SofinaBoël Fund for Education and Talent: Young craftspeople in the heritage trades
Improvement grants for young Belgian artisans in the cultural heritage sector.
What is it about?
Sofina and its shareholders have created within the King Baudouin Foundation a fund that focuses on education and training. It aims to support budding or established talent, either by granting them specific individual scholarships or by supporting the projects of organisations working towards similar goals.
The approach is three-pronged:
- Scholarships for graduates and Ph.D. students who wish to further their knowledge at a renowned foreign university, in any discipline (law, engineering, economics, literature, science, etc.)
- Scholarships to train talented young craftspeople in the heritage trades
- Ensure the successful transition between secondary school and higher level or university level education for talented young students from modest socioeconomic backgrounds
- The second approach supports the training of talented young craftspeople (between 20 and 45 years of age) in the heritage trades in order to speed up their pathway to excellence
This will be done while enabling them to mix with the world’s top professionals and trainers in their discipline. The scholarships will enable the craftspeople to perfect their skills in a centre of excellence or with a master abroad. Each year, a call for applications runs until the end of August to identify the training projects that the Platform wishes to support.
The scholarships are awarded based on actual costs and do not exceed 10,000 euros/scholarship. However, this amount may be reviewed where the applicant requires more than this amount to successfully complete his or her development (cost of material, duration of training, etc.).
Who is this for?
The call for applications is aimed at young craftspeople between 20 and 45 years of age who can claim one or more strong connecting factors with Belgium. They must be working in the heritage trades. The following are some of the eligible disciplines: decorative painting, gilding, glass-making, stone-cutting, ironwork, roofing, carpentry, cabinet-making, mosaic tiling, plastering trades, market gardening or historical horticulture (decorative orange trees), old tree pruning, book binding, clock making, etc.