La Ponte CULTURALITY Living Lab
Call for Collaborators
CULTURALITY partner La Ponte Research Centre and Ecomuseum has launched an open call for individuals interested in collaborating on selected prototyping ideas. This initiative is part of a CULTURALITY Living Lab, the “Taller de experimentación e innovación para el desarrollo de prototipos centrados en la artesanía y los saberes tradicionales,” which focuses on utilizing crafts and traditional knowledge as heritage assets for sustainable tourism in rural areas. The workshop will take place in Villanueva de Santo Adriano, Asturias, from September 1 to 5, 2026.
The call is directed at individuals connected to the crafts sector, including professionals and students, as well as those interested in tangible and intangible cultural heritage, tourism, rural development, and collaborative networks.
Up to six collaborators will be selected for each project. The application period for collaborators is open from July 1 to July 15, 2026.
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Participants may register to collaborate on the development of one of the following selected ideas:
Idea 1: Weaving Futures: Ancestral Knowledge for the Contemporary Rural World
Proposed by project promoter Olga Busom Salafranca, this idea gathers artisans from various disciplines to investigate and experiment collectively. Utilizing basketry, wool, looms, ceramics, wood, and forge work, the project explores how traditional knowledge can address contemporary rural issues such as depopulation, knowledge transmission, the role of women, and new ruralities.
Idea 2: Creating Spaces for Sharing Knowledge and Tools: An Object Library and Rural Makerspace in the Trubia Valley
Proposed by project promoter Thomas Smith, this initiative focuses on establishing an object library and makerspace. These shared environments will provide community access to tools and equipment at a low cost, fostering sustainable living, shared consumption, and community collaboration in repair and creation processes.
Idea 3: Craft Routes in Rural Asturias
Led by project promoter Mar Muñoz Arrue, this proposal develops a visitor itinerary connecting artisanal workshops across rural Asturias. The routes are designed to allow artisans to exhibit their techniques, materials, and relationship with the territory, bridging the gap between visitors, the rural region, and traditional trades.
Idea 4: Spinning Time, Weaving Territory
Proposed by project promoter Susana Marqués Nubla, this project centers on manual spinning with local wool, inspired by traditional spinning gatherings (filandones). It merges the craft with the collection of oral history and the co-design of sustainable souvenirs, functioning as an exercise in both wellbeing and circular economy.
Idea 5: From Chestnut Grove to Basket: Reviving and Passing on Traditional Chestnut Wood Basketry in Western Asturias
Led by project promoter Sergio Federico Hache, this idea seeks to recover and document traditional chestnut wood basketry in western Asturias. It will focus on chestnut management, artisanal basketry processes, and capturing the knowledge retained by older generations.
The registration form can be found at:
https://archivos.nuberu.org/apps/forms/s/eJ3foFsq88Q7orxyJASsagsN
For further information regarding the Living Lab, visit the link bellow.
Photography: © Carmen Moran / Wikimedia Commons
