TY - JOUR
T1 - Connecting craft, design and the wood industry in South Tyrol: From clusters to creative ecosystem
AU - Vigano, Federica
AU - England, Lauren
AU - Comunian, Roberta
N1 - Funding Information:
As one of the primary production sectors, especially for exports, the wood industry has always received significant financial support from local and regional authorities. This support includes promoting vocational training and the development of craft skills. The local and regional government has continuously backed these schools, and the establishment of a local industry cluster has been viewed as a "return on investment" resulting from public funding for education and training. In South Tyrol, vocational education provided by local professional schools has played a vital role in fostering and preserving skills for both the artistic and artisan communities as well as the industry (further discussion on skills in the following section). Additionally, initiatives have been implemented in collaboration with local schools to maintain material engagement and understanding, which is crucial for retaining young people in rural areas.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Craft work provides unique opportunities to understand connections between artisanal production, innovative design and industrial manufacturing. It also enables us to reflect on the limits of existing research on creative clusters and industry spillovers and variety which misses important connections between the local industrial base, traditional cultural production, and design and innovation-led creative and cultural industries (CCIs). This is particularly relevant to rural economies where CCIs clusters have often been disconnected from local assets and manufacturing. The paper takes an ecological perspective to explore how craft activity diffuses across permeable boundaries of industrial, traditional, and creative production, and contributes to rural regional development by facilitating related and unrelated variety. Using the wood ecosystem of Val Gardena and the region of South Tyrol in Italy as a case study, the paper identifies shared ecosystem-sustaining assets – materiality, locality, and skills/knowledge – and explores how these relationships lead to different evolutionary trajectories and economic opportunities. The paper demonstrates how an ecosystem perspective expands our understanding of creative clusters beyond CCIs and shows how craft is connected to other local industries, contributing to local development dynamics.
AB - Craft work provides unique opportunities to understand connections between artisanal production, innovative design and industrial manufacturing. It also enables us to reflect on the limits of existing research on creative clusters and industry spillovers and variety which misses important connections between the local industrial base, traditional cultural production, and design and innovation-led creative and cultural industries (CCIs). This is particularly relevant to rural economies where CCIs clusters have often been disconnected from local assets and manufacturing. The paper takes an ecological perspective to explore how craft activity diffuses across permeable boundaries of industrial, traditional, and creative production, and contributes to rural regional development by facilitating related and unrelated variety. Using the wood ecosystem of Val Gardena and the region of South Tyrol in Italy as a case study, the paper identifies shared ecosystem-sustaining assets – materiality, locality, and skills/knowledge – and explores how these relationships lead to different evolutionary trajectories and economic opportunities. The paper demonstrates how an ecosystem perspective expands our understanding of creative clusters beyond CCIs and shows how craft is connected to other local industries, contributing to local development dynamics.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85175561301&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103149
DO - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103149
M3 - Article
SN - 0743-0167
VL - 104
JO - Journal of Rural Studies
JF - Journal of Rural Studies
M1 - 103149
ER -
