CTCV (Centro Region, Portugal) is extending a voucher scheme to support artistic and artisanal ceramic business to promote innovation, internationalization and R&D.
Action 1: Extend Voucher programme to support artistic and artisanal ceramics business
This action concentrates on the policy for Competitiveness and Internationalization of the Regional Economy in the context of Vouchers Programme, targeted towards a specific topic. This action seeks to increase the knowledge and skills of artisans and artists in order to increase their competitiveness through the development of collective spaces equipped with technology, available to small companies and artisans considering that:
Design product technology (software, 3D printers, 3D scanners) is expensive and requires specific support and training
Due to Policy instrument restrictions on supporting individual artisans, this funding could be financed indirectly through groups of associations
The initiative could be led by existing stakeholders
The development of work planned by CTCV kept the involvement of the staff of CCDR-C, the management authority responsible for regional funding, in order to assure changes needed to be achieved by CLAY in the funding policies. This staff was involved in the validation of the Good Practices as well as in the identification of other partners’ GP that could be adapted to Centro Region context, in order to support artisans and artisanal companies to grow and be more competitive.
The use of Vouchers programme was recognized as a viable way to improve this support and was inspired by GP “3D SYSTEMS PRO SRL HOREZU” in order to support the development of thematic calls to be funded.
Action 2: Include artistic and artisans ceramics business in criteria of Entrepreneurship and Employment Programme
This Program was created as a public policy instrument to support directly productive business investment, which will aim to stimulate the national production; this programme focus is on the industrial and tourism sector but it can be easily adapted to reinforce the competitiveness of the creative sector, which may impact also with tourism sector.
This action aims to introduce de Economic Activities Code (CAE) of ceramic artists and artisans as an eligible criterion to turn to access funding under this programme.
This programme is also able to support the equipment acquisition need to improve the impact of Action 1 and it can complement the action 1 or be an alternative funding scheme.
The complete Action plan can be downloaded from the Library section of the Website: https://www.interregeurope.eu/clay/library/#folder=3051
