CRAFTSMANSHIP+ FOSTERING A NEW AND COMPETITIVE APPROACH TO CRAFTS AND SEMI-INDUSTRIAL HIGH ADDED-VALUE SECTORS Erasmus Project

Project Title

CRAFTSMANSHIP+ FOSTERING A NEW AND COMPETITIVE APPROACH TO CRAFTS AND SEMI-INDUSTRIAL HIGH ADDED-VALUE SECTORS

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment

Project Summary

With the rise of Creative Industries in recent years, many places in Europe have seen the rebirth of high added-value crafts and semi-industrial activities. Generally led by young entrepreneurs or already established businesses and crafts persons inspired by ‘new blood’, these new or renewed businesses tend to establish themselves in old (many times abandoned) industrial areas in the city centres or in their outskirts, and create an undeniable impact, contributing to:
• Economic value creation
• Job creation, in particular youth employment
• Urban, social and economic revitalization of degraded city areas

Despite the renewed interest in the crafts and semi-industrial activities, still much can be done in Europe to foster businesses inspired by a new approach to these high added-value sectors, as:
• Most of the crafts and semi-industrial businesses that subsisted throughout the years still lack the vision, the entrepreneurial attitude and the innovation factor
• There is a lack of crafts people to pass-on their knowledge and technical skills
• The apprenticeship system in which the crafts and semi-industrial activities relied on is increasingly difficult to sustain

The project aims to promote new and creative businesses in traditional crafts and semi-industrial business areas – e.g. marquetry, weaving, ceramics, enamel, etc. – anchored in high added-value production techniques, by offering an innovative learning solution for the younger adults entering the labour market and for the existing crafts persons.

For that purpose, the project first looked into the existing apprenticeship approaches and on ways to improve it by using ICT-based learning techniques, thus providing guidance for education and training organizations.

This first step was instrumental to the development of an online platform offering a learning course and hosting a community to connect crafts persons, young people wishing to learn a crafts and business people.

The learning course itself consists of 3 independent modules:

1. PRODUCTION: Specific training in the selected craft or semi-industrial process aiming to convey the knowledge and to develop the basic technical skills a beginner will need to start his/her own production activity. This Module comprises a set of 10 different crafts and semi-industrial activities, particularly relevant to the partner countries involved in the project, from which a given trainee will be able to choose from.

2. ENTERPRISE AND MARKET: Specific training on business development, marketing strategies and business promotion, particularly in the context of crafts and semi-industrial businesses;

3. CREATIVITY AND PRODUCT INNOVATION: Specific training on innovation management, creativity processes and product development aiming at promoting better products with a much stronger added-value, particularly in the context of crafts and semi-industrial businesses.

The modular structure allows the trainees to take only the modules they miss to develop the necessary competences to create or renew their businesses.

Throughout the project, more than 200.000 people are estimated to have been reached at some level. The partnership held events, published numerous articles, held a pilot testing of the platform, presented the project in a radio show and communicated with its target audiences through the project’s website and FB page. In the few months the e-learning was fully implemented, the platform recorded more than 300 users.

The project was a joint effort from 6 partners from 5 countries, under the coordination of the University of Aveiro:
• University of Aveiro (Portugal): Public university with over 15.000 full-time students (graduate and postgraduate), 16 Departments, 4 Polytechnic Schools and various training centres.
• Advancis Business Services Lda (Portugal): consultancy and certified training company committed to the development and sustainable growth of businesses and other organisations.
• Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat du Rhône (CMA69): a public establishment, responsible for representing the general interests of the craft.
• TIBER UMBRIA COMETT EDUCATION PROGRAMME: association whose mission is to promote and develop cooperation between universities and world of work through the implementation of educational, research and consultancy projects.
• Fundación General Universidad de Granada Empresa: Non-Profit HEI Foundation that aims to promote the development of collaboration channels between the University of Granada and its socioeconomic environment
• MILITOS CONSULTING S.A.: company with a strong European profile and international experience in the provision of integrated and innovative consultancy services in a wide spectrum of fields, such as VET, Entrepreneurship, Employment, Agriculture, Culture, 360° Information and Awareness Measures, etc.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 417545,64 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSIDADE DE AVEIRO & Country: PT

Project Partners

• TIBER UMBRIA COMETT EDUCATION PROGRAMME
• FUNDACION GENERAL UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA-EMPRESA
• CHAMBRE DE METIERS ET DE L’ARTISANAT DU RHONE
• ADVANCIS-BUSINESS SERVICES, LDA
• MILITOS SYMVOULEUTIKI A.E.