Valorising Traditional Crafts: Digital Tools and Impact Pathways

Traditional craft practices face growing marginalization under industrialization yet remain central to cultural heritage and community identity. The Horizon Europe project CRAEFT addresses this through a Valorization Pilot, applying digital technologies across four dimensions: cultural experiences, games, retail support, and maker-oriented activities. The pilot adopted the Europeana Impact Framework, built on the Balanced Value Impact Model, to structure and assess impact using strategic perspectives and value lenses. Using surveys, interviews, observations, and utilization-based evaluations by independent teams, we examine how the framework can be operationalized in a complex, multi-site craft context, what short- and medium-term impacts can be evidenced, and what methodological trade-offs arise in real-world deployment. The findings indicate that digital augmentations, when usable and context-aware, strengthen cultural connection, support learning, and improve practitioner visibility, with utilization-based replications providing initial evidence of transferability. The study documents measurable social and selected economic value aligned with sustainability goals concerning education, decent work, sustainable communities, and responsible consumption, while environmental and long-term legacy impacts remain only partially evidenced. We conclude that learning and socio-cultural outcomes are the most readily evidenced within funded pilot timeframes, and offer recommendations for heritage organizations adopting impact-oriented evaluation.