Safeguarding Crafts

An International Capacity-Building Programme for Mayors, Municipal Leaders, Professionals and Educators

23 NOVEMBER – 06 DECEMBER 2026
Jaipur, India

ITEC Multi-Country Course | Organised by the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design (IICD), Jaipur, with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, under the Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme

THE INDIAN TECHNICAL & ECONOMIC COOPERATION (ITEC) PROGRAMME

The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, instituted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in 1964, is India's flagship platform for international capacity building and South-South cooperation. It enables partner countries to access Indian expertise, institutional knowledge and practical experience through training and professional exchange, strengthening human-resource capacity and long-term development partnerships. ITEC today reaches more than 160 partner countries and remains an important instrument of India's development partnership and soft-power diplomacy.

In 2026, under this wider capacity-building partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs is joining hands with the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design (IICD), Jaipur, to offer a two-week multi-country programme on Safeguarding Crafts. The programme responds to a shared international challenge: how cities can sustain living craft traditions while strengthening the communities, institutions, education systems, markets and policies that enable them to endure.

IICD, Jaipur: Where Heritage Meets the Future

The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, instituted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in 1964, is India's flagship platform for international capacity building and South-South cooperation. It enables partner countries to access Indian expertise, institutional knowledge and practical experience through training and professional exchange, strengthening human-resource capacity and long-term development partnerships. ITEC today reaches more than 160 partner countries and remains an important instrument of India's development partnership and soft-power diplomacy.

In 2026, under this wider capacity-building partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs is joining hands with the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design (IICD), Jaipur, to offer a two-week multi-country programme on Safeguarding Crafts. The programme responds to a shared international challenge: how cities can sustain living craft traditions while strengthening the communities, institutions, education systems, markets and policies that enable them to endure.

Capacity Building Programme: Safeguarding Crafts

Safeguarding Crafts is a two-week international executive capacity-building programme primarily designed for Mayors and Municipal Leaders senior government and Municipal leaders, policymakers, professionals educators and researchers to explore craft not merely as cultural heritage, but as a living ecosystem of knowledge, communities, livelihoods, enterprise and place.

Rooted in India’s diverse craft traditions and drawing upon its experience in craft policy, artisan and cluster development, education, technology, design, intellectual property, tourism and urban development, the programme examines how cities and communities can safeguard living craft traditions while enabling their continued transmission, relevance, visibility and livelihood potential. Through a carefully integrated combination of expert sessions, policy perspectives, case studies, hands-on craft learning, field immersions and policy laboratories, participants will engage with the interconnected dimensions of Policy & Governance, Craft & Heritage, Livelihoods & Markets, and Education & Transmission. The programme ultimately seeks to equip participants to develop a context-specific Craft Safeguarding Action Plan for their respective countries, supporting resilient craft ecosystems where traditional knowledge can thrive, artisans can prosper, skills can be transmitted across generations, and crafts can contribute meaningfully to the cultural, social and economic vitality of cities and communities.

Who can Participate
  1. Mayors & Municipal Leaders
  2. Public Representatives
  3. Administrators and Policymakers
  4. Professionals from UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)
  5. City Managers
  6. Educators and Researchers in Crafts
Aim

This capacity-building programme aims to enhance participants’ understanding of the nuances of Intangible Cultural Heritage including living craft traditions, relevant policy frameworks, and practical interventions for safeguarding and strengthening craft heritage. It seeks to equip participants to contribute to an enabling ecosystem in their home countries where traditional crafts can thrive, artisans can prosper, knowledge and skills can be transmitted across generations, and crafts can contribute meaningfully to the cultural, social and economic vitality of cities and communities.

Objectives

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

  1. Understand the concept and significance of safeguarding living craft traditions and the challenges faced by craft communities.
  2. Examine India's policy frameworks, institutional mechanisms and good practices for safeguarding crafts and promoting artisan livelihoods.
  3. Explore the role of education, technology, design, markets, tourism and urban development in sustaining and strengthening craft ecosystems.
  4. Identify appropriate approaches and interventions that governments and other stakeholders can adopt to support crafts and artisan communities.
  5. Learn from Indian craft clusters, artisans, institutions and field-based initiatives through experiential and hands-on engagement.
  6. Develop a context-specific Craft Safeguarding Action Project addressing a craft-related challenge in their own city, region or country.
Curriculum

The curriculum is structured around a central premise: safeguarding becomes meaningful when policy frameworks are connected to the people, places, skills and economic systems through which craft traditions remain alive. Each day therefore combines a forenoon component of policy, knowledge and dialogue with an afternoon of practice, immersion and exchange. This programme is based on following seven learning pillars:

  1. Understanding Crafts and the Culture of Making

    What exactly are we trying to safeguard?

    • Crafts as living cultural heritage, tacit knowledge systems and community practices
    • Relationship between artisan, material, skill, technique, product and place
    • Craft traditions, cultural identity and the culture of making
    • Challenges to continuity: loss of skills, changing aspirations, raw materials, mechanization and changing markets
    • Safeguarding versus preservation - keeping traditions alive while allowing them to evolve
  2. Policy and Governance

    What can governments do?

    • India's policy and institutional framework for crafts and artisan development
    • Government initiatives for skill development, cluster development, infrastructure, technology and artisan support
    • Roles of national, state and local governments in safeguarding craft ecosystems
    • Institutional convergence and stakeholder partnerships for craft development
    • Policy instruments: infrastructure, finance, training, markets, social support, intellectual property and public programmes