The continuous and important work of AEuCC – European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation “Cities of Ceramics” recently led to the approval of the European Project Cerasmus+.
Website project: cerasmus.eu
The project is developed within the key action 2 – strategic partnerships (which doesn’t promote in a first phase an exchange of students, but develops direct contacts between teachers and educational methods designers), fostering the improvement, optimization, innovation and internationalization of educational models and curricula.
6 countries, 8 partners, 2 years, 3 main objectives: the Cerasmus+ project, which was born from the initiative of AEuCC – European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation “Cities of Ceramics”, has started with the kick off meeting held in Perugia (Italy) on December 12, 2017, at the headquarters of TUCEP – Tiber Umbria Comett Education Programme, coordinator of the porject.
Co-funded by the European program Erasmus+, the project aims to protect the European traditional heritage, to modernize the ceramic sector and to develop vocational training in ceramic craft industry enhancing work based learning models.
Ceramics is one of the most ancient man-made forms of art and handicraft and nowadays the ceramic technical knowledge has gradually spread worldwide, creating districts and clusters of artists, craftsmen, associations, artistic schools and museums. National and international networks have been built and consolidated through cultural, productive and institutional collaborations, developing contacts and cooperation, organizing and promoting events such as festivals, markets, workshops, symposiums, exhibitions and prices.
Despite this strengths, however, the crafts and ceramics sectors face dangerous issues as the global competition of cheaper products, the loss of skills, the difficulties of getting into the market and the lack of financial resources and economic capacity, as the sector is mostly led by micro-enterprises, freelancers or hobby-based establishments.
The project Cerasmus+ faces these challenges relying on three pillars: Heritage, Innovation, Network.
“It’s an important result which pays back our constant work in the European field”, declares Senator Stefano Collina, AEuCC president, “showing the efficacy of our policies and strategies and the quality of our international partnerships, which allow us to to commute in projects and concrete results the long work done in years”.
“It is a targeted and concrete action in the field of vocational training”, underlines the Secretary General and Project Director of AEuCC Giuseppe Olmeti, “which we wish can be a good omen for many other European projects in preparation, or already submitted, in other fields, such as the development of entrepreneurship, culture, territorial cooperation with neighbouring countries or in the Mediterranean area, in the Ceramic Art and Craft sector”.
“With Cerasmus+, an educational platform in the field of Ceramics is born”, states Massimo Isola, President of AiCC – Italian Association of Cities of Ceramics and Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Faenza, “which will concretely develop in the single countries and overall in Europe, with numerous potentialities. The crisis of the educational system in the ceramic field can be overcome with effective actions: the experience of the ITS Course of High Specialization post-diploma in Faenza and the recognition of the historical Institute Caselli of Naples as ‘rare school’ by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research are some concrete examples. Now, with Cerasmus+, an environment for a common house of the experiences and excellences in this field has been created”.
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In the picture: a representative of the parthers at the kick-off meeting in Perugia on December 12th, 2017.