MANIFESTO TOWARDS A EUROPEAN STRATEGY FOR CRAFT
Mad’in Europe signed the «World Crafts Council Manifesto”, a six-point action plan to ensure the survival and development of craft for future generations.
World Crafts Council Europe, its members and partners are the voice of millions of craft professionals, studios and manufacturers across Europe. Craft is rich in its diversity representing hundreds of specialised trades.
Textile, fashion, ceramics, glass, metal, jewellery and woodworking are well known, but there are many more that are unique and distinctly linked to heritage, territory, culture and tradition.
To mark its 40th anniversary, World Crafts Council Europe undertook a survey of its members to ascertain challenges facing the crafts sector. The results of the survey provide the basis for the development of this ‘Crafting Europe Manifesto and Action Plan’, presented on the occasion of Révélations at the Grand Palais, Paris on May 23rd, 2019.
THE ACTION PLAN SEEKS SOLUTIONS THAT WILL :
Recognise the contribution that craft makes to our European society, heritage, culture and economy.
Celebrate this rich creative sector which values the human connection to the world around us and shows the way forward for sustainable development in local economies.
Provide appropriate supports and legislation to enable the sector to develop commercially.
Build the future of the sector through appropriate training provision to ensure transmission of skills to young people.
Stimulate every kind of innovation to ensure the evolution of craft.
Raise awareness of the sector in order to promote, preserve and protect European craft heritage that has been passed down through generations.
We call upon European institutions and national decision makers to support the Crafting Europe Manifesto and to work together on this six-point action plan to ensure the survival and development of craft for future generations.
ACTION PLAN
1. ENSURE REPRESENTATION OF THE CRAFT SECTOR IN ALL ITS DIMENSIONS THROUGH EUROPEAN SUPPORT PROGRAMMES.
Ensure that the terms ‘artisan, craftworker, craft artist, maker and manufacturer’ are equally represented as part of the artistic and creative industries in the next European programme 2021 – 2027. Ensure equity of access to European public funds for craft professionals and their institutions.
2. SUPPORT MEASURES THAT HELP TO BOOST ENTERPRISE AND ACCESS TO MARKETS FOR CRAFT BUSINESSES.
Ensure that regulations are appropriate to the scale of craft businesses and increase access to professional development supports for craft professionals.
3. ADDRESS THE DECLINE IN TRAINING PROVISION AND TRANSMISSION OF SKILLS.
Work with European craft institutions to develop specific training supports that include new models of transmission between master craftspeople and students.
4. UNDERTAKE RESEARCH TO IDENTIFY AND QUANTIFY THE ECONOMIC, EDUCATIONAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL VALUE OF CRAFT TO EUROPE.
Work with European partners to develop a framework to measure the economic, educational, cultural and social value of craft to European society. Increase the provision of geographic indicators and protections for crafts at risk.
5. PROMOTE THE RECOGNITION AND PROTECTION OF THE CRAFT SECTOR THROUGH LEGISLATION.
Work at European and National levels to develop legislation to recognise, protect and provide for the future of the European craft sector.
6. HOST A EUROPEAN YEAR OF CRAFT.
Develop proposals to host a ‘European Year of Craft’ during the 2021- 2027 EU programme to raise awareness and visibility of the sector amongst European policy makers, institutions and the public.
PROMOTORS OF THE MANIFESTO
WORLD CRAFTS COUNCIL EUROPE MEMBERS
