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Economic revival of textiles (Crysalis)
Economic revival of textiles
(Crysalis)
Start date: Jul 31, 2011,
End date: Jun 29, 2014
PROJECT
FINISHED
Historically, the textile sector has been important to the economic narrative of the 2 Seas area. This could once again be the case, albeit with smaller scale production than was seen in the previous century. Over the last decades, this sector has undergone a series of radical transformations, with a heightened focus on quality, design, innovation and high value-added products.In order to preserve this cultural heritage for future generations and to exploit the full economic potential of textiles within the 2 Seas area, organisations with expertise in this heritage and/or a stake in its future from Oudenaarde (B), Medway and Devon (UK) and Nord-Pas de Calais (FR) decided to pool their knowledge and competencies in the Crysalis Project. Crysalis will put a huge focus on public access to heritage collections and to traditional and new materials, technologies and skills, as well as using creativity and design as a driver for increased public participation in textile heritage. Crysalis will also promote textile entrepreneurship, support knowledge-sharing between textile stakeholders and facilitate the creation of new textile enterprises in the 2 Seas area. Expected Results: What are the key results of the project?Enhancing the Textile Potential by improving access to textile knowledge:- joint heritage database Crysalis Digital Library.- joint Crysalis Business Inventory.- 4 Crysalis Inspirations Catalogues.- Crysalis Inspirations Network (joint promotion of workspaces).- 8 months of Crysalis Skills Tour for intensive knowledge exchange.- Crysalis Metamorphisis: output of 4 heritage pieces reinterpreted in at least 4 new pieces.- 4 Crysalis Exhibitions with a total of 8 months of Crysalis exhibitions.- best practice report for education packs to engage with various age groups. Minimum of 2 education packs developed.- engagement with 30 schools, 300 Students and 600 members of the public to bring textile heritage and textile innovations to the public.Enhancing the Textile Potential by improving access to textile knowledge:- joint heritage database Crysalis Digital Library.- joint Crysalis Business Inventory.- 4 Crysalis Inspirations Catalogues.- Crysalis Inspirations Network (joint promotion of workspaces).- 8 months of Crysalis Skills Tour for intensive knowledge exchange.- Crysalis Metamorphisis: output of 4 heritage pieces reinterpreted in at least 4 new pieces.- 4 Crysalis Exhibitions with a total of 8 months of Crysalis exhibitions.- best practice report for education packs to engage with various age groups. Minimum of 2 education packs developed.- engagement with 30 schools, 300 Students and 600 members of the public to bring textile heritage and textile innovations to the public.Enhancing Textile Knowledge and Entrepreneurship.- Crysalis Contacts Bank.- three Crysalis Fairs.- four Crysalis Young Professionals Programmes + 1 cross-border Business Skills Methodology pack.- deliverables that bring together the 4-pronged knowledge exchange, seeking data from all partners on the barriers to textiles entrepreneurship; the impact of barriers on disadvantaged groups like remote SMEs; the opportunities presented by new textile technologies to overcome barriers; the sustainability of European textiles in SMEs.- at least 8 Crysalis Expert Workshops and related deliverables.- at least 144 SME participants engaged in textile knowledge activities.Are all partners and territories benefitting from the results?The work package Enhancing the Textile Potential by improving access to textile knowledge will have the following beneficiaries: staff form the partner organisations, textile professionals involved in project actions, textile educators and students, textile researchers, textile musea and businesses involved in the textiles sector.The work pacakge Enhancing Textile Knowledge and Entrepreneurship with a more economic focus will have the following beneficiaries:all textile stakeholders, but inparticular: new practitioners, small businesses, entrepreneurs, graduates, businesses, scientific actors, educators, heritage organizations and creative people.What are the effects / outcomes for the territories involved?The project will enhance textile knowledge and entrepreneurship in the sector by establishing a cross-border platform for dialogue and exchange between all the textile stakeholders.In the project activities, the partners aim to bring together experts in the past and future of textiles, from conservation, restoration to education, entrepreneurship and research. With large-scale cross-border knowledge exchange, sparking initiatives and insights there is the potential to shape the regions' textile-related cultural/educational/economic future. This cross-fertilization could well be a basis for a permanent cross-border 2 Seas network.- Many project outputs have potential beyond the project framework: education methodology report, education packs, young professional programme, digital library, inspirations catalogue, contacts bank, business inventory. These are valuable tools for the further development of textile's potential by other textile stakeholders in the 2 Seas area The outcome of this is a richer, more educated range of textile stakeholders in the 2 Seas area.