Every stitch carries craftsmanship; every skill empowers women to thrive. On the afternoon of July 15, the signing ceremony for co-construction of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance & Women Empowerment" Community Public Welfare Project was successfully held at Shandong China Coal Group. Co-hosted by three parties: Lianxinqiao Social Organization Service Center of Jining High-tech Zone, Jining Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Association, and Jining Industry and Information Business Vocational Training College affiliated to Shandong China Coal Group, the event gathered intangible cultural heritage inheritors, female employees from communities and representatives of flexibly employed women to open a brand-new chapter of empowering women through intangible cultural heritage.
The ceremony was presided over by Wang Man, Assistant to the Group General Manager and Vice President of Jining Industry and Information Business Vocational Training College. She first extended a warm welcome to all attending leaders, heritage inheritors and female representatives, and elaborated on the core value of the project. On one hand, it digs deep into local intangible cultural heritage resources of Jining such as crochet and sacred embroidery to preserve the heritage of traditional handcrafts. On the other hand, it builds a public welfare training platform integrating "intangible cultural heritage + e-commerce", expanding income channels for home-based women and flexible workers, and truly turning handcraft skills at fingertips into sustainable fingertip economy.
Subsequently, representatives of the three co-organizing parties delivered speeches in turn:
Qiao Chenxin, Chairperson and Women’s Federation Director of Lianxinqiao Social Organization Service Center of Jining High-tech Zone, stated that the center will tap into female artisans based in communities, unite women through intangible cultural heritage programs, strengthen neighborhood bonds, and boost the development of harmonious communities.
Chen Liujuan, President of Jining Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Association, introduced that the association will coordinate resources of heritage inheritors and handcraft techniques, bring intangible cultural heritage culture down to communities, and fuel women’s development with traditional craftsmanship.
Zhang Zhuangzhi, Vice President of Jining Industry and Information Business Vocational Training College, emphasized that the college will deploy professional e-commerce teachers and standardized practical training courses to teach short video production and live-stream sales operation skills, boosting the online communication of intangible cultural heritage.
Guan Chenghui, Secretary of the Party Committee of Shandong China Coal Group, delivered a speech on behalf of the Group. He noted that the Group has always adhered to its corporate mission of being responsible to the country, society, customers and employees, and actively fulfilled corporate social responsibilities. Relying on its self-owned e-commerce platforms and publicity channels, the Group will provide supporting guarantees for public welfare heritage classes, exhibitions and sales of women’s handcrafts, and online live streams. Meanwhile, he expressed hopes that the three parties will cooperate sincerely to deliver tangible results for the public welfare project, and encouraged all women present to seize learning opportunities and build a better life with dexterous hands.
Amid melodious music, a grand co-construction signing and appointment certificate awarding ceremony was held on site. Representatives of the three parties formally signed the co-construction agreement to establish a long-term in-depth cooperative relationship. Appointment certificates were also issued to intangible cultural heritage tutors, inviting outstanding master craftsmen to teach regular community public welfare classes and secure stable faculty support for follow-up activities. The signed cooperation agreement has created a new four-party linkage model featuring "communities providing venues, intangible cultural heritage empowering participants, vocational colleges cultivating talents and enterprises offering support", and formed an integrated industrial chain for women’s intangible cultural heritage covering training, creation and online exhibition & sales.
After the signing, heritage tutors gave live demonstrations of crochet and sacred embroidery, shared handcraft innovation and integration experience, and illustrated the innovative development concept of "intangible cultural heritage + e-commerce" delivering a synergy greater than the sum of its parts. Afterwards, representatives of the three parties held a small forum to conduct in-depth exchanges on regular public welfare classes, online promotion of heritage products, skill assistance for community women and other details, and refined implementation plans for future work.
After the ceremony, the attending leaders, guests and intangible cultural heritage representatives visited the training venues of Jining Industry and Information Business Vocational Training College and the Group’s AI Intelligent Research Institute. They had a detailed understanding of the college’s modern training supporting facilities, as well as the research achievements and training application scenarios of China Coal Intelligent Research Institute in artificial intelligence, digital media and intelligent e-commerce fields.
The implementation of this signing project is an innovative practice of benefiting the public with culture and empowering women. Going forward, Shandong China Coal Group will continue to give full play to its platform and resource advantages, and carry out regular public welfare activities including free intangible cultural heritage skill courses, intangible cultural heritage live-streaming sales and women’s handicraft experience sessions. The Group will revitalize and inherit Jining’s intangible cultural heritage of crochet and sacred embroidery, expand flexible employment channels for local women, activate women’s power with corporate responsibility, and boost the integrated development of grassroots governance and cultural revitalization through intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship.
