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

Project Information

Tracks4Crafts

Grant agreement ID: 101094507

DOI

10.3030/101094507

EC signature date 6 December 2022

Start date 1 March 2023

End date 28 February 2027

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 3 984 711,25

EU contribution

€ 3 984 711,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Tracks4Crafts (Transforming crafts knowledge for a sustainable, inclusive and economically viable heritage in Europe)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Tracks4Crafts aims to revolutionize how traditional craft knowledge and know how (TCK) is valued and transmitted, in order to boost its societal and economic importance while aligning it with a forward-looking heritage approach in Europe. The project is specifically focusing on three main goals:
1. Reviving Crafts: This involves preserving TCK and supporting communities to sustain its transmission.
2. Valorising Crafts: We will highlight the contribution of TCK to the economy and society, making it more relevant and transferable.
3. Validating Crafts: Analysing and improving the professional, economic and societal recognition of craftspeople and TCK.
The project departs from the observation that crafts are cherished as part of ‘intangible cultural heritage’, but struggle to find their place in a modern economy and society driven by high-tech and mass production. With a focus on how TCK is transmitted, we address this by analyzing and reworking the mechanisms and tools with which crafts are assessed, evaluated and certified in a range of different economic and societal contexts.
Tracks4Crafts will specifically realise the following:
1. Transforming Learning
2. Developing Digital Tools
3. Producing Valuation Tools
4. Building Networks
Central to our research are eight local pilot cases across several European countries, from different craft traditions and working with different materials. They will experiment with new tools and formats for the transmission of TCK and ‘pilot’ the new tools, instruments and models to be developed. The experiments will typically take place in open and collaborative spaces and by using new and digital technologies.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

So far, the field of gravity of the work has been on Work Packages 2, 3, and 4.

WP2 has first developed a conceptual framework (the craft ecosystem) and a methodology to gather data (Milestones 2.1 and 2.2). Central to the latter are webinars and field work. Nine online webinars were organised with the eight pilot cases, craftspeople, experts in new technologies, trainers and policy-makers to gather information on the transmission and transformation of crafts knowledge across and beyond Europe, and to build a knowledge community. Field research consists of both interviews and group interviews. It involved visiting pilot cases physically as well as organizing online meetings to collect insights on craftspeople, their craft and the systems involved in framing, safeguarding and transforming TCK. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, recorded and synthesized to create detailed reports for each field mission. Document analysis, along with qualitative questionnaires for policy and legal experts, delivered complementary data collection for writing the deliverables, one of which has already been completed:
Deliverable D2.1 provides insights into the state of the art of TCK transmission, incorporating examples from Europe and beyond. The report sheds light on how TCK is valued and transmitted and the impact thereof on policy and legal contexts. Overall, the report aims to improve our understanding of TCK transmission and associated ecosystems as a basis for improving valuation systems and mechanisms and for enhancing the value of TCK in different contexts.
Based on the same methodology, WP2 is also on schedule to submit Deliverable 2.6: Report on models of TCK transmission and transformation ecosystems (M14).
Input for D2.2 will be provided by data from the field work and by three specific surveys, one for policy experts and one for legal experts.

WP3 has operationalised its tasks through the organisation of (1) a series of separate workshops organised by the pilot cases (Workshop 1) and (2) a joint workshop in Firenze (Workshop 2). This was done in close collaboration with WP4.
Workshop 1 was a series of workshops organised by the pilot cases with the support of Worlds Crafts Council Europe to consider the various needs, expectations, opportunities and challenges which the pilot cases face in building and transmitting TCK as well as how they are currently supporting the broader craft ecosystem. It was hosted by the pilot cases themselves and involved local experts and stakeholders.
Workshop 2 took place on 15/16 November 2023, in Florence, Italy, where all of the pilot cases came together in-person to work further on the outcomes of Workshop 1 and start to refine operational plans of the experiments with the help of expert guidance. This resulted in D3.1 (Report on outcomes of Workshop 2, M8) and in input for the Operational Plan per Pilot Case (D4.1).
Also tasks 3.1 and 3.3 have been launched during period 1.

The lead of WP4 (WAAG) has especially focused on steering and supporting the Operational Plans of each pilot case.
The Pilot Operational Plans (D4.1 Operational plan per pilot case, M12) are foundational documents for the Tracks4Crafts pilots, detailing their objectives, engagement with key project concepts (craftspeople, cultural heritage, digital technology, experimentation), and potential risks. They were created in an iterative process, allowing pilots to leverage knowledge and feedback from other pilots, project partners and experts to shape a plan that helps them best achieve their goals and the goals of the project overall. In addition to the workshops mentioned under WP3, this process involved a questionnaire for pilots, which was developed in collaboration between WP4 and WP3 and with input and feedback from WP2.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

It is obviously too early to present real results already, but it is clear that the starting points and principles of our project are confirmed. The analysis of the craft ecosystems not only makes it clear that the differences between countries and regions are very large and that TCK is valued and valorised in many different contexts in many different ways, but, above all, that most of these contexts do not or hardly promote the transmission and valorisation of TCK in a systematic way at all. It is generally limited to initiatives and tools that are either developed from a heritage logic or are inadequate because they are ad hoc or one-dimensional. They are then limited, for instance, to a specific niche in the educational landscape or to a purely economic logic. An integrated or structural approach is absent, not only at the European level but also at the national level. At the same time, the fragmented and local nature of specific educational formats or of specific classification or certification systems notwithstanding, the specific strategies, tools and practices revealed so far offer many starting points for the development of a more integrated and structural approach. The dynamics in the pilot cases are such that much can be learned from their experiences and experiments – which will be of great value for other pilot cases and for our stakeholders in general. Our project will certainly reap the benefits of this in the next year.