CONTEXT
The World Crafts Council Europe (WCCE) is a European network representing 35 craft organisations (members) from 22 European countries whose main statutory mission is to promote crafts in Europe, by increasing the awareness and appreciation of crafts as an integral part of the cultural, social, and economic well-being of society. WCCE is leading and implementing as the unique partner the project CRAFTING THE FUTURE funded under the CREA-CULT-2021-NET call.
CRAFTING THE FUTURE resides on building capacity with the aim of strengthening and benefitting WCCE and the whole European craft sector. The project has a transnational scope and its overall ambition is to contribute to upscaling the craft sector reaching a real structuring effect.
INTRODUCTION
This activity responds to the need for gaining in-depth knowledge of the specific needs, challenges, characteristics, and vulnerabilities of the European craft sector all along the value chain. The lack of appropriate data is currently preventing the establishment of policies that favour the survival and competitiveness of the craft sector. Therefore, this activity aims to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of the volume, value and characteristics of the European Craft sector and to identify its challenges and opportunities in the future.
This report is intended to further develop upon initial findings from a 2022 report by the CRAFTING EUROPE “Study on the economic impact of the craft sector in Europe”, and should be deepened to showcase the full scope of the European craft sector, with balanced representation of countries and respondents.
This call is the first in a series of 5 studies to be conducted over the coming three years, under the Crafting the Future project.
- The European market for crafts
- Analysis of the resilience of the crafts sector
- Research on business and production opportunities
- Analysis of the integration of digital design and fabrication technologies on the crafts sector
- European crafts sector and the Creative Europe cross-cutting priorities
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE
The service to be contracted is the creation of a report on the Analysis of the Resilience of the Crafts Sector. The aim is to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of the volume, value and characteristics of the European Craft market as well as analysing its challenges and opportunities in the future.
The study will enable the WCCE to present evidence and data about the size and nature of the crafts sector to advocate to government and institutions.
The pandemic and now the energy crisis as well as the impact of the war in Ukraine has greatly affected the world economy including the crafts sector. The WCCE attempts to gather information on the impact of this situation in our sector. This report will analyse in greater depth the impact in our member countries and the ways it was coped with in order to detect how to be better prepared for similar situations in the future and overcome it.
As this is an extensive study, data will be collected from a balanced representation of European countries. The selection will be based, among others, on the data available to date and the readiness to get new insights. The data will serve as a reference for making estimates in relation to the whole of Europe (extrapolate) and for understanding the scope of crafts in the European economic context.
The approach to the project will be based on the use of quantitative and qualitative commercial research techniques:
- Analysis of information from statistical and bibliographic sources on the crafts sector in Europe: information will be obtained from official statistical sources, as well as bibliographic sources that include studies on crafts carried out by both public and private institutions.
- In-depth personal interviews with people related to the crafts sector: stakeholders, craftspeople, gallery owners, marketers, heads of crafts, representatives of associations and foundations, trainers, consultants, among others.
- Application of the SWOT analysis.
- Meetings with a group of experts to validate the approach, diagnosis and results.
- Others considered of interest for the report.
The gathered data should include at least 500 respondents and be representative of the European scope of crafts, by including a balanced representation of respondents from different European countries.
The deliverables will be:
- The Analysis of the Resilience of the Crafts Sector report.
- Summary of the report.
- Presentation in PWP file format and/or video format with the main data and conclusions of the report.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Expert consultants/researchers will be contracted to collate and elaborate on the information described above. The successful bidder must carry out its tasks through a stable, multidisciplinary team with extensive experience in carrying out projects similar to the one offered and in line with the timeline described below.
Available funds are 15,000 EUR.
PROCESS
WCCE Secretariat will be supervising the implementation of the work. This will involve a series of approximately four update meetings: one during inception; one after the first draft of the scheme and working plan and then a status meeting once per month for the remaining two months.
The proposed timeline for the report is as follows (open for feedback):
- March 2023: Call for proposals
- April 2022: Selection process
- May 2023: Implementation meeting and planning
- June 2023: Delivery of draft of scheme and working plan + feedback meeting
- July 2023: Implementation of survey
- August 2023: Produce report
- End September 2023: Delivery of report
- October 2023: Feedback and amendments period
HOW TO APPLY
Send an email to info@wcc-europe.org with the following information:
- Contact details of the company / organisation
- Proposal of services including:
- Study design document (methodological proposal) with project planning.
- References of previous studies.
- Budget proposal.
- CV’s of the researcher team.
The bid must demonstrate adequate conceptual, methodological, and technical mastery for the execution of the contract and reflect proven technical capacity to meet the work requirements and for the achievement of the objectives set.
Alternatively, please reach out if you would like to discuss the call further.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The selection criteria will be based on a points system, taking into account: methodology, work plan, team and prior experience. Applications must be able to demonstrate prior relevant experience in the successful execution and delivery of equivalent projects.
A copy of this open call can be downloaded here.