Founded in 2011, SABER FAZER is a private initiative coordinated by Alice Bernardo and Miguel Barbot, which has been dedicated to research, enhancement and dissemination of artisanal and semi-industrial production techniques in Portugal, focusing on natural textile fibres, natural dyeing and farm-to-cloth productions. It is an educational and editorial project whose main objective is to ensure the transfer of technical knowledge and educate and raise awareness of the fundamental issues surrounding this topic, which are not only environmental sustainability issues but also social and economic ones. Smaller and local production scales are increasingly relevant, and it is urgent to renew and disseminate the knowledge that allows us to create sustainable production and collaboration chains. Our work focuses on local genetic resources and sustainable, small- and medium-scale production processes.
In 2012 we created OFÍCIO, a consultancy with a deep knowledge of the reality of creative businesses, supporting them in their management and strategic planning and providing support services for their development. Ofício is also a creative agency that offers design, digital marketing and content production services.
Saber Fazer / Ofício is certified by DGERT (Portuguese Government) as a Vocational Education and Training Provider (VET).
CRU is a creative hub, installed in Porto Art District since 2012 and is dedicated to the development of a multidisciplinary and extensive community of professionals from the creative industries. CRU is formed by a community of more than 350 individuals - coworkers, designers, craftsmen, entrepreneurs , artists, partners and trainers, of which around 45 work daily in its space. CRU’s mission is to offer the best conditions to keep its community active, prosperous and international, while reinforcing the individual potential of each freelancer and solopreneur of the different cultural and creative industries.
For this, CRU offers space and services at a bearable cost, in an environment suitable for artistic creation, productivity, networking and collaborations, contributing to the well-being and friendship between all the people who are part of the community.
Materahub is a strategic design hub working to foster local development by promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, networking and cross- fertilization. The experience of Materahub professional team is focused on culture and creative sector, cultural heritage, tourism, social innovation, innovation in education and enterprise and all those economic sectors which are relevant for the growth and wealth of the community. These sectors have been supported by tailored capacity building programs, research and development actions, innovation pilot projects based on cross-fertilization between sectors (specially creative driven initiatives).
In the last 10 years, Materahub has been involved in EU funded projects both as coordinator and as strategic partner, running initiatives under Erasmus+, COSME, H2020, Interreg Europe, Creative Europe as well as projects funded by ERDF and ESF.