SEE project - First thematic workshop in Lyon

Following the opening conference in Cardiff last October, a study trip to Finland in May (to better understand how their design policy was realised) and the first of four thematic workshops having taken place in Lyon last month the SEE project is well under way.
The SEE project is funded by the European Commission under the INTERREG IVC programme and brings together a network of 11 design and innovation organisations from across Europe to further understand how design can help realise national and regional innovation policy. That’s interesting enough, but each of the 11 design partners has to not only demonstrate a close link to their regional policy makers but also ensure they bring their representatives with them to the workshops and events.

Gisele (Design Wales) and Justin (Centre for Design Innovation, Ireland) discuss a point!

Working for their lunch.
It might seem obvious, but from our experience of a previous network (SEEdesign) the most constructive and rewarding outputs resulted when we pushed the partners to work on addressing a topic together – rather than only listening to presentations from regional initiatives. This is the approach we are taking with the SEE project and in June the partners and their regional policy makers (24 people all together) gathered in Lyon to work on developing material to guide policy makers on - Integrating creativity and design into regional innovation policy – which is the first of four themed workshops to produce policy guidelines.

The innovation policy map taking shape.

Mapping regional policy.
Using a combination of Pecha Kucha presentations and large format questionnaires on the walls we were able to quickly map the clarity, longevity and scope of each regional or national innovation policy and related design programme. We are all European but each region and nation has a unique economic, political, industrial and cultural environment that has resulted in a broad variety of approaches to innovation policy and related support for design. This approach to mapping the current state was very successful and we intend to further interpret the results before we make them available more widely.
Following the mapping exercise the two groups, design organisations and policy makers, divided to discuss how design could be integrated into innovation policy and the barriers to actually making this happen. By placing these thoughts in priority of importance on the walls of the meeting room the groups were able to switch positions to interpret and comment on the postings from their policy or design colleagues.

Debating the results.

Publishing the results.
The findings from this workshop will be published as guidelines for policy makers. To get this right we are asking the policy makers what they actually want in terms of format and supporting information; by doing so we are hopefully taking more of a user-centred approach and will produce something that’s actually used rather than filed!
The next workshop is not until November and takes place in Denmark, but there is a great deal to do before then.

Gavin

An update on our activities

There is growing interest in how design is being supported and promoted in regions and nations around the World. Design is increasingly acknowledged as a key element in the realisation of innovation and wider economic development policies and strategies, even though it is currently primarily only linked to the development of technology and new products. In 2010 or 2011 a revised innovation, or possible individual design policy, at a European level is likely to highlight the potential for design in the development of not only manufactured products but also non-technological innovations and public sector services.

Building on 15 years experience of the delivery of design support programmes and leading networks in the UK and Europe, Design Wales is an international centre of expertise for design support and related national & regional policy.

Our programme of activities includes:

Support services delivered directly to business.
Delivered on behalf of regional economic development offices and independent business organisations these workshops, training courses and events support industry in understanding and managing design issues such as branding, new product development and service innovation.

Support services for regional development offices / innovation programmes.
To help regional economic development offices understand the role of design, develop their own regional policy & support programmes and train local business support staff.

Networks.
Design Wales already leads a network of 11 European design organisations and regional policy makers and established the UK design support network in 2007. The insight gained from engagement with this broad network of partners provides invaluable knowledge of the current level of regional engagement and best practice delivery. (visit http://www.seeproject.org/).
The SEE network involves both design organisations and policy makers from each of the 11 European regions. SEE is funded by the European Commission under the INTERREG IV C programme.

Research.
Design Wales undertakes research to understand the role of design support and promotion in economic development at a policy level and to further highlight best practice in support programmes. Design Wales have hosted a bi-annual International Workshop on Design Support (IWDS) since 2002 each time attracting up to 100 delegates from around the World.


In addition to the SEE network we are already delivering design support services and providing advice to several regional business support organisations in Wales, Scotland and as far afield as South America. We are also starting to grow again. This week a new member of staff joined us with specialist knowledge of European policy to help us further understand how design can be integrated into or developed alongside innovation policy and support programmes.

With changes and cuts in the business support infrastructure, the wider economic downturn and the potential for future European and regional policy to at least include significant aspects of design and non-technological innovation these are exciting and challenging times. We intend to make full use of our past business support experience, policy knowledge and networking capability. We have already formed a revised management board and over the next month we will announce firmer plans for our objectives and activities.

Free advisory services come to an end

As of 31st March 2009 Design Wales will no longer provide a free advisory service for Welsh industry.

All free advisory support services for industry are now provided under the banner of the Welsh Assembly Governments Flexible Support for Buisness programme (http://www.business-support-wales.wales.gov.uk/).

Design Wales will continue with a revised programme of activities to be announced in the near future that build on our experience for the provision of practical services and events to encourage and facilitate the use of design and support the development of regional design policy.

Design Wales Presents Design Futures 2009

date: 12th March 2009
venue: National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
time: doors open 7:00pm for 7:10 start

Design Wales would like to invite you to the annual Design Futures event.

In addition to presenting the annual Ffres Awards to the best entries from graphic, textile and fashion design students from Wales, this year’s speakers will be:

Angus Struthers: Head of Service Design
Virgin Atlantic
“Find out why Virgin Atlantic has a Service Design team, what we do and how we do it”.

Steve Masterson, Partner & COO,
Kiska Design, Austria
Founded in Salzburg in 1990, KISKA has grown to be one of Europe's largest design companies with more than 100 employees from 15 nations offering design services that range from brand strategy to transport and exhibition design.


The Ffres Awards
Launched to help design students from Wales gain experience in working with industry, this year’s briefs for the competition were set and judged by:
Seren for graphic design
New Look for fashion design
Mothercare for textile design
All three companies will be talking about the brief, the challenges they set for the students and presenting the awards to the winning entries on the night.

The Design Futures event is free but all delegates must be registered in advance.
To request a ticket and receive more information please
e-mail enquiries@designwales.org or call 0845 303 1400

Design Wales Finds Development of the Metallica Brand Very Interesting!

Design Wales attend Service Design Conference

The first international Service Design conference in Europe took place in Amsterdam on 24-26 November 2008. Design Wales attended the 2nd day ‘Share’ of the three-day conference organised by the Service Design Network. During the day academic experts and practising service designers shared their knowledge and experiences of service design projects. As Service Design is a relatively new discipline it was especially useful to gain insight into real life projects through the case studies from live|work and Engine.

http://www.service-design-network.org/
http://www.livework.co.uk/
http://www.enginegroup.co.uk/

Design Wales draws attention to the British Standard for Web Accessibility

Attention all website designers! The British Standard Institute has begun the process of issuing a British Standard for the creation of websites which are accessible to disabled people. The draft document entitled, ‘Web accessibility – Building accessible experiences for disabled people – Code of practice’ is now open for public comment.

The draft document can be found here. In order to view the document and make comments, reviewers are asked to register. The registration process is easy - name and e-mail address; the password will be e-mailed to you.