On the occasion of the foundation of the Portuguese Association of the Cities of Ceramics (AptCC), the Assembly of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation “Cities of Ceramics” (AEuCC) was held on April 16th, 2018, with the presence of delegates from Italy, Spain, Romania, Germany and Portugal.
In the splendid setting of the Diana hall of the Mafra National Palace many topics have been discussed, in particular the official enlargement of AEuCC to four new members (AgCC, AczCC, AptCC and AplCC) and the European projects recently acquired and underway, to be implemented in the coming years.
Cerasmus+ is an Erasmus+ project that aims to protect the traditional heritage of the EU and modernize the ceramic industry by creating a European network of stakeholders interested in ceramics, combining the tradition of ceramics with innovative design and developing training courses to innovate professional education.
CLAY is an Interreg project that aims to ensure that the identified policy instruments are adapted to support the ceramic industry to thrive in the current global context. This will benefit the artistic ceramic sector and other sectors of the regional economy involved in innovation and industrial processes.
All representatives of the National Associations of the Cities of Ceramics have expressed their intention to collaborate actively and Stefano Collina (President of AEuCC) and Giuseppe Olmeti (General Secretary of AEuCC) have declared that all cities will benefit from the projects as stakeholders. In addition, the European Grouping will present further projects in the future to strengthen the ceramic industry in Europe and promote European ceramics in the world.
The European delegation, formed by Senator Collina, President AEuCC and the Italian Councilors Massimo Isola, Deputy Mayor of Faenza and President AiCC, the Mayor of Grottaglie Ciro D’Alò and Vice mayor of Albissola Marina Nicoletta Negro, together with the Spanish, Romanian and German chairmen and assisted by the AEuCC Secretary General Giuseppe Olmeti and by the Cerasmus+ project manager Elisa Emiliani, visited the Portuguese cities of ceramics which are leaders of the association at this stage: Mafra, which took over the Chairmanship and Caldas da Rainha, which hosts the headquarters and management of AptCC and which has opened the doors of numerous museums and art centers, including the Bordallo Pinheiro Museum and the Centro de Artes, the municipal art complex of the city’s Department of Culture, whose mission is to preserve the municipal artistic heritage and to support the development of the Arts in the country.
The visit ended with a traditional dinner and traditional Portuguese music, awaiting the development of new projects and new opportunities for cooperation in the development and innovation of the ceramic industry in Europe.