European Cultural Heritage Strategy for the 21 st century „ Page 36 Example of action „ The “Europe Tour” initiative on empowering rural areas to develop the potential of cultural tourism (which seeks to improve the professional qualification of stakeholders in rural cultural tourism areas) www.europetour.tips Recommendation K5 Diversify training systems for heritage professionals Trades and crafts evolve and professional pathways are less linear and more complex, requiring lifelong train- ing, adaptation to new situations or retraining. The heritage sector, which is extremely diversified, needs gen- eralists who have a sound basic training, an open mind and a capacity for change. There is also a need for specialists in cutting-edge fields in order to ensure excellence. In the field of heritage, as in other sectors, there is a clear trend towards dual training and recognition of the importance of updating knowledge and skills. This context calls for a diversification of training systems (training centres for professionals, specific ap- prenticeships for young people, sandwich training and mobility, schools and universities, in-house training, etc.) and networking. Relevant challenges K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 Interfaces Courses of action „ Provide information on existing systems and incentives, at national and European level „ Evaluate: carry out an analysis and put forward proposed improvements to the training of profes- sionals „ Ensure the sustainability of appropriate measures „ Support the widespread use of personal training accounts „ Enhance co-operation between universities, schools and training centres „ Ensure co-ordination between training systems and professional networks „ Organise in-house training sessions with support from experts (thematic, technical and specific matters, current situation, interdisciplinary or intersectoral dialogue, etc.) „ Introduce grants for professionals „ Take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Erasmus + programme „ Support exchanges of good practices and mobility, both national and international: apprentices, young professionals, lifelong training „ Support mentoring in Europe Target audience: local, regional, national, European Examples of action „ “Erasmus for apprentices”, trial carried out by 11 French and German companies, 2016 www.agence-erasmus.fr/projet/39/l-erasmus-des-apprentis-le-projet-euroapprentissage „ Academy of Heritage in Cracow http://mck.krakow.pl/a-post-graduate-studies Recommendation K6 Develop knowledge banks on local and traditional materials, techniques and know-how The threat of disappearance hanging in particular over many heritage trades and practices means that there is an urgent need to create or further develop dedicated places for conservation and knowledge banks for materials, techniques and know-how, making sure that they do not become disconnected from the knowl- edge, models and processes of the work itself. Supplementing existing databases, their purpose would be to