At the prestigious Salon du Patrimoine in Paris — a key annual event gathering experts and professionals of cultural heritage worldwide — Prof. Fabrizio Panozzo represented the HEPHAESTUS project, contributing a forward-thinking vision for the craft economy. This year’s Salon provided a unique platform for Hephaestus to engage with Craftour, an exciting new network of EU-funded projects dedicated to supporting craft from multiple perspectives.
Prof. Panozzo showcased HEPHAESTUS’s unique focus within Craftour: developing business models that empower artisans to thrive as modern entrepreneurs. Through insights from HEPHAESTUS’s research into how artisans evolve as agile economic players, he demonstrated how our project generates knowledge that enables artisans to harness their heritage while navigating modern market dynamics. His contributions emphasized the artisan’s role as an innovator, showing how they adapt and scale through community-driven ecosystems, tech-forward approaches, and sustainable local economies.
This collaboration within Craftour highlighted the growing recognition of craft as a cornerstone of Europe’s cultural and economic landscape. HEPHAESTUS’s approach reframes artisanship as a modern enterprise—a dynamic blend of tradition, economic vitality, and innovation that aligns perfectly with the goals of Craftour’s broader network.
On behalf of the HEPHAESTUS project and all participants we share our gratitude to representatives of other projects Craeft, Tracks4crafts, Culturality, Colour4crafts, MOSAIC and in particular Madina Benvenuti.
