EUREVITA

EUREVITA – The development of a sustainable cross-border employment and economic structure for the revival of cultural heritage and rare crafts (Entwicklung einer nachhaltigen, grenzüberschreitenden arbeitswirtschaftlichen Struktur zur Revitalisierung kulturellen Erbes und seltener Handwerksberufe).

Purpose and background

The purpose of the EUREVITA project is to preserve rare crafts with the aim of reviving cultural heritage and providing new employment opportunities for job-seekers in the cross-border labour market.

The project’s starting point was the awareness that the border region between Slovenia and Austria is a jointly developed economic, employment and cultural area. The common cultural heritage is most noticeable in traditional crafting professions (e.g. shingle roofing, broom-making, cooperage and dry-stone wall building), which are directly related to the common cultural heritage of the region. Many of these crafts are no longer used today and are at risk of being forgotten, mainly due to the lack of harmonised publicly available education or the negative public perception of these crafts. This, in turn, results in the degradation of cultural infrastructure (e.g. castles, mansions and monasteries) and other cultural heritage for the preservation of which these crafts are important.

Since these issues apply to the entire border region, it is necessary to take cross-border innovative measures to find joint solutions that will benefit the entire programme area. In response to these issues, the EUREVITA project focuses on strengthening and improving the efficiency of education systems and systems of training for the labour market. Mechanisms for forecasting skill needs, adapting curricula and designing and developing on-the-job training systems, including dual training systems and apprenticeship programmes, will increase the quality of such systems and facilitate transition from education to employment.

Objectives

Activating unemployed persons and job-seekers to work in crafting professions that are on the brink of disappearing;
improving career counselling and cooperation;
increasing employment opportunities and providing new opportunities in the local labour market;
cooperating with local and national partners and acquiring new knowledge and skills necessary for project work with unemployed persons and job-seekers;
reviving rare professions in the area that are important for preserving cultural heritage;
increasing the number of craftsmen and persons qualified to work in professions that are disappearing.

Expected outcomes

Informing the target groups (unemployed persons, job-seekers and craftsmen) of opportunities for involvement in project activities to preserve rare craft skills that are necessary for the revival of cultural heritage and increasing employment opportunities resulting from these activities;
designing a protocol for the inclusion of unemployed persons in training to acquire rare or extinct craft skills;
training and certification of unemployed persons or job-seekers for rare craft skills;
training of craftsmen or mentors to pass on old craft skills to others;
integration of project partners in Austria and Slovenia.

Target groups

Unemployed persons;
job-seekers;
craftsmen and individuals with competences in the area of selected craft activities.

Project duration

From 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2021 (36 months).

Project value and funding

A total of EUR 1,288,700.03 is earmarked for the project, 85% of which (EUR 1,095,395.02) is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund; the share of the project partner the Employment Service of Slovenia (the ESS) amounts to EUR 172,510.00.

Project implementation

The EUREVITA project implemented as part of the cross-border cooperation programme between Slovenia and Austria Interreg V-A Slovenia-Austriain the period 2014–2020, falls under:

Priority Axis 3 – Enhancing Institutional Capacity and an Efficient Public Administration;
Investment priority 11b – Promoting legal and administrative cooperation and cooperation between citizens and institutions;
Specific objective 1: Improving cooperation in the fields of risk management, energy, health and social cohesion.

You can find more information on the Cooperation Programme Interreg V-A Slovenia-Austria at http://www.si-at.eu/si2/.

Project partnership

Through the Celje Regional Office, the Employment Service of Slovenia participates in the implementation of the project as a project partnerin the consortium of the following organisations/institutions from Austria and Slovenia:

Berufsförderungsinstitut Burgenland/BFI – Vocational Training Institute Burgenland, the leading partner,

Sekem Energy GmbH – Sustainable Solutions,

Stiftung Österreichisches Freilichtmuseum/ÖFS – Foundation Austrian Open-Air Museum,

Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia.