Traditional boatbuilding craftsmanship is being forgotten or taken over by other materials and techniques. At the same time it carries cultural memory, sustainable thinking, and a deep understanding of wood as a living material.
Preserving and revitalizing these skills is crucial for the traditional cultural heritage of European marine areas, and it is also highly relevant for applied research, education and innovation in wood-based construction. For the InnovaWood network, which connects universities, RTOs and training institutions across Europe, wooden boatbuilding illustrates how traditional knowledge can inform new design, digital learning, and sustainable practices.
Two Erasmus+ projects All Hands on Deck AHOD and AHOD360 have captured traditional shipwright know-how from workshops and shipyards across Europe and translated them into modern learning resources. These include structured courses, multilingual terminology databases, and 360° virtual environment.
InnovaWood contributed to this work, ensuring that the results now feed into the New European Bauhaus Academy (NEBA) focus on sustainable, circular and regenerative craft and construction. The results open a very practical opportunity: helping people who already work with wood – carpenters, furniture makers, joiners, students of design and restoration, discover how their skills transfer into boatbuilding.
Many of InnovaWood members train wood engineers, furniture makers, experts in bio-based construction. Boatbuilding offers them a new application field and support cross-sector learning. It can lead to work in marine restoration, cultural tourism, small craft manufacturing, and heritage projects. These are areas where skilled woodworkers are in high demand.
Key results now available for use
All materials are free to use and suitable for teaching, workshops, and lifelong learning:
- Online course “Introduction to Shipbuilding”
15 modules, 400+ hours of structured training
www.allhandsondeck.eu - European Audiovisual Terminology Database
1,000+ shipbuilding terms in 5 languages, with images and pronunciation
https://dictionary.ahod360.infoproject.eu - 360° Virtual Shipyard Tours
Immersive visits to shipyards in Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany
https://ahod360.ili.eu/ - Collaborative Shipwright Portal
A community platform mapping 300+ shipyards, schools and workshops
https://ahod360.infoproject.eu/community
The AHOD360 online course is freely available through the NEB Academy open repository, adding to its training offer on bio-based, circular and regenerative practices.
ABOUT PROJECTS
ALL HANDS ON DECK 360°, project number 2022-1-ES01-KA220-VET-000087373, is a European project funded by the Erasmus+ programme, with duration from December 2022 to April 2025. It brings together a Consortium of 5 partners University of Murcia (Spain), CEIPES (Italy), Innovation in Learning Institute (Germany), InnovaWood (Belgium), Coordinated by CETEM (Spain). Our website https://ahod360.infoproject.eu
This transnational initiative has built on the foundation of the previous AHOD project, aiming to modernize the transmission of traditional shipwright skills.
ALL HANDS ON DECK European work heritage in shipwright for present and future (AHOD), project number 2019-1-ES01-KA204-065201, is a European project funded by the Erasmus+ programme, with duration from December 2019 to June 2022. It brings together a Consortium of 6 partners CETEM (Spain), CEIPES (Italy), IDEC (Greece), InnovaWood (Belgium), Warsaw University of Life Sciences (Poland), coordinated by University of Murcia (Spain). Our website https://www.allhandsondeck.eu