Why e-CIT and Craftopolis
Most of the companies in the field of handicraft are SMEs or micro companies,
where the know-how and activities are based on the actual owner, the artisan
himself and on his manual skills. After graduating, most of the handicraft
students become independent entrepreneurs. Though manual skills play an
important role, more is required: to be successful the companies need to find
new ways to act and acquire business knowledge as well as increase their manual
skills.
Traditionalism and out-dated ideas of handicraft products are common
challenges of the handicraft field all over Europe. Craftsmen do not seem to
detect possibilities in the society, and to find new solutions. They seem to
lack the resources and business skills. [1, 2]
To improve the situation, the EU commission has defined the areas of
development [2]:
- development of the sectoral image,
- increasing operational preconditions of enterprises,
- emphasizing the cultural and social meaning of handicraft,
- involving the younger generation in active development of the sector,
- development of business strategies of the cluster and the field of
handicraft.
The need for consumers’ attention and good use of consumer information is
paramount: The most essential factor in growth is transforming user trends
into lucrative business. It is necessary to understand customer needs and
the added value to the customers, and transferring cultural inheritance and
people’s individual lifestyles offers possibilities for expansion in the sector
[2].
There is a clear need to prepare the future workforce to the challenges of
society. This regards also the learning material. Bringing e-learning to the
field is a possibility to renew the learning material.
To enable these changes, the level of creativity of the students and their
teachers must be increased, problem solving skills and real working life
problems need to be introduced, and independent thinking of the students must be
encouraged.
- Luutonen, M. & Äyväri, A. (Editor). (2002). Käsin tehty tulevaisuus:
näkökulmia käsityöyrittäjyyteen. Helsinki: Sitra
- SEMA Study 2001. Art professions: enterprises with great potential for
growth and job creation. Commisioned by the European Commission.
This project has been funded with
support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views
only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
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