The network

Higher Education on Craft Traditions (NordTradCraft) is a network connecting eight universities from the Nordic/Baltic countries. The network aims to advance international cooperation in traditional craft studies. The partners offer study programmes that preserve traditional craft knowledge with a future-oriented approach. We regard heritage properties and qualities as environmental, cultural, and societal assets for the continuing development of society from local, national, and global perspectives. Traditional crafts studies are rare at the university level. There needs to be more systematic cooperation between HEIs in this field that would thus benefit from international collaboration and student/staff exchange.
We intend to advance the programmes concerning traditional crafts in the Nordic-Baltic cultural area and integrate institutionally separated researchers and students in traditional crafts and craft pedagogy. We aim to encourage teachers and students to seek innovative approaches to established practices by exchanging knowledge, experience, and vision on how to bring traditional crafts to the contemporary environment and the labour market, keeping in mind knowledge of the past and the needs of the future.

Coordinating institution:

University of Tartu (Estonia)
Unit: Viljandi Culture Academy

Contact persons:
Ave Matsin (Programme Director of Estonian Native Craft) (ave.matsin@ut.ee)
Krista Tamm (International Relations) (krista.tamm@ut.ee)

Partner institutions:

University of South-Eastern Norway (Norway)
Campus Rauland
Unit: Department of Traditional Arts and Traditional Music

Contact person: Eli Wendelbo (eli.wendelbo@usn.no)

Uppsala University (Sweden)
Unit: Department of Art History

Contact person: Julia Holm (julia.holm@konstvet.uu.se)

University of Gothenburg (Sweden)
Unit: Department of Conservation

Contact person: Lars Runnquist (lars.runnquist@conservation.gu.se)

University of Helsinki (Finland)
Unit: Faculty of Educational Sciences / Department of Education

Contact person: Päivi Fernström (paivi.fernstrom@helsinki.fi)

Pallas University of Applied Science (Estonia)
Unit: Department of Textile

Contact person: Marilin Aasoja (marilin.aasoja@pallasart.ee)

University of Eastern Finland (Finland)
Unit: School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education

Contact person: Niina Väänänen (niina.vaananen@uef.fi)

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway)
Campus Gløshaugen
Unit: Department of Architecture and Technology

Contact person: Thor-Aage Kaminka Heiberg (Thor-aage.heiberg@ntnu.no)