Terms & Conditions

Belgian Textile Awards 2027 — Textileawards.be

Last updated: 15 October 2026

1. Organisers

The Belgian Textile Awards 2027 (the “Awards”) are an initiative of Textirama and Fedustria (together, the “Organisers”).

The Awards aim to recognise and encourage innovation, technological progress, industrial excellence and design in the textile sector, including innovations originating outside the traditional textile industry.

For questions regarding the Awards or these Terms & Conditions, please contact:

Contact: info@textirama.be or https://www.fedustria.be/contact/
Website: www.textileawards.be

The full legal names, registered addresses and company registration numbers of the Organisers will be provided in the final published version of these Terms & Conditions.

2. Scope and acceptance

These Terms & Conditions apply to the use of Textileawards.be, the expression-of-interest form, the submission of entries and participation in the Awards.

By registering an interest or submitting an entry, participants acknowledge that they have read and understood these Terms & Conditions.

The detailed eligibility requirements, submission deadlines, assessment criteria, award categories and any additional rules for the 2027 edition will be communicated through the official website or the official submission documentation. Participants must comply with the applicable requirements.

3. Eligibility and participation

The Awards are open to Belgian innovators from within and beyond the textile industry, including companies, start-ups, researchers, research teams, designers, entrepreneurs, students and other individuals or organisations developing relevant ideas, products, processes, technologies or applications.

The Organisers reserve the right to determine eligibility and to request reasonable information or documentation necessary to verify an entry.

Submitting an expression of interest does not constitute a formal entry, guarantee acceptance or confer any right to participate in the Awards. Formal participation is subject to the submission procedure and requirements communicated by the Organisers.

4. Confidentiality and protection of innovation

The protection of participants’ ideas and confidential information is a fundamental commitment of the Belgian Textile Awards.

The Organisers recognise that innovation may involve commercially sensitive information, unpublished research, technical know-how, designs, inventions and other intellectual assets.

4.1 Strict confidentiality

Any non-public innovation idea, concept, invention, technical information, design, research result, business information, document or other material disclosed to the Organisers or the Awards jury in connection with an entry shall be treated as strictly confidential (“Confidential Information”).

The Organisers undertake to handle Confidential Information under strict confidentiality obligations, equivalent to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and to take all reasonable and appropriate technical, organisational, contractual and procedural measures to protect it against unauthorised access, use, copying, disclosure or distribution.

The Organisers shall ensure that jury members and any other persons granted access to Confidential Information are bound by appropriate written confidentiality obligations before receiving access.

4.2 Limited purpose and restricted access

Confidential Information may be accessed and used only to the extent necessary to administer the Awards, assess entries, verify eligibility, select winners and carry out the associated award process.

Access shall be restricted to authorised persons who need the information for these purposes. The Organisers shall not sell, license, commercially exploit or otherwise use a participant’s Confidential Information for their own commercial benefit or for the benefit of a third party.

Confidential Information shall not be shared with sponsors, supporting partners, other participants, the media or the public without the participant’s prior written permission, except where disclosure is required by law or a competent authority.

Where legally permitted, the participant will be informed of any legally required disclosure in advance.

4.3 Protection by appropriate measures

The Organisers undertake to protect Confidential Information by all reasonable and appropriate means, including access restrictions, confidentiality commitments, secure handling and storage, and measures designed to prevent unauthorised disclosure.

Confidential Information shall be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes of the Awards and any applicable legal obligations, subject to appropriate safeguards.

4.4 No transfer of intellectual property

Participants retain ownership of their ideas, inventions, designs, know-how, copyright, patents, trade secrets and all other intellectual property rights in their submissions.

Submitting an entry does not transfer ownership of any intellectual property to the Organisers, the jury, sponsors or supporting partners. No licence or right to exploit a participant’s intellectual property is granted merely by submitting an entry.

The Organisers will not claim ownership of, or a right to commercialise, an innovation solely because it has been submitted to the Awards.

Participants are responsible for taking any additional steps they consider necessary to protect their intellectual property, including patent filings, design registrations or other appropriate measures, before publicly disclosing potentially protectable information.

4.5 Publicity and consent

No confidential technical or commercial information, unpublished innovation details or other Confidential Information will be published, displayed or communicated publicly without the participant’s prior written permission.

If an entry is selected for an award or public presentation, the Organisers may request separate written permission to publish agreed information, such as the participant’s name, organisation, a non-confidential project description, photographs or other approved materials.

Any publicity permission shall be limited to the information and uses expressly agreed. Refusal to authorise the publication of Confidential Information shall not, by itself, be treated as permission to disclose it.

4.6 Participant responsibility

Participants should clearly identify any information they consider confidential when submitting a formal entry and should avoid including unnecessary personal data or information belonging to third parties without authorisation.

Participants must have the necessary rights and permissions to submit the materials they provide. They should not disclose another party’s confidential information or infringe third-party intellectual property rights.

The Organisers may request clarification or a revised version of a submission where necessary to address confidentiality, eligibility or legal concerns.

4.7 Limits and legal protection

The Organisers will take appropriate measures to protect Confidential Information, but no system or process can guarantee absolute security in every circumstance.

Nothing in these Terms & Conditions excludes or limits any rights, remedies or obligations that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law.

The confidentiality commitments in this section are intended to protect participants and their innovations. They do not replace any additional NDA that may be agreed in writing for a particular submission or collaboration.

5. Intellectual property and originality

Participants represent that they are entitled to submit their entries and that doing so does not knowingly infringe the intellectual property rights, confidentiality obligations or other legal rights of third parties.

Where an entry involves several contributors, participants are responsible for ensuring that the relevant rights and permissions have been obtained.

The Organisers do not acquire ownership of the submitted innovation through participation in the Awards.

Participants are encouraged to assess the implications of public disclosure for any patentable invention or other intellectual property before authorising publicity. The Organisers do not provide legal or intellectual property advice.

6. Jury and assessment

Entries will be evaluated by a jury appointed for the Awards. The jury will assess entries according to the criteria and procedure communicated for the relevant edition.

The jury may consider factors including originality, innovation potential, technological or design merit, relevance, feasibility, industrial applicability and potential impact, as applicable to the award category.

The Organisers may carry out administrative checks and request additional information where reasonably necessary to assess an entry.

The jury’s decision is final and binding. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, participants accept that the jury’s assessment and final award decisions are not subject to appeal, reconsideration, complaint or challenge through the Awards procedure.

No participant shall be entitled to compensation, reimbursement or damages merely because their entry is not shortlisted, is not selected or does not receive an award.

This provision does not exclude rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be waived, including any mandatory rights available under applicable law.

7. Awards and funding

The Awards may include financial support, including the advertised €10,000 in seed funding, subject to the eligibility requirements, award conditions and any additional terms communicated by the Organisers.

The exact recipient, amount, payment arrangements, conditions of use, timing and any reporting obligations will be specified in the applicable award documentation.

Participation does not guarantee funding or any other benefit. No payment or benefit is due unless an award has been formally granted and the applicable conditions have been satisfied.

The Organisers reserve the right to clarify award arrangements where necessary, provided that they do so in accordance with applicable law and the published rules.

8. Withdrawal and disqualification

A participant may withdraw an expression of interest or entry by contacting info@textirama.be.

The Organisers may reject or disqualify an entry where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the entry is ineligible, materially misleading, plagiarised, submitted without the necessary rights, or in breach of these Terms & Conditions or applicable law.

Where appropriate, the participant may be given an opportunity to clarify or correct an issue before a decision is made.

Withdrawal or disqualification does not affect the continuing confidentiality obligations applicable to information already received.

9. Website content and availability

The Organisers endeavour to ensure that the information on Textileawards.be is accurate and up to date. However, information may be corrected, updated or supplemented as the Awards develop.

The Organisers may modify the website, submission process, dates or practical arrangements where reasonably necessary. Material changes affecting participants will be communicated through appropriate channels where practicable.

The website is provided on an “as available” basis. To the extent permitted by law, the Organisers shall not be liable for temporary interruptions, technical errors or unavailability, except where such exclusion is prohibited by applicable law.

Nothing in this section limits the Organisers’ express confidentiality commitments or any other mandatory legal obligations.

10. Personal data

Personal data collected through the website or in connection with the Awards will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Policy published on Textileawards.be.

Personal data will be used only for the purposes described in that policy and will not be sold or used for unrelated marketing purposes.

11. Applicable law and jurisdiction

These Terms & Conditions are governed by Belgian law, subject to any mandatory provisions of law that apply to a participant.

Any dispute shall be submitted to the competent courts in accordance with applicable law. Nothing in these Terms & Conditions restricts any mandatory jurisdiction or legal protection available to a participant.

12. Contact

For questions about these Terms & Conditions, confidentiality or participation in the Awards, please contact:

Belgian Textile Awards 2027
Email: info@textirama.be, info@fedustria.be

Website: www.textileawards.be