The long-term objectives of the Chair mainly focus on two aspects, namely cultural development and economic growth. Regarding cultural development, the Chair is The long-term objectives of the Chair mainly focus on two aspects, namely cultural development and economic growth. Regarding cultural development, the Chair is committed to transmitting the heritage of traditional handicrafts worldwide and exploring innovative models of development. Through ongoing international exchange activities on cultural heritage with the theme of world traditional handicrafts, the Chair works to promote international cultural interaction and increase world’s cultural diversity. Regarding economic growth, the Chair works to promote integrated development of traditional handicrafts worldwide and build a global knowledge network and academic platform for the cultural and creative industries so that handicraft inheritors and practitioners will have greater access to information, and increase their knowledge, job opportunities and incomes.
The Chair will achieve these objectives through the following measures:
1. International academic exchange and cooperation: The Chair will enhance cooperation with specialized international organizations, carry out academic exchanges with other Chairs, prestigious universities, research institutes and leading scholars, conduct interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research on frontier issues about traditional handicraft worldwide, creative industries and arts with the aim of making iconic achievements, and provide professional consultancy services for businesses, cities, regions and countries.
2. Training on traditional handicrafts: The Chair will spur innovation and development of world traditional handicrafts through vocational training in favor of women, youth and inheritors and practitioners in less developed regions. It will harness the internet, big data and multimedia to provide online and offline high-quality training sessions for inheritors to communicate with and learn from each other.
3. Outcome sharing and demonstration of practice programs: The Chair will set up demonstration cooperation stations to facilitate the application and sharing of outcomes of creativity, innovation and design of traditional handicrafts worldwide. It will build online database and exhibition centers for demonstration cases, hold annual exhibitions, publish academic works and event yearbooks to present latest outcomes in creative transformation of traditional handicrafts across the world.
4. Industrial development, employment and poverty reduction: The Chair is committed to enhancing traditional craft practitioners’ skills and knowledge through training sessions on craftsmanship, marketing know-how, creative design and product promotion so that they can have more job opportunities and chances to improve their livelihoods and have a decent life. The efforts will also boost economic activities in less developed regions.
