Crafting Sustainable Futures

From March to September 2026, we had the pleasure of hosting PhD student Nasim Dadizadeh from the University of Trento, Italy. Through her research, we broadened engagement with artisans across wider geographical regions, including Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom. Nasim’s PhD research aims to develop a community-based digital storytelling framework for intangible… Continue Reading

To understand how digital innovation can impact the craft industries in the United Kingdom, the project examined the UK crafting sector as documented in the ONS Census 2021. The project mapped the census categories used to represent the broader craft sector. For context, in the EU, the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) encompass a wide… Continue Reading

During the week of November 17-21, 2025, the research team met for a knowledge exchange workshop in Beawar, Rajasthan, India. During the week, the research team brought its interdisciplinary expertise, bringing many lenses to the research questions, including: – How can skills, tacit knowledge, materiality and digital innovation come together within a contemporary craftsmanship paradigm… Continue Reading

During May 2025, the team organised a series of workshops with Jawaja crafting communities at Beawar, in Rajasthan India as part of the workprogramme for our research project. The workshops are part of our methodology to co-develop equitable frameworks for sustainable futures. During this visit, the team met with Jawaja weaving and leatherwork communities. This… Continue Reading

On the 17th and 18th of February, the project team attended the AHRC Programme Launch Workshop at the Moxy Marriot, Mumbai. The launch included an overview of UK-India research and collaboration in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) landscape as well as the Cultural Heritage (CH) space, focusing on collaboration between the UK and India.… Continue Reading

In November 2024, the team visited Ahmedabad and Jawaja to kick off the project collaboration. At the beginning of the visit, the team was hosted at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. There, they learnt about the available expertise and courses and held project meetings and visited the campus. During the visit, the team… Continue Reading

In October 2024, members of the team attended the conference Making Futures 2024 in Plymouth UK, which explored how artists, artisans, designers and others are researching across disciplines and communities toward a more equitable, sustainable and resilient world. The programme involved various sessions exploring various aspects of sustainability: aesthetics and place, AI matter, against extraction, and… Continue Reading