As Europe accelerates efforts toward a greener, more resilient and culturally grounded future, crafts stand at a decisive crossroads. Once central to daily life, regional identity, and local economies, craftsmanship today remains under-recognised in European policy – despite its enormous ecological, economic, cultural, and social value. Crafts embody principles the EU urgently seeks to advance: circularity, low-waste production, repair culture, material intelligence, creativity, and regional resilience.
To address this growing policy gap, CRAFTOUR – a joint initiative of six major EU-funded projects representing 75 organisations across 21 member states – announces two high-level events in January 2026 aimed at ensuring that European crafts take their rightful place in Europe’s policy, research, and innovation agendas.
These conferences follow a milestone moment in December, when CRAFTOUR met with multiple European institutions to present its first set of policy recommendations.
Policy milestone: December Round Table in Brussels
On December 10th, representatives from the projects CRAEFT, HEPHAESTUS, Tracks4Crafts and Colours4Crafts met with EU institutions to address a critical blind spot: the need for full recognition and revitalisation of crafts as a dynamic European ecosystem.
During the Round Table, experts presented policy recommendations focused on four central objectives:
01. Understanding, valorising, and documenting European crafts through improved statistical knowledge.
02. Safeguarding and promoting craft authenticity, ensuring heritage and contemporary practices remain traceable and recognisable.
03. Empowering skills transmission through formal and non-formal education pathways.
04.Strengthening viable business models to ensure crafts thrive in future European economies.
Participants from DG EAC, DG MOVE, DG RTD, Creative Europe, and UNESCO contributed actively to the dialogue, underscoring crafts’ transversal value across multiple policy domains—including green transitions, circularity, trade, energy, health and safety, tourism, and cultural heritage.
As one participant provocatively asked, “Do we really want PVC windows in our castles?”—symbolising the wider concern of losing craft-based knowledge essential for safeguarding Europe’s heritage, identity, and sustainable future.
The Round Table set the stage for two major conferences in January, where CRAFTOUR will expand this dialogue and help shape the foundations of a European Crafts Renaissance.
CRAFTOUR Scientific Conference
The Scientific Conference will convene leading researchers, scholars, and practitioners for a full day of expert discussion and knowledge exchange. This event is going to take place in January 29, 2026 in Antwerpen, Belgium. After an opening session and keynote by Prof. Gunnar Almevik (University of Göteborg), three roundtables will explore research findings, methodological innovations, and evidence-based policy perspectives emerging from major European crafts-related projects.
Full agenda and speaker list available here.
CRAFTOUR General Conference
Hosted at the European Parliament and opened by MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, this high-level conference will call for the integration of crafts across EU policies. This event will take place in European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium on January 30, 2026. Discussions will highlight crafts’ role in:
- regional identity and cultural heritage
- education and transmission of knowledge
- SME development and local economies
- sustainable innovation and circularity
- social cohesion and youth engagement
The conference will culminate in a shared vision for a European Crafts Renaissance, presenting concrete policy recommendations to decision-makers, stakeholders, and the wider public.
Full agenda and speaker list available here.
About CRAFTOUR
CRAFTOUR is a collaborative initiative representing 75 organisations from 21 EU member states, merging expertise from six European-funded projects: CRAEFT, HEPHAESTUS, Tracks4Crafts, Colours4Crafts, MOSAIC, and Culturality. Supported by Horizon Europe and Erasmus+, CRAFTOUR brings together research, applied crafts knowledge, digital technologies, heritage management, education, and business development.
Launched in November 2024 at the Salon International du Patrimoine Culturel in Paris, CRAFTOUR operates through an interdisciplinary, bottom-up approach to strengthen, revitalise, and future-proof the European craft ecosystem.