Project name: Transforming crafts knowledge for a sustainable, inclusive and economically viable heritage in Europe

Project acronym: Tracks4Crafts

Call: HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-01 (Grant agreement No. 101094507)

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Project implementation period:  01.03.2023.-28.02.2027.

Project duration: 48 months

Total budget: 3 984 711.25 EUR

Project coordinator: Universiteit Antwerpen (Belgium)

Web page: https://tracks4crafts.eu/

Project partners:

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France)

Stichting Waag Society (Netherlands)

Ortega Nuere Maria Cristina (Spain)

World Crafts Council Europe Company Ltd. (Ireland)

Centro studi Cultura Sviluppo (Italy)

Latvijas Kultūras akadēmija (Latvia)

Politecnico di Milano (Italy)

Textilmiðstöð Íslands og Þekkingarsetur á Blönduósi (Iceland)

Het Domein Bokrijk vzw (Belgium)

Asociatia Semne Cusute (Romania)

Mouseio Technis Metaxiou (Greece)

MX3D bv (Netherlands)

Artex S. Cons.R.L (Italy)

Onl'fait (Switzerland)

The aim of the project:

Tracks4Crafts examines and transforms the transmission of traditional crafts knowledge (TCK) to enhance the societal and economic valuation of crafts and align them with a future-oriented heritage approach in Europe. As intangible cultural heritage (ICH), crafts and TCK can be seen as resources for competitiveness, innovation, sustainable development and quality of life. Yet the tools, formats and instruments needed to foster the transmission and employment of TCK are lagging behind, which hampers the full development of its potential. Our objectives are to enhance and transform the transmission of TCK for a more effective economic as well as societal valuation of crafts. This is achieved in 4 Tracks, in which we (1) transform learning processes in physical spaces in which craftspeople collaborate (in hi-tech environments, including fab-labs and maker spaces etc.), (2) develop new digital technologies that enhance and transform transmission of TCK, (3) produce tools and instruments which enable capturing and optimizing the value of the produced TCK (business modeling, certification, and property protection), and (4) create networks to foster and disseminate the societal and economic value of TCK (e.g. through the CHARTER alliance (European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance)). The output is based on experiments in 8 craft ecosystems in which we develop and test formats for learning and tools for certification and validation in which (1) the economic and cultural barriers related to traditional TCK-transmission are addressed (i.a. the lengthy nature of learning, the fear of the craft getting lost…) and (2) the full potential of technology is tapped (i.a. for turning embodied TCK in open-source knowledge). To ensure that the solutions bridge the heritage perspective and the economic and societal needs and that our solutions are shared and transferable, our approach is deeply interdisciplinary and based on processes of multi-stakeholder co creation (including action research).

Additional information:

project coordinator at the Latvian Academy of Culture Anita Vaivade (anita.vaivade@lka.edu.lv)

News

The first face-to-face meeting of the Tracks4Crafts project

18.04.2023

On March 23, 2023, at the University of Antwerp and on March 24 at the Bokrijk Museum (one of the partners involved in the project), located about an hour's drive from Antwerp, took place the first joint meeting of all participants of the Tracks4Crafts project, aimed at getting to know each other and in-depth discussions about project's achievable results, methodology, and communication. For two days was presented each of the participating organizations, discussed the project goals and the distribution of work packages, and were get to know the experimental / pilot projects planned in the project, as well as organized a Zoom meeting with the project supervisor from the EC.

Within the framework of the meeting, separate conversations took place with various colleagues from the range of organizations represented in the project, getting to know the colleagues' experience and motivation for participating in the project. There was also the opportunity to meet and talk in person with the leaders of the work packages in which several deliverables are planned for the Latvian Academy of Culture - Francesca Cominelli, representative of the Sorbonne I University, and Cristina Ortega Nuer, representative of 3W Cultural Research, Training and Knowledge Transfer, a consulting company operating in Spain.

The meeting as a whole provided a valuable opportunity to get to know the partners involved in the project and the project managers in person and to discuss the future progress of the project in more detail.