On Wednesday 27th May, a workshop was held in the city hall of Chefchaouen in order to present the preliminary proposal of the masterplan for the promotion of the handicraft sector. This proposal was submitted to professionals and stakeholders from the handicraft sector in order to discuss the strategies and validate the steps forward.

A diagnosis of the sector was presented together with an initial identification of the molt significant professions. Apart from the diagnosis, the expert Mr. Abdeljalil Cherkaoui presented the proposed strategy for the promotion of handicrafts, the vision of which is connected to Tourism, Environment and Culture. These three components become communicating vessels and in close interaction with the handicraft sector, as prescribers.

The proposed strategy builds upon the following elements:

  • The promotion of the most significant professionals
  • The creation of organisation and aggregation structures
  • The commercial promotion

Initially, it is proposed to create a multipartners’ technical platform in order to act as the promoter of the masterplan and as the driving force that will lead the implementation of the strategy, guaranteeing the participation of all stakeholders involved.

This work is the result of the technical assistance that has been offered to the city of Chefchaouen by the CoMun Program of the German cooperation agency (GIZ) in collaboration with MedCities network. Apart from the report presented the technical assistance also includes study visits for the exchange of experiences with other Mediterranean cities that have been working for the promotion of handicraft as well as the implementation of a short term pilot project. For more information of the work done between MedCities and CoMun Program, please consult other events done.