Crafting Europe - A manifesto towards a European strategy for craft

World Crafts Council Europe

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.

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.

• 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.

The Ateliers d’Art de France and the World Crafts Council Europe 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.

https://www.ateliersdart.com/fichiers/Site_2019/CraftEurope_manifeste_BD.pdf