New Azorean Handicrafts portal boosts proximity and simplifies procedures for artisans and craft companies - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

The new Azorean Handicrafts digital portal has been created, available at artesanato.azores.gov.pt, providing artisans and craft companies with online access to the services of the Crafts and Design Centre of the Azores (CADA).

The Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment, Maria João Carreiro, presented the portal this Friday at the " Christmas Crafts Fair - 2024," which is taking place until Sunday at the Pavilhão do Mar in Ponta Delgada.

"The new digital address of Azorean Handicrafts reinforces the proximity, simplification and transparency of governance and public services with citizens," she said. The government official added that the digitisation of this public service also contributes to promoting the “modernisation of the presence of handicrafts on the internet."

Next week, artisans and craft companies will have access to a portal that includes a mobile key and a dedicated area for submitting and managing various procedures. This will cover applications for incentives as well as requests for obtaining and renewing the Craft Production Unit Charter (UPA) and the Artisan Charter. It also provides them with the possibility of applying for certification of products bearing the "Azorean Handicrafts" brand.

"From now on, the submission of applications to the incentive system [SIDART] will be integrated into the same platform that encompasses all the services provided by CADA. This will dematerialise processes and ensure that the steps of each application can be monitored online," she said.

A digital catalogue has also been created for the dissemination and georeferencing (by municipality and island) of craft productions, artisans, companies and workshops, thus "creating new possibilities for identifying and promoting artisans and craft companies to the general public," stated Maria João Carreiro.

"We are proud to honour this commitment as it is the result of the public investment the Region is making in the craft sector and as it brings added value to artisans and craft companies," she said, indicating that 27 thousand Euros had been invested in the new portal.

The Regional Secretary took the opportunity to assess 2024 as "a positive year for handicrafts in the Azores." In addition to the new portal, it will be marked by the implementation of the Geographical Indication (GI) certification system.

"GI certification symbolises the validation and recognition of craft productions within national and European territory. It adds value to the protection and projection of artisanal know-how as the production of GI-certified products is now limited to the territory of the Azores and certified Azorean artisans," she explained.

This year, 300 artisans participated in all the "Azores Craft Fairs," including those associated with the main summer festivities in the archipelago. A 200 thousand- Euro ERDF application is being prepared to revamp the image of these fairs, she announced.

The "Azores Christmas Crafts Fair - 2024" opened on Wednesday. It features products from 84 regional artisans and craft companies, who regard this CADA organisation as an opportunity to market their products, many of which are certified under the "Azorean Handicrafts" brand.

In 2025, the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing and Employment, through CADA, will invest 1 million Euros in developing policies to support the production, innovation, dissemination and commercialisation of Azorean handicrafts.