Organizations from 5 European countries have developed learning materials for companies as well as for potentially interested women
Please note: at the top of this web page there is an automatic translation available.
The title deliberately promises a lot: “WinSTONE“, is the name of an EU project that aims to bring more women into the natural stone sector. The name refers to the benefits that society and industry will gain from more equal opportunities. Up to now, women‘s proportion in jobs ranging from quarrying to sales and installation has been only 7.25%, according to a study by the Spanish technology center CTMarmol.
From 2019 to 2020, sector organizations from 5 European countries collaborated on the topic. In an online conference on September 16, 2021, from 10 am to 1 pm (Central European Summer Time), the results will be presented to the public in English. These are learning materials on how to interest women in the industry on the one hand, and how companies can make themselves more attractive to potential female employees on the other. One explicit goal is to attract women as entrepreneurs.
Because:
* many of the jobs around stone no longer have anything to do with backbreaking work, as the industry is highly based on machines and modern tools;
* CNC-controlled technologies are standard in processing, for example;
* architecture and design firms, the sector’s primary target groups, have a high percentage of women employees.
In terms of size, the stone sector cannot be compared with the major industries. But in terms of sales, it generates around €24 billion annually throughout Europe with more than 500,000 employees.
The demand for natural stone has risen continuously in recent years.
Reason enough for the European Commission to support the WinSTONE project financially in its Erasmus+ program.
In the conference on Zoom, ideas such as mentoring or networking are presented. Online tutorials have been developed for companies. A handbook is currently being edited to summarize the whole topic.
The target group of the conference is employees in natural stone specialist companies, teachers and training companies in the fields of stonemasonry/stone sculptor/natural stone mechanics.
The organizations involved in the project were:
* The German Natural Stone Association was the coordinator of the project https://www.natursteinverband.de/,
* Asociación Empresarial de Investigación Centro Tecnológico del Mármol y la Piedra – Spain https://ctmarmol.es/,
* National Technical University of Athens – Greece https://www.ntua.gr/,
* Institute of Entrepreneurship Development – Greece https://ied.eu/,
* Stonemasonry School Klesarska skola, Pučišća – Croacia http://www.ss-klesarska-pucisca.skole.hr/skola/kontakti.
Zoom Conference Free Registration (if possible until September 10, 2021)
(08.09.2021, USA: 09.08.2021)