Circular Berlin presented two parts of its local work. The first was REPAIR DEAL, a pilot repair bonus that makes denim repair more affordable for citizens. The second was its new position paper on the systemic levers needed to scale repair and reuse in cities. A panel moderated by Circular Berlin followed, with speakers from the Municipality of Prato, FixFirst, the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment and the CISUTAC project. They shared lessons on policy, business models and technology, including a semi-automated zipper repair workstation that cuts repair time from over 40 minutes to just a few.

Participants then visited the SHIFT Microfactory at VORN – The Berlin Fashion Hub. In small groups they toured the knitting machines, explored repair and material demonstrators, and joined a SWOT analysis of repair and reuse initiatives with the VORN team.

Photos from the event are available on Textile ETP’s Flickr.