Interreg CLAY

CLAY aims at supporting the ceramic sector by prioritising new technologies, strengthening brands and developing new services to maintain competitive advantage and face the challenge of globalisation. The Artistic Ceramics represents a central part of European tradition, mainly composed by small and micro enterprises that were hit by the economic crisis and low-cost competition. For the ceramic sector, globalisation represents a challenge but also an opportunity, in this sense the sector, supported by public policies, must improve the way it conceives and develops new products, industrial processes and services, in line with the recent drive towards advanced manufacturing. The CLAY project gathers 5 regions which have both important ceramics traditions and innovative small and medium enterprises, and uses interregional exchange to identify solutions to the challenge of matching tradition and innovation, by improving regional programmes for innovation. The main goal of the project is to show that product, process design and innovation can keep tradition and modernity visible and competitive in today's world. The overall objective is to ensure that policy instruments are adapted to support the ceramic sector to flourish in the contemporary global environment.