#WISE has two objectives. The 1st objective is to support crafts&arts women in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences in digital literacy, innovation and technological manufacturing solutions for better realization of their creative ideas and production, and the 2nd objective is to extend the supply of high-quality learning and networking opportunities for women in crafts&arts and contemporary creative industries market trends. Innovation is the process of turning a new concept into commercial success or widespread use. There is no creativity without innovative thinking. Due to COVID-19, we begun to face problems that are too difficult to solve in traditional ways. Sustainable energy, recycling, and the very idea of making more, but from as few raw materials as possible, are commonplace these days. Facing problems at this level requires a number of creative solutions. #WISE focuses on C&A women of different ages, mainly living in regions of all partnering countries. Women of older age usually lack innovative and technological approach, are not fluent in business lingua franca, i. e. English. It prevents them from using modern marketing technologies that open global possibilities (such as trading on Etsy, e-shops), networking (e. g. joining international artisanship networks, getting referrals, participation in group exhibitions), reduces their income and quite often leads to poverty. Women of younger age are more familiar with IT solutions, foreign languages and entrepreneurship, but lack skills in craftsmanship as well as deeper philosophical approach. The project will embrace abilities of both age categories, with project intellectual output being piloted with 50 women in all 5 countries. A practical training course in modern entrepreneurship, creative technologies & innovations will help participants to develop their basic skills and key competences needed in the modern creative industries. A high-quality learning in digital literacy, e-commerce, innovative manufacturing technologies (3D printing, laser-cutting, recycling, zero waste, etc.), international communication, marketing, contemporary art market trends, sustainability, etc. will serve as an opportunity to start their own commercial activity based on C&A skills they have already had. Encouragement of adult learners to listen to and explore their internal needs and desires will be translated into viable innovations with the help of couching techniques. Supporting C&A women with basic entrepreneurial and artisanship skills development will boost their self-esteem and contribute to their better social inclusion as well as financial independence. Last but not the least, flexibility and creativity are vital traits everyone needs in a rapidly changing labor market. Creativity helps to adapt to new working conditions and employers' expectations. Quite apart from individual commercial activity, participating women will develop digital & technological skills which strengthen their position in a labor market and therefore reduce their chances for the long-term unemployment and poverty. Activities will be easily accessible and encouraging to come. Non-formal education groups and meetings on social networks will be organized. Practical training will make women familiar with modern artistic techniques, social entrepreneurship, networking. For support and motivation, innovative approaches towards commercial activities, based rather of failure stories than on success ones, will be used. A one-week-long exhibition #Wise Women Week (#WWW) supposed to be a grand finale of the project. Showing the C&A innovations developed up, it will demonstrate the women inclusion and empowerment through creativity and the arts. The grand finale will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania. It will be open to public members.
#WISE had several goals 1) Northern partnering countries has been leading technologies, innovation & art commerce, and Southern ones are strong in C&A, making the good practice exchange extremely valuable; 2) cultural identity of partnering countries interchanges in many different but complementing ways, thus providing opportunitie for unexpected creative collaborations and new insights into innovations, for example, for recycling or food making; 3) International collaboration will make strong informal network for C&A women across the Europe and empower them to lead an effective, self-fulfilling and financially secure life; 4) Intellectual outputs will strengthen organizational capacity of partnering institutions, allowing them to localize the best practices and use them for empowering their target groups. By implementing the project, Partnership sought to deepen their experience in the field of adult education, broaden the possibilities for international cooperation, implement both new and challenging creative and intellectual tasks, whilesharing their expertise and other resources within the partnership.
The project application was developed at the time when the Covid-19 pandemic caused the phenomenon called shecession (she + recession). In a regular recession, men lose more jobs, which reduces their labor-market experience and wages. In contrast, in the shecession women’s relative wages falled sharply, and stayed depressed throughout the recovery. It happened because women’s employment is concentrated in sectors that were strongly affected by the shutdown, and social distancing measures during the pandemic, e. g. artistic enterprises, education, hospitality. As schools and daycare centers were shut down, women provided the majority of additional childcare during the crisis, leaving many of them unable to work or pursue creative activities. Thus, the 1st need was to support both female artists and artisans in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competencies in digital literacy, innovation, and technological solutions as well as contemporary creative industries market opportunities for better realization of their creative ideas&production in post-COVID world. The 2nd need was to extend the supply of high-quality learning and networking opportunities for women in arts and artisanship limited by pandemic restrictions.