We look forward to welcoming you either online or in person to the 2023 World Crafts Council Europe (WCCE) Annual Conference, being held at the University of Malta, Valletta Campus taking place on the 6th of July from 09:30 – 13:00 and hosted by the Malta Crafts Foundation.
The conference takes place annually in a different country and the topic for this edition – which is being held in Malta – is aligned with the 2023 European Year of Skills.
The conference programme will pay special attention to the landscape and importance of skills, in a time of rapid development and change and will be structured to look at our relationship with core craft skills and creativity, taking into consideration digitalisation and new technologies. It will also look at how we can frame crafts within the current climate and environmental problems and what skills are needed to face this. We will be joined by three expert keynote speakers and include a round table discussion moderated by Elaine Falzon.
The conference is open to the public and is free of charge to attend. Find registration forms below.
PROGRAMME
09:30 – Welcome | Elisa Guidi, President WCCE, & Elton Micallef, CEO Malta Crafts Foundation
09:45 – Introduction | Manuela Prina, Head of Skills Identification and Development Unit, European Training Foundation (ETF)
10:00 – Keynote 1 | Crafts & Expertise: Core Craft Skills and Creativity | Gloria Bonet, Teacher and short cycles coordinator, Escola Massana
10:30 – Keynote 2 | Crafts & Digitalisation: New Skills & Opportunities | Prof. Stefano Micelli, Ca’ Foscari University and Upskill 4.0 President
11:00 – Keynote 3 | Crafts & Sustainability: New Skills & Opportunities | Dr Rob Phillips, Royal College of Art & Ecological Citizens Project
11:30 – Break
12:00 – Round table with Speakers | Moderated by Elaine Falzon with Prof. Stefano Micelli, Gloria Bonet & Dr. Rob Phillips
12:45 – Closing remarks | WCCE Board
13:00 – End
REGISTRATION
> To register to attend in-person, please fill out THIS FORM NOTE: (final date for in-person registration is the 30th of June 2023)
> To register to attend online, please fill out THIS FORM NOTE: (no deadline for online registration)
We look forward to welcoming you!
SPEAKERS
Manuela Prina
Manuela Prina is Head of the Skills Identification and Development Unit, within the Knowledge Hub department of the European Training Foundation (ETF), the EU Agency supporting countries outside the European Union (EU) in the area of human capital development, life-long learning policies and skills identification and development. As Head of Unit, Manuela is responsible for steering ETF’s work in the area of skills relevance and anticipation, development of skills and validation, leading the knowledge co-creation and sharing across ETF partner countries, with the EU and the international community. Manuela joined ETF in 2008 and in her career at the ETF covered several assignments, including being responsible for the area of governance, the implementation of several projects in the area of monitoring and assessment of VET systems and human capital development policies, and leading in 2018-19 the development of the ETF’s strategy 2027. Prior to working at the ETF, Manuela served as social sector specialist at the Asian Development Bank, and as a Junior Professional at the World Bank. Manuela holds a PHD in International Political Economy – and two master’s degrees in Economics and International Relations, and in Educational Sciences. She is an alumna of the Indian Institute of Management (IIMC) of Calcutta (2000), and a graduate of the executive course on Foresight and Vision Building of the University of Manchester (2017) and of the Business Coaching Academy of Business Coaching Italia (2020).
Gloria Bonet
Gloria Bonet (Barcelona 1977), graduated in Publicity and Public Relations, later studied graphic design at the Massana School of Barcelona and fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Genoa, Italy. She was awarded a grant by Fundesarte to carry out research on the positioning of Spanish crafts in the luxury market. She combines teaching at Escuela Massana with freelance design and communication projects. The Escola Massana is Barcelona’s municipal Art and Design centre. The school opened its doors as an academic institution on 14 January 1929. The defining feature of both the Escola Massana and its teaching philosophy is its inter-disciplinary character. This generates a symbiosis between the disciplines of art and design, thus fomenting the comprehensive training of its students.
Prof. Stefano Micelli
Stefano Micelli (Udine, 1966) is an Italian academic and economist. He lives and works in Venice, where he teaches Economics and Business Management at the Ca ‘Foscari University. For several years he has been studying the transformation of the Italian industrial system; since 2014 he has been scientific director of the Nord Est Foundation. He is the author of several articles and volumes. With Marsilio he published The new productive districts (2009, with Giancarlo Corò) and Futuro artigiano. Innovation in the hands of Italians (2011), now in its fifth edition and winner of various awards, including the Compasso d’Oro ADI 2014, the world’s leading industrial design award.
Dr. Rob Phillips
Dr Rob Phillips is a senior tutor at the Royal College of Art, Design Products + Futures Programme. A Product Designer with 20 years’ experience, including; 5 patents, manufacture with 3 + million products in retail, leading research papers, live saving ballistics and material developments and user orientated proposals. His latest collaborative project with Goldsmiths, Interaction Design Research Studio (www.mynaturewatch.net) uses distributed design fostering people’s engagement in the natural world and was broadcast on BBC SpringWatch. He has run over 50 design workshops with interdisciplinary teams, cultures and international participants. Their user orientated proposals and involvement in design for team GB, using revolutionary developments including lifesaving fire/ballistics and leading research publications. His research seeks to ‘Engage Design’, decreasing our impact, gaining insights into sustainable transitions. His latest book ‘FutureKind, design for and by the people’, culminates research to be ‘holistically sustainable’ being FutureKind to PlanetKind.
Elaine Falzon
Elaine Falzon is a cultural manager with more than ten years of professional experience in the cultural and creative sectors. She is presently a freelancer, working on a number of different projects with public and private entities. Currently, she works on strategy development exercises for the arts as well as project development and management Some of her recent projects include strategy development exercises with Irish-based company Arts Leaders, including the development of the crafts strategy for Wicklow, Ireland. Elaine is also a part-time lecturer at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology teaching Arts Management. Elaine has previously worked at Arts Council Malta, first as a Performing Arts Executive and then as the Head of Funding & Brokerage, managing and delivering the Arts Council’s funding programmes. At that stage, she was part of the strategy team creating and devising the strategy for the creative sectors in Malta and Gozo ‘Create 2020’, launched in 2015. In 2018, she joined the national theatre company Teatru Malta where she was coordinating and managing all aspects of the delivery of the productions included in the artistic programme of the company, as well as devising initiatives related to the theatre field.