Tuesday, June 28, 2011

SEE are RegioStars Finalists


On 23 June 2011, Design Wales attended the RegioStars award ceremony hosted by the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, in the Bozar, Brussels. The SEE project, led by Design Wales, was short listed as finalists for the 2011 award and although we did not win, the feedback from the judges was very positive:

“This is an interesting policy-building project in a forward-looking area – design as a source of innovation. Its broad partnership and EU endorsement gives credibility to the statement that it paves the way towards new innovation policies, suited to regions outside the Science and Technology hubs.”

SEE was nominated for the award by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO). WEFO Director, Damien O'Brien said that being named RegioStars finalists is an excellent achievement. Wales did not come back empty handed as the ‘Growth in environmental marine science’ (GEMS) project were named winners!

Design Wales also had the opportunity to engage with the Deputy Minister for European Programmes, Alun Davies AM and discuss plans to establish the cross-party group for design and innovation in the National Assembly. We will provide an update about the cross-party group soon!

SEE, a network of eleven European partners sharing experience on how to integrate design into regional, national and European innovation policies, co-financed by ERDF through INTERREG IVC.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Design Wales Forum visits The South West Design Forum

Media and Innovation Awards in Plymouth


Design Wales Forum was able to secure some funding from the HEFCW SIP Programme fund to make a  visit with South West Design Forum. The Strategic Insight Programme (SIP) was launched to help university staff develop and build relationships with external partner organisations. Design Wales Forum is currently looking at ways to create a sustainable model for the forum. The visit with South West Design Forum enabled Design Wales Forum co-ordinator Victoria Jones to open a dialogue between the South West Design Forum and Design Wales Forum. A further meeting has been arranged in order to discuss future potential for collaboration.

During her visit Victoria shadowed Tim Burley chair of the South West Design Forum. She attended the Media and Innovation Summit, the South West Design Forum AGM and the Media and Innovation Awards.

"This was an opportunity to gain insight of another design organisation: how it is structured and how its activites are run. The only way to have gained this information was by spending time with them." Victoria Jones, Design Wales Forum.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

SEE project launches sixth bulletin


The SEE bulletin seeks to contribute to the growing interest in design policy across Europe and beyond. With the debate gathering pace (particularly in light of the European Design Innovation Initiative), SEE continues to provide strategic insight based on the shared experience of the partners. SEE has been examining the role of design in innovation policy for the past three years and this edition reflects the changes we have seen in that time. Highlights include:

• Research: How Policies Matter to Design (Dr Qian Sun)
• Interviews: Design Policy and Promotion Map (Estonia, Finland, Italy and South Korea).
• Special Reports: SEE Project’s Policy, Innovation and Design Conference. Dublin’s Bid for World Design Capital 2014.
• Case Studies: Service Design Programme (Wales, UK) and Design and Business Concepts that Merge (Argentina).
• SEE Legacy: Next Steps for the SEE Project.

The SEE bulletin is the only publication entirely dedicated to exploring matters related to design policies and programmes for design support. It is published by Design Wales, lead partner of the SEE project and is distributed to over 60 countries.

SEE is a network of 11 European partners exploring how to integrate design into regional and national innovation policies. The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVC programme. An electronic copy of the bulletin is available to download from the SEE website: www.seeproject.org/publications.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Commission announces Leadership Board for the European Design Innovation Initiative


After much speculation, the European Commission has announced the 15 members of the European Design Innovation Initiative (EDII):

- BEDA - Bureau of European Design Associations - Deborah Dawton, President
- UEAPME – European Association of craft, small and medium-sized enterprises represented by Gerin Trautenberger, Vice-President of Austrian creative Industries - member of UEAPME
- TAFTIE – the European Network of Innovation Agencies - represented by Andrea Siodmok, Technology Strategy Board - member of TAFTIE
- German Design Council, Andrej Kupetz, Chief Executive Officer
- Barcelona Design Center, Isabel Roig, Directora general
- Hungarian Design Council, Dr. Miklós Bendzsel, Chairman
- Christian Bason, MindLab Copenhagen
- Giovanni Antonio Cocco, Managing Director ISNART S.c.p.A, Istituto Nazionale Ricerche Turistiche
- Rachel Cooper, Professor of Design management, Chair of Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts and Chair of Imagination Lancaster
- Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Chairman of the Committee supporting World Design Capital Helsinki 2012; former President and CEO of Nokia Corporation
- Stefano Marzano, Chief Creative Director, Philips Design
- Klemens Rossnagel, responsible for Design Research Audi Group
- Livia Tirone, TIRONE NUNES, Founder of TIRONES NUNES dedicated to designing and promoting "bio-climatic" & "sustainable buildings"
- Roberto Verganti, Visiting Professor in Copenhagen Business School, Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy and Professor in Politecnico di Milano
- Thierry Wasser, Perfumer, Guerlain

The EDII was launched in 2011 by the European Commission as part of the Europe 2020 strategy Innovation Union.

The EDII aims to:
- Raise the awareness of design as a driver of innovation in Europe
- Enhance its role as a key discipline to bring ideas to market transforming them into user-friendly and appealing products, processes or services by enterprises and public services in the EU.

The Board, the Secretariat (Aalto University – Finland) and the European Commission will work together to develop a joint vision to better integrate design into innovation policy.

The first meeting of the Leadership Board took place on 27th May 2011 in Helsinki; Deborah Dawton, BEDA President attended and reports:
“The significance of design in European innovation policy is now established. With 46 organisational members in 23 Member States, BEDA is delighted that its lobbying over the past decade has encouraged the Commission to integrate design as a key driver for Europe’s competitiveness and innovation. The policy is now converting to action and BEDA looks forward to playing a full and active role on the European Design Leadership Board as it continues in its task.”