Crafty Plan - 01.08.2008

The Strategic Plan for Craftwork, in force up until 2011, ensures the preservation and development of this sector .

Tenerife's craftwork sector possesses singular characteristics that require medium and long-term strategic planning. With the aim of guaranteeing the preservation and reappraisal of a local resource that, on the basis of an analysis and diagnosis of the situation of the sector, is of the highest importance in economic, ethnographic and cultural terms, we have drawn up the Strategic Plan for Craftwork, which will remain in effect and set in motion various activities up until 2011.

The Plan’s main priority involves promoting craftwork on the island of Tenerife and to this end it establishes a series of objectives that materialise as specific actions that come to bear on various aspects and problems relating to the craftwork sector.

The first line of action focuses on the creation of a favourable setting for professionals in order to facilitate adaptation to market changes, promote adjustment in keeping with current realities and ensure the continued existence of their trades. Training and the introduction of technical and material improvements represent other tools that will be employed to promote increased competitiveness in the face of market challenges.

Cooperation between craftwork professionals and the creation of associations as means of improving competitiveness and increasing opportunities are other important aspects of the Plan.

The establishment of criteria for sustainability and support from the Government of Tenerife in this area are other objectives of the initiative. To this end, the identification of areas and points of interest within the island, in terms of craftwork, the promotion of craftwork production and marketing, improvements in relation to the quality projected by craftwork products and the consolidation of a brand that, by heightening awareness, provides a guarantee of the origin and quality of the articles, represent the basic lines of action.

Finally, with the aim of increasing information and research relating to the craftwork sector, the Strategic Plan for Craftwork envisages the establishment of specific information sources by taking advantage of resources such as the artisan census and the Documentation and Research Centre for Craftwork in Spain and America.

With regards to the promotion of research relating to the sector, the Plan covers the widest possible variety of aspects, placing priority on the preservation of traditional trades that are at risk of disappearing.