Petition Design for Innovation in Wales is accepted by the National Assembly's Petitions Committee

Thanks for all of your support in signing the Petition Design for Innovation in Wales. The petition closed on Friday 12^th November with 369 signatures.

On the 16^th November it was reviewed and accepted by the National Assembly's Petitions Committee. As result, the petition was referred to the Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills Lesley Griffiths AM for her view about further action.

The focus of the petition was also described as ‘interesting’ by Veronica German AM, who also proposed a second action to establish who else in the Welsh Assembly could address the issues raised in relation to ‘social enterprise and new ways to deliver public services’.   

On the 17^th November, the Design Wales team met with Andrew Rt Davies AM, member of the Petitions Committee, to reinforce our recommendations and to discuss how we can ensure the momentum we have created can be sustained and lead to a greater commitment to design by the Welsh Assembly. (photo by Darragh Murphy)

Design Wales wants to raise the profile of design ahead of next May’s elections and ultimately aims to see the assembly members form a cross-party group for design and innovation in Wales.

We would like to thank once again all the endorsers of the Manifesto and individuals who have signed the petition. The manifesto would not have been possible without the SEE project, a network of 11 European partners, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVC programme.

To learn more and to download the Manifesto ‘Design for Innovation in Wales: Industry, Services & Society’, visit: http://www.designwales.org/pages/manifesto.htm

"Coup for design in Wales".

Our recent actions to raise the profile of design at a political level in Wales have caught the attention of the Associate Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group (APDIG) in Westminster. The APDIG Group Manager, Jocelyn Bailey, drafted a thorough and sharp critical appraisal of whats happening here in Wales for their October Newsletter, describing the full context of the recent unanimous vote for design in the Senedd during a debate about innovation.

Read the whole article via: http://www.policyconnect.org.uk/apdig/coup-design-wales

Remember; you can still join in the campaign by signing our e-petition via:  
Saesneg / English:
http://www.assemblywales.org/gethome/e-petitions/sign-petition.htm

Cymraeg / Welsh:
http://www.cynulliadcymru.org/gethome/e-petitions/sign-petition.htm

Manifesto Launched - Petition on-line

Last night saw the launch of our Manifesto for design innovation in Wales at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay. In parallel with this we also announced our intention to compile a petition that follows the same themes - this is now available to sign on-line.

The wording of what we are petitioning for follows a standard/approved format and is as follows:


We call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Assembly Government to consider the potential significant role for design in future innovation, public service and social enterprise policies and programmes. This is in the light of increased commitment to design agenda by other nations around the world and in preparation for a new Innovation Policy due to be published by the European Commission. This imminent new policy is likely to include a broader definition of innovation that embraces services in the public & private sectors and social enterprise on equal terms with traditional research and development (R&D).

There is also some background information.

You can following the link below to sign the petition:

Saesneg / English:
http://www.assemblywales.org/gethome/e-petitions/sign-petition.htm

Cymraeg / Welsh:
http://www.cynulliadcymru.org/gethome/e-petitions/sign-petition.htm

There are two possible outcomes - an official enquiry (which will not happen in this case) or individual AMs will be encouraged to find out more and get involved - which is what we want- with some of them hopefully coming together to form a Cross-Party Group for design innovation to keep it on the political agenda.

The petition closes on the 12th November.
Please forward this anyone you think might be interested.