Creativity Unleashed: The design agenda in China

Issue 5 – January 2011

SHARING EXPERIENCE EUROPE POLICY INNOVATION DESIGN

eDITORIAL

ReseARCHGlobal Design Watch 2010: Design Policy and Promotion Programmes in Selected Countries and Regions – Henna Immonen, Juha Järvinen and Eija Nieminen

INTeRVIeWsDesign Policy and Promotion MapIsrael, Turkey, Venezuela and France

sPeCIAL RePORTsCreativity Unleashed: The Design Agenda in ChinaNext Generation Design Support Programmes

POLICY IN PRACTICeInnovation Union – a win for design!

CAse sTuDIesCentre for Design and Innovation (c4di), (Scotland, UK)Design your Profit (Poland)

see LIBRARY

2 SEE BULLETIN Issue 5

THe see PARTNeRsHIP

This SEE bulletin is produced by Design Wales as part of the activities of the SEE project, which is operating from September 2008 to June 2011, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVC programme.

SEE is a network of eleven European design organisations working to integrate design into innovation policies at regional, national and European levels.

Design Wales / UWIC – University of Wales Institute, Cardiff Cardiff, UK

Design Flanders Brussels, Belgium

Danish Design Centre Copenhagen, Denmark

Estonian Design Centre Tallinn, Estonia

Aalto University School of Art and DesignHelsinki, Finland

ARDI Rhone-Alps Design Centre Lyon, France

Centre for Design Innovation Sligo, Ireland

Consorzio Casa Toscana Poggibonsi, Italy

The Cieszyn CastleCieszyn, Poland

BIO / Museum of Architecture and DesignLjubljana, Slovenia

Barcelona Design Centre Barcelona, Spain

eDITORIAL

The European Commission has set three interconnected goals as part of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy: smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. As Dr Buescher, Head of the Creative Industries Unit at DG Enterprise and Industry, stated at the ‘Design and Learning’ conference in Brussels (November 2010): ‘design can contribute to all three factors’. Throughout the course of the SEE project, we have provided insight into not only how design can bring innovative and sustainable products and services to market, but also how it can promote an inclusive society. With design now a priority in the flagship initiative ‘Innovation Union’, policy-makers across Europe will be able to draw on project material for understanding the role of design in innovation policy for meeting challenges in industry, services and society.

In SEE bulletin 5, we present a number of articles on this theme. First, the research article is the output of an extra SEE activity by our Finnish partner. The Global Design Watch is a study examining the design policies in a selection of countries (including the SEE partners) to enable governments to understand design capabilities in their nation and enhance performance. We also present two special reports. The first one is an observation of recent developments in design promotion policies in China. The second is a report of the SEE project’s recent workshop in Tallinn, Estonia. It explored six design support programmes from around the world in order to distil good practices and identify ‘next practice’. In our two case studies, we highlight the Polish business support programme ‘Design Your Profit’, and the Scottish initiative ‘Centre for Design and Innovation (c4di)’. This issue also includes the next in the ‘Policy in Practice’ series, exploring the latest round of policy developments at EU level and the implications of including design under ‘Innovation Union’. Finally, we have selected a number of publications that provide an overview of the increasing importance of design around the world.

We finish with an invitation to the SEE project’s final conference, about policies for design and innovation, to take place on 29 March in Brussels. We hope to see you there!

Dr Gisele Raulik-Murphy and Anna Whicher

THE SEE PROJECT

www.seeproject.org 3

RESEARCH

Global Design Watch 2010 DesIgN POLICY AND PROmOTION PROgRAmmes IN seLeCTeD COuNTRIes AND RegIONs

The aim of this survey is to examine and compare public and/or political innovation programmes from Finland and various other countries and regions, in order to evaluate how creativity and creative industries (CI), such as design, are utilised. In addition, this survey examines how creative potential is in evidence in leading industrial companies and, more generally, in national competitiveness. Henna Immonen, Juha Järvinen and Eija Nieminen, Aalto University, School of Art and Design, Designium, Helsinki, Finland

This is the fourth time that Designium has examined the national design policies of the countries selected for this study. Designium’s surveys in 2003, 2006 and 2008 aimed at laying a foundation for long-term evaluation and analysis of the development of national design policy and design promotion programmes. The Global Design Watch 2010 report examines the current situation and compares it to the situation in 2008. The factors in this survey examined the main objectives and implementation of national design programmes, the measures used for promoting national design, and the organisations at which they are targeted.

The survey is divided into three parts. The first section examines the National Design Programmes and Strategies for Design Promotion. In the second section we have sought out a combination of design-related indexes from the World Economic Forum (WEF) report and drawn up a design competitiveness ranking on that basis. In this survey we have also added a third section, which deals with the situation in Finland.

The first part of the survey provides an initial comparison of nations based on available data from public sources on the internet. We have tried to find the newest data available, and wherever possible data has been sourced from the relevant national bodies’ web pages and recent surveys. In most nations, design programmes are run by different government bodies. Some aspects of design programmes are often included in government departments related to culture, media or the arts. Other aspects of design promotion are under the department responsible for industry, technology or innovation. Whatever the case, specific statistics on design are rarely collected. Many countries also have a body specifically mandated to promote and support design, or this role may be fulfilled at a regional rather than national level. In other cases there are no government-funded bodies, but other professional associations have similar ambitions and responsibilities.

In the second section we have looked at a combination of design-related indexes from the WEF report. In 2002 the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) published a study called ‘Building a case for added value through design’,1with a design ranking drawn up using indicators from the World Economic Forum’s Global

Competitiveness Report.2 According to the NZIER report, the competitiveness of design is based on the use of design by businesses and on the maximisation of economic performance. The 2002 NZIER design ranking included indexes for Extent of branding and Uniqueness of product design listed by the WEF. However, Uniqueness of product design was dropped from the list after the 2001/2002 competitiveness report, and Extent of branding was last included in the WEF report for 2004/2005.

Compared to the New Zealand original ranking list, we included design-related indexes on a broader front in our 2006 survey. The purpose of the new ranking is also to take into account the impact of immaterial spending on design competitiveness. The seven selected indexes (Company spending on research and development, Nature of competitive advantage, Value chain presence, Capacity for innovation, Production process sophistication, Extent of marketing and Degree of customer orientation) measure the elements of competitiveness on a broader scale: the status of production processes, and the effects of product design, marketing and after-sales services on the international competitiveness of export companies and their placement in the value chain. We have used the same indexes in the present survey and that for 2008.

The aim of the third section is to analyse the profitability of the content, practical measures and actors in design in Finland. In the Finnish section we have interviewed several experts and design executives from key fields in industry.

KeY ResuLTs

Creativity Competitiveness Ranking 2010The Creativity Competitiveness Ranking 2010 is based on an average of seven design competitiveness-related indexes (Company spending on research and development, Nature of competitive advantage, Value chain presence, Capacity for innovation, Production process sophistication, Extent of marketing and Degree of customer orientation), on a scale of 1 to 7. The indexes used in the ranking were selected in the WEF 2009 report 1.

In the survey we have compared the national competitiveness of leading countries against their design ranking to show


RESEARCH

Table 1: The correlation between national competitiveness and level of design

Table 2: National competitiveness of leading countries against their design ranking

CREATIVITY COMPETITIVENESS RANKING 2010

1. Switzerland 6.11. Japan 6.12/3. Germany 6.02/3. Sweden 5.93/4. United States5.73/4. Denmark 5.75. Finland 5.55. Netherlands 5.55. France 5.55. Austria 5.5 Source: World Economic Forum 2009

DESIGN COMPETITIVENESS RANKING 2007

1. Germany 6.12. Switzerland 6.13. Japan 6.04. Sweden 5.95. Denmark 5.96. Austria 5.77. United States 5.78. Finland 5.79. Korea, Rep 5.710. France 5.6 Source: World Economic Forum 2007

DESIGN COMPETITIVENESS RANKING 2005

1. Japan 6.22. United States 6.23. Germany 6.14. Switzerland 5.95. Denmark 5.86. France 5.77. Finland 5.78. Sweden 5.79. Belgium 5.610. Austria 5.6 Source: World Economic Forum 2007

the correlation between national competitiveness and show the correlation between national competitiveness and level of design (Table 1). We have also compared the national competitiveness of leading countries against their design ranking to show the correlation between national competitiveness and level of creativity (Table 2).

CReATIVe POTeNTIAL Is eVIDeNT IN LeADINg NATIONs’ COmPeTITIVeNess

In many countries design is increasingly being recognised as important for national competitiveness. However, to enhance understanding of the economic potential of design and creative industries in general, these concepts should be clarified. While the concept of creative industries is not really ambiguous, the UK Department of Media, Culture

and Sports (DCMS) definition from 1997 – ‘those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property’ – is widely accepted and has lasted remarkably well as the general concept of CI. The DCMS category of creative industries consists of the following thirteen sectors: advertising, architecture, arts and antique markets, crafts, design, fashion design, film, interactive leisure software, music, television and radio, performing arts, publishing, and software. All of these industries have the potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.3 In this context, design thinking has a considerable role to play in tackling some of the most urgent issues such as climate change and helping industry unlock the value of technology breakthroughs.


RESEARCH/SPECIAL REPORT

DesIgN THINKINg AND INNOVATION ARe AmONg THe fOCus AReAs Of THe euROPeAN COmmIssION euROPe 2020 fLAgsHIP INITIATIVe

According to the European Commission, the biggest challenge is to adopt a much more strategic approach to innovation. Hence, the heart of the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative strategy is innovation.4 Strengths in design and creativity must be better exploited, while social innovation must be championed.5 As the Initiative suggests, well-performing national research and innovation systems are reliant on pursuing a broad concept of innovation, which goes beyond technology and its applications. Among other aims, the Europe 2020 Initiative stresses that there is a need for a broad concept of innovation, including, among other factors, user-driven innovation, innovation in services and design, and public-sector innovation.6 These challenging tasks also open up a wide variety of possibilities where user-centred design innovations can be utilised in order to have a substantial influence on building an environmentally and societally more stable and competitive European Community.

In order to access the full survey, please visit Designium’s website: http://www.taik.fi/designium/english/ or http://www.seeproject.org/papersanddocuments.

For more information, please contact the corresponding author Juha Jarvinen: [email protected].

This survey has been developed with support of the SEE project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVC programme.

[1] Building a case for added value through design, NZ Institute of Economic

Research 2003.

[2] World Economic Forum, The Global Competitiveness Report 2001/2002.

[3] Järvinen Juha and Emilia Koski (1997). Nordic Baltic innovation Platform for Creative

Industries. Helsinki: Designium Innovation Centre, University of Art and Design Helsinki

UIAH, pp. 9–10.

[4] Communication from The Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The

European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Europe

2020 Flagship Initiative – Innovation Union, p. 2.

[5] Ibid., p. 3.

[6] Council of the European Union: Conclusions in Innovation Union for Europe, p. 5.

Creativity Unleashed: The Design Agenda in ChinaThe explosion of the creative industries in China marks a shift in the way China wants to do business. In the drive to become an innovative economy, has policy acted as a catalyst or a fuel for this remarkable growth?

Darragh Murphy, PDR – The National Centre for Product Design & Development Research

In 2005 the governing Communist Party of China proposed objectives of the 11th five-year plan (2006–2010) for national economic and social development. In the plan is a section specifically dedicated to enhance the ‘independent’ innovation capability of industry, which implied the use of design. A five-point strategy outlined the direction for such a change and recommended measures that would encourage and support enterprises to research, develop and innovate. This included financial incentive policies, improving market conditions, resourcing global expertise and strengthening the status of IPR-protection mechanisms.

China wants to change the old adage ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’ and is encouraging companies to start developing their own products. This inevitable industrial evolution will require a difficult transition among companies to graduate from being original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to original brand manufacturers (OBM). The incentive for companies is clear: OBMs have a significantly higher profit margin than OEMs. However, the lack of experience and management skills required for such a change presents a resource and cultural barrier.

A key contributor in this plan is the development of a design sector large enough to cope with the potential demand and sophisticated enough to deliver products, services and brands of a global standard. As a country with no contemporary design history, China has adopted a multi-pronged approach to developing its design base. First, it recognises the need to nurture its own talent; secondly, it wants to attract its ex-pat population back to the country with their acquired skills; and last, it is aiming to import external expertise to ensure that modern theory and skills are practised.

Statistics on China are always impressive no matter what field or discipline you research. In design education there are 1275 universities and colleges in the country, with design courses producing over 300,000 design graduates per year. Every design course is oversubscribed, and due to the high number of applicants, acceptance onto a course is not always assessed by creativity but in many cases on the ability to draw. Many parents see the potential of a career in design and are prepared to support their children even though the tuition fees for design courses can be almost twice as much as those for law, medicine or business.


SPECIAL REPORT

At the prestigious China Academy of Art in Hangzhou there are five design schools with 1166 students and 81 staff. They teach fashion, visual communications, industrial design, design theory and comprehensive design. The latter department is a reaction to the problems created after the opening up of China and teaches its students to be conscientious on a human level rather than a commercial level. The students are taught all possible design disciplines, many different crafts and the importance of finding a problem and solving it. Although students want Western training and Western theory, the better design schools still include traditional crafts in the curriculum. Lecturers, as they say, like their students to have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, to ensure that they continue the ideologies, traditions and values that have served their culture well. This self-consciousness reflects a lack of confidence in design, but at the same time a respect for the responsibilities of the discipline and the importance of maintaining an identity.

Of the thousands of design graduates released every year, there are some who seek further education and experience outside China. These are the elite design graduates with qualifications from significant colleges in the USA and Europe, fluent in English and/or German, industrial experience, and when they return to China they can command a good salary or establish their own practice. Such is the rapid growth of the design sector in China that it is not uncommon for a design consultancy in one of the major cities to grow to twenty employees within five years.

This growth is attributed to the development of several design markets: Chinese companies beginning to realise the importance of strategic design and creative innovation1, foreign companies investing in Chinese design agencies to develop products for the Chinese market, and government policy encouraging companies to develop their own products. On this point the Chinese government drafted a policy in September 2010 specifically to encourage manufacturers to adopt industrial design practices.

According to Beijing Design Week, there are 250,000 design professionals working in 20,000 design institutes and companies in Beijing and generating $11.75 billion in business. The Beijing municipal government is expected to support the creative industries further with an investment of approximately $74 million and the building of thirty new creative parks in the city over the next five years.

Established in 1995, the Beijing Industrial Design Centre (BIDC) has been a central organisation in the promotion and development of the design sector in the city. It is a public institution affiliated with the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission and provides a wide range of services directly to designers, industry and government. For the government the BIDC provides up-to-date information on the development of the design industry to assist in the formulation of macro policies for mid- and long-term strategies. Significantly, it has established measures for the effectiveness of design promotion. The BIDC is proactive in promoting design to enterprises through hosting design forums and exhibitions, and supporting enterprises by providing consultancy, diagnosis and training.

The BIDC also organises the China Red Star Award on behalf of the government. The objective of the award is to encourage innovation among Chinese manufacturers through rewarding commercially successful design. The ambition is for this to become a world-famous design award and to have Chinese design regarded as a player in the global market.

The significance of the global ambitions of the China Red Star Award should not be underestimated. Chinese consumers do not value Chinese products but instead aspire to the high quality of and association with top European and American brands. For the foreseeable future, Chinese manufacturers will be concentrating on their enormous domestic market and for some this will mean competing against the world leading brands on quality and design. Currently this is done through sourcing European designers and specifying design on a purely styling basis. Eventually the deeper fundamentals of design will filter through and sharpen abilities of Chinese manufacturers to be original and to lead, manage and source design. It is only a matter of time before conquering foreign brands at home will give Chinese manufacturers the confidence to look outside of China and export their own products.

The growth of the design sector is representative of the explosion in the creative industries as a whole. ‘Only ten years ago contemporary Chinese artists worked underground, now the government is buying their work,’ says Huang Hui, associate director of the Himalayas Art Museum, Shanghai, who takes delight in explaining the dramatic shift in circumstances for artists in China today. This change of heart is recognition by the government of the economic potential that the creative industries can offer.

The material evidence of this cultural shift is the mushrooming of space, galleries and creative clusters in

Design education in China has a strong emphasis on Western theory and practices. PhD Students at the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing.


SPECIAL REPORT

China’s cities. Creative Parks is one of several ways in which the government is facilitating and encouraging the growth of the creative industry sector. ‘The Chinese government is good at providing the hardware – schools, infrastructure, creative parks,’ explains Gavin Anderson, British Council area director for East China, as he outlines the speed and determination with which the Chinese government acts on its own initiative.

The development of creative parks is big business. City governments issue licences for private developers to redevelop old industrial sites for a new type of industry. Rather than housing factories and office blocks, these new industrial parks have studios, galleries, cafés, boutique shops and museums in what were once the remains of large factories.

Not only has this initiative restored old, disused industrial estates and the surrounding environs, it has generated significant tax revenue for the local government. The Shanghai Creative Industry Centre (housed in a refurbished but once derelict industrial abattoir) conducted a review of the 75 creative parks in Shanghai. It found that by January 2007 the first 50 creative parks had achieved a combined turnover of US$3 billion from a total investment of US$450 million and had created 27,000 jobs. The tax generated from these revamped industrial estates far exceeded the tax revenue of the previous occupants. It is estimated that the workforce in the 75 creative parks will reach 50,000 once they have attained full capacity. The full occupation of the creative parks can be partly accounted for by the low rent they charge compared to the prime commercial sites in the city.

Because of the success of the creative parks, developers are running out of old industrial sites to turn into bohemian art centres that replicate the successful Beijing 798 model. In the rush to generate creative parks, developers – with the support of central government – are building new creative parks from green field sites. Instead of factories and office blocks, they are constructing clusters of studios. Compared to traditional industrial estates, the new creative parks are relatively non-polluting, consume much less energy and are regarded as environmentally friendly.

Because China is a statist government it is difficult to determine whether the growth in the creative industry has been manufactured or carefully controlled. The growth that has been experienced to date could largely be due to a dormant latent capacity reawakened by a more favourable environment. What is clear is that the Chinese government will expect results and will do all it can to ensure that it achieves its objectives. Providing the hardware for a creative economy to flourish is straightforward and can be measured. Providing the talent and creativity in sufficient volume to supply industry’s needs is not as straightforward.

It is not possible in this short report to go into detail about each and every aspect of design in China, so instead the intention has been to give an impression of the dynamics of design in the country. For example, the BIDC is only one of many design organisations, associations, networks and federations in the country. There are new business models that have been created to deal with the high volume of design work, new types of policies, many large design festivals, award exhibitions and significant conferences that have been held in the past and are being planned for the future. China is compensating for what it lacks in design heritage with vigour and resources.

[1] Comley, D. , IVCA report March 2010, The creative industries in China; www.ivca.org.

[2] Fu, X & Xu, H., The original of explosive development of creative industry in China,

Institute of Urban and Regional Economics, Renmin University of China.

This report was made possible with the support of the Cultural and Educational Section of the British Embassy through their China-UK Connections through Culture programme.

For more information: www.bidcchina.com; www.redstaraward.com; www.hkdesigncentre.org; www.scic.gov.cn; eng.caa.edu.cn; www.tsinghua.edu.cn

Yang Design, Shanghai was established by Jamy Yang, a former industrial designer for Siemens Germany. The consultancy was established five years ago and already has several top European brands in its portfolio.

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Graph of the accumulative number of creative parks in 12 cities in China (Fu & Xu, 2009)2


INTERVIEWS

Design Policy and Promotion MapTo get a global perspective on the growing number and increasing maturity of design policies and promotion programmes and following up the good feedback from the previous issue of our Bulletin, this feature presents statements from design practitioners from four countries. Each interviewee provides an overview of developments in their country and outlines how design fits into various government strategies, in order to build a profile map of the state of affairs around the world.

VENEZUELAVenezuela has never had a structured government programme for promoting design. However, the current government has strongly used graphic design as a propaganda tool in guidelines issued by the Ministry of the Popular Power for Information and Communication. In 2008, this Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Popular Power for Science and Technology, tried to create awareness about design through the project ‘Design for people’s better living’ (Diseño para que la gente viva mejor), with three debates and an exhibition. As a result, a shared vision has emerged from debates among designers: in Venezuela design could be integrated in two ways – as an element of social transformation and as direction to carry forward the country’s sustainable growth agenda. Unfortunately, the project ended when the Ministry changed hands in early 2009. In 2003 the Technology and Industrial Design Center (CTDI) was founded under Conindustria (the Venezuelan Federation for Private Industry), with the aim of collating a design consultants database. However, the functions of the Centre have been limited due to the volatile socio-political situation. The most recent phenomenon has been that designers have organised themselves and some promising brands have arisen from talent incubators. Conventionally, it is the joint effort of collaboration between the triad of the state (through the creation of innovation policies that include design), private enterprise (fostering R&D) and cultural entities (promoting design to the public) that gives rise to an organised design sector. Although these three factors are clearly identifiable in Venezuela, the will to join efforts is still missing. Until now, initiatives issued from the state have not been well received in enterprise and vice versa, so the triad has not yet been achieved.

Elina Pérez Urbaneja Journalist, Bachelor in Arts. Design Researcher www.2dvenezuela.blogspot.com

FRANCEIn France design is promoted by separate and independent organisations in the various regions. At national level, the Ministry of Economics, Finances and Industry via the DGCIS has launched several initiatives to promote design among French companies, in particular SMEs. Among them is a recent pilot programme to encourage and support SMEs in their initial collaboration with designers. In 2010, five French regions were pilots for the implementation of this design support scheme, which will work with another five regions in 2011. The DGCIS regularly conduct studies about the use of design in French companies and about the national design industry. In 2006, 2009 and 2010 the DGCIS launched calls for proposals on “Innovation, Creation, Design” for SMEs to finance 10 non-technologic innovative projects. Another important tool of the DGCIS is the website Entreprise et Design aiming at increasing awareness among companies of the added value of design. Several major events for promoting design take place across France at regular intervals. Among them are the Biennale of Design of St Etienne (Cité du Design), the Escales du Design (4Design), the L’Observeur du Design and the annual European Conference on Design Promotion (APCI) and the Janus du Design (IFD). The informal network Design Fr@nce strives to connect the various design centres across the French regions.

Philippe BarqDirector, Design Department, ARDI Rhône-Alpes

www.ardi-rhonealpes.fr; www.biennale2010.citedudesign.com; www.4design.fr; www.apci.asso.fr; www.institutfrancaisdudesign.com; www.entreprise-et-design.fr


INTERVIEWS

Map available at: www.seeproject.org/map

ISRAELEfforts to promote design in Israel have been sporadic, the result of initiatives by different sectors (industry, academics, government, professional organisations) and largely uncoordinated. Although graphic design played a central role in defining Israeli culture prior to and following the establishment of the State in 1948, only at the turn of the twenty-first century with the opening up of Israel’s protectionist economy did design begin to be recognised as a key ingredient of economic success. At that time, observing models from Korea and Taiwan, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Employment established a design promotion programme focusing on industrial design in collaboration with the Manufacturers Association. Success was limited by a lack of coherent focus and emphasis on quick-fix solutions. In 2005, graphic and industrial designers came together to establish the Israel Community of Designers (ICD). Its objectives were to establish a dialogue with government and industry, to promote design as a key component of economic, social and cultural development, to raise the recognition of Israeli design abroad and to move the discussion of design from the lifestyle sections of the media to the financial pages. In 2007, the ICD established the annual Designed In Israel series of events, including exhibitions, conferences and international publications. At present, discussions about a national policy are ongoing, but Israel would benefit from effective collaboration between stakeholders to develop a coherent national programme of design promotion to take advantage of design-based opportunities for economic development.

David Grossman President of Israel Community of Designers (ICD) www.israel-designers.org www.designed-in-israel.com

TURKEYThe Turkish Design Council was established in 2009 as an advisory council to the government, with the responsibility for establishing a national design policy with the support of the Ministry for Industry and Trade. The objective was to introduce design to industry and society in order to help Turkey’s designers and national industries become more internationally competitive. The Council facilitates annual stakeholder meetings with representatives from governmental bodies, professional associations and academic institutions. In terms of supporting companies, emphasis should be given to TURQUALITY. This organisation runs a programme that provides financial and managerial support to value-added Turkish products. Investors, manufacturers and designers are encouraged to work together to create international Turkish brands. In Turkey, design is also promoted by ETMK, an organisation that aims to bring industrial design to the attention of professionals, manufacturers and consumers through exhibitions, competitions, publications, seminars and training. Also promoting design, but focused on sustainable, efficient and better-designed physical environments, is the TAG platform, an NGO founded in 2008. TAG works to raise awareness about ‘design for all’, aiming for human diversity, social inclusion and equality to be taken into consideration in Turkey’s future policies and strategies.

Neslihan Şik Projects Director, TAG Platform www.tagplatform.org


SPECIAL REPORT

Recently, this same Ministry has articulated the potential role of an Estonian design policy: ‘Although there are many areas on a national level that include design elements, it is evident that Estonia’s economic situation and social welfare could benefit from a national design policy.’1 A design policy would determine a strategic vision for Estonia and a design support programme could be a component of the policy’s delivery that provides direct advice to companies for the effective use of design.2 The Ministry has already set in motion the first stages of this process. ‘At the beginning of 2008, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications began an initiative to work out a national action plan for the design sector. Surveys have been carried out and discussions with various target groups, partner organisations, and entrepreneurs in the creative field have taken place. It is hoped that a national design sector action plan will be approved in 2011.’3

In this context, the SEE project partners from Estonia and Ireland got together to organise the fifth project workshop as an extra activity on the theme ‘Meeting of Minds: Next

Generation Design Support Programmes’. The purpose of the two days was to distil best practice and outline an approach for creating ‘next practice’ for programmes. The event was opened by the Deputy Secretary General for Economic Affairs and Communication, Ahti Kuninjas, who mentioned that as a result of the spotlight on design, partly as a result of SEE project activities, he now understood design as a much broader topic and looked forward to learning from the best-ranking design countries across the world. The workshop brought together delegates from Enterprise Estonia (the primary provider of support to Estonia’s entrepreneurs) and the Ministry, as well as coordinators of design support programmes in Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and Wales. The six presenters were requested to focus on key learnings from their programme delivery, i.e. what they did which proved particularly successful and what they would do differently in the next round. The key insights from the six presentations are summarised as follows:

Next Generation Design Support ProgrammesThe Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, responsible for the design agenda in Estonia, is currently formulating a proposal for a national action plan for design. As part of this proposal, the Ministry is investigating the possibility of a national business support programme for enabling companies to bring innovative products to market through design. In order to provide input for defining, delivering and measuring a programme, the Estonian Design Centre held a workshop as part of the SEE project in Tallinn on 6 and 7 December 2010 to learn from the experiences of other countries in implementing design support programmes.

BRAzIL – CRIAçãO PARANá, PReseNTeD BY KeN fONseCAKeep: Increased visibility by moving the exhibition from a museum to a shopping mall to ‘bring design to the people’.

Change: Improve the impact of the case studies as a means of enrolling more companies.

NeW zeALAND – BeTTeR BY DesIgN, PReseNTeD BY JuDITH THOmPsONKeep: The concept that design is a journey not an intervention.

Change: Engage primarily on the demand side of the equation enabling businesses to use design strategically.

WALes – seRVICe DesIgN PROgRAmme, PReseNTeD BY PAuL THuRsTON

Keep: A democratic approach that supports all types of business.

Change: Increase demands on clients for investment, resources and input.

IReLAND – INNOVATION BY DesIgN, PReseNTeD BY JusTIN KNeCHTKeep: Employ baseline measures to see how companies progress following design intervention.

Change: Ensure that measurement is systematic to obtain more quantitative data.

uK – uK DesIgN PROgRAmmes, PReseNTeD BY JONATHAN BALLKeep: A focus on client readiness as well as legacy.

Change: How the programme is recorded, measured and evaluated.

DeNmARK – 360° DesIgN & DesIgN BOOsT, PReseNTeD BY CHRIsTINA meLANDeRKeep: Involve someone at the head of the organisation to endorse the process as well as a middle manager to drive the project forward – the ‘CEO plus one’ approach.

Change: Aligning priorities with the funding body to ensure that expectations are met.


SPECIAL REPORT

The second day involved an interactive session to develop an outline approach for a new programme, using Estonia as a case example. First, the workshop participants mapped the key learnings from the six examples onto the ‘Business Support Canvas’ developed by the facilitators Justin Knecht and Jonathan Ball:

Key learnings:

POLICYPRIORITIES & OBJECTIVES: Ensure that the programme is aligned with government policy priorities.

DEFINESUPPLY & DEMAND: Focus on providing support to both designers (supply) and industry (demand), as a gap between the two can affect programme success.

LEARN & ADAPT: Gain insight from the other countries that have delivered support programmes and investigate transferability for specific national contexts.

SET UPSELECTION & COMMITMENT: Invest time in client readiness and gaining the go-ahead from the company CEO, as their endorsement is vital for engaging that company through the duration of the process. Often a small fee for enrolment is a token of commitment.

DELIVERLANGUAGE & OFFER: Speak their language, don’t use jargon and be relevant to the target audience. Encourage dialogue between designers and companies by making the offer clear and providing a step-by-step process so they know what is expected of them.

MEASUREEVALUATION & BENCHMARKING: Build evaluation into the programme from the outset using ‘baseline measures’ and diagnostics to demonstrate both qualitative and quantitative results. Evaluate both the programme’s delivery (quality) as well as its outcomes (impact). Ensure that measurements are systematic and conducted at regular intervals at the beginning, middle and end as well as beyond.4

PROMOTE

PUBLIC & PRIVATE: Work with both public and private organisations to raise design awareness.

IMPACTKNOWLEDGE TRANSFER: Ensure that the programme generates knowledge that remains within the country or region.

FEEDBACK & IMPROVE: Make sure that evaluation and company feedback contribute to the improvement of the programme.

DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS: To continue the legacy beyond the programme.

Secondly, in order for these observations to be applicable in an Estonian context, we heard presentations from Martin Pärn, practising designer and PhD candidate, about the history of design in Estonia; Lylian Meister from the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn about design education; and Kristiina Sipelgas from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications about design-sector developments and state programmes. The workshop participants were therefore able to apply the learnings from the previous day to developing a roadmap for an Estonian design support programme. The output of the workshop will be presented in a report that will be made available on the SEE project website in the coming months.

If Estonia chooses to go down the route of developing a design support programme, the SEE project hopes that this workshop has created a useful foundation on which to build this activity.

For more information on any of these design support programmes, visit the SEE project Case Study Library at www.seeproject.org/casestudy.

[1] Poslawski, G. & Sipelgas, K. (2010) ‘Estonia’s Tiger Leap into the World of Design’,

Design Management Review, Vol 21, number 4, p. 45–46.

[2] Raulik-Murphy, G., Cawood, G. & Lewis, A. (2010) ‘Design Policy: An Introduction to

What Matters’, Design Management Review, Vol 21, number 4, p. 52–59.

[3] Poslawski, G. & Sipelgas, K. (2010) ‘Estonia’s Tiger Leap into the World of Design’,

Design Management Review, Vol 21, number 4, p. 44–51.

[4] For more information about evaluation look at SEE Policy Booklet 3: Evaluating Design

www.seeproject.org/publications

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed underhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Designmine Ltd. & Verticalbones Ltd., 2010

POLICY MEASURE IMPACT

DELIVERSET UP

DEFINE

PROMOTE

BUSINESS SUPPORT CANVAS

Mapping the stages of developing and delivering a design support programme, SEE Project workshop 5, Tallinn (December, 2010).

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POLICY IN PRACTICE

Innovation Union – a win for design!Early in 2010, the European Commission published its vision for the next decade, ‘Europe 2020 – A European Strategy for Smart, Green and Inclusive Growth’. At the heart of this strategy is the flagship initiative ‘Innovation Union’, which was articulated in October 2010. Here, the Commission recognises that a number of Member States are ‘world leaders in design’ and that Europe must capitalise on its strengths.1 This article forms part of the SEE bulletin series ‘Policy in Practice’ following the policy developments at European, national and regional level towards integrating design into public policy.

Highlighting design as a priority under innovation in the European Commission’s strategy ‘Innovation Union’ is the culmination of a long chain of events, including a public consultation, staff working document, lobbying by pan-European, national and regional design bodies and conferences organised as part of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation (see bulletin issues 1 and 2 for details). ‘Innovation Union’ is the centrepiece of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy, the successor to the Lisbon Strategy, which was the economic development plan for the period 2000 to 2010. Since the EU fell short of the Lisbon objective to make the EU ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion’, the European Commission realised that an integrated approach needed to be adopted, one which embraced economic, sustainable as well as social considerations. Consequently, innovation is the ‘overarching policy objective, where all policy instruments, measures and funding are designed to contribute to innovation’.2 By pursuing a broad concept of innovation, design is a driver of products, services, processes and models that add value for users and offers ‘huge potential for new growth and jobs’.3

As part of ‘Innovation Union’, design falls under the remit of a number of priority areas, including ‘promoting excellence in education and skills development’ and ‘getting good ideas to market’. First, under skills and strengthening the knowledge base, the strategy states that businesses should be more involved in university curricular development so that skills match industry needs. ‘There are good examples of inter-disciplinary approaches in universities bringing together skills ranging from research to financial and business skills and from creativity and design to intercultural skills.’ Encouraging exchange between industry and academia has been a consistent theme at European level, but including design as part of the multi-disciplinary skills set that fosters innovation is a new development.

Secondly, in commercialising ideas, the European Commission recognises that ‘companies innovate in various ways’ and that design is a ‘key discipline and activity to bring ideas to the market, transforming them into user-friendly and appealing products’. The Commission advocates measures to increase the interaction between components of national innovation systems, stating: ‘Although some European countries are world leaders in design, others

lack a robust design infrastructure and design capability in companies and engineering schools. This systemic gap has largely gone unnoticed but must now be tackled.’

Getting innovative ideas to market more quickly using design is an issue that the SEE project has been examining as part of the thematic workshop held in Cieszyn (Poland) in November 2010. The partners and their regional government representatives engaged in a series of interactive sessions examining the role of design in new product and service development processes. Conventionally, design is understood as playing a role in the early conception phases of the development process, involving storyboarding and prototyping. However, from exclusively applying design at the first stages of the value chain, policy-makers increasingly understand the contribution of design as a strategic discipline for enhancing process efficiency at all stages of development, production and distribution. The workshop participants also explored where government support can have the most impact as part of the development process of products and services in companies, particularly SMEs. Finally, the group discussed the policy options for government intervention in the national/regional design systems in order to maximise the interaction between stakeholders in the system. The fourth SEE Policy Booklet will investigate these issues in more depth and will be released in the coming months.

‘The question is how can we make our economy smarter, more sustainable

and more inclusive? These are the over-riding objectives of this 2020 strategy

and design contributes to all three objectives. It is evident that design enables

companies to be smart, to better take into account user needs, to save costs, to bring products to the market more quickly or to minimise risks of failure.’

Dr Reinhard Buescher – DG for Enterprise and Industry, at the Design and Learning Conference,

25-26 November 2010, Brussels.


Late 2011First European Design

Summit to be organised by the Secretariat

3 March 2010 European Commission publishes Europe 2020

6 Oct 2010 Commission publishes

Innovation Union

1 July 2011 Polish Presidency of the EU where design will be a means of communicating Polish identity

26 May 2010Competitiveness Council ‘invites

the Commission and Member States to give special attention to

design considering its leverage effect on innovation performance […] as a competitive advantage

for European companies’

25–26 Nov 2010Design and Learning

conference organised by DG Education and Culture

in Brussels

Dec 2010 Aalto University School of Art & Design is awarded the Secretariat for the European Design Innovation Initiative

Early 2011 Appointing

members to the European Design Leadership Board

29 March 2011SEE project final conference: Design Policy Conference, Flemish Parliament, Brussels

2010 2011

A further commitment from the European Commission as part of ‘Innovation Union’ will be to set up the Secretariat for the European Design Innovation Initiative and its Leadership Board. The Leadership Board will be invited to make proposals to enhance the role of design in innovation policy, for example through EU or national programmes and a European Design Excellence label, providing direction for the European Design Innovation Initiative. Following a call to tender, the European Commission awarded the Secretariat to Aalto University School of Art & Design in Finland. The Secretariat will be responsible for organising an annual European Design Innovation Summit, coordinating the activities of the working groups and conducting a communication campaign. The Secretariat and its Leadership Board have a number of objectives:

• Tobetterintegratedesignintoinnovation(projects,policy, support) by creating a joint platform;

• Todevelopajointvision,jointprioritiesandjointactionwith the Commission and stakeholders across Europe;

• Toimprovethecirculationofexperiencesand good practices in the area of design policy, support, education and research;

• ToprovideadvicetotheCommissiononpolicymatters related to design and innovation;

• Toraiseawarenessofdesign-driveninnovation.If the initiative is successful, it will attract other design and innovation players (e.g. innovation support organisations, regions, Member States) who have not yet made the link between the two.

Speaking at the ‘Design and Learning’ conference in Brussels (25–26 November 2010), Dr Reinhard Buescher, Head of Unit at DG Enterprise and Industry, expects the Leadership

Board and Secretariat not just to be a talking shop but to provide a concrete roadmap for actions for 2011, a ‘user-driven policy where designers design a policy’. A budget of €3 million has been put aside by the Commission for this purpose and will be allocated to a range of projects in 2011, subject to further calls for tender. He hopes that the Board and Secretariat will support traditional industries in taking better advantage of design services; this, he explains, will help traditional sectors to procure services they may otherwise not have, and at the same time will also help design companies to improve their offering, respond to user needs and become more competitive businesses.

With design firmly on the European political agenda as part of the strategy ‘Innovation Union’ and with the initiatives of the Leadership Board and Secretariat, policy-makers across Europe will be looking at how design can meet challenges in industry, services and society. However, without insight on current practices across Europe, we risk missing key opportunities for consolidating the contribution of design to competitiveness and innovation in our regions. Consequently, the SEE project intends to provide an overview of the role of design in innovation policy and present recent design policy developments from across Europe and beyond at the Design Policy Conference on 29 March 2011 in the Flemish Parliament. For further details about the conference, have a look at the SEE website. It will be an occasion for design stakeholders in industry, government and the public sector to gain an insight into concrete measures for maximising the use of design.

[1] European Commission Communication (2010) ‘Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative

Innovation Union’ SEC(2010)1161, Brussels p. 18.

[2] Ibid, p. 8.

[3] Ibid, p. 7.

POLICY IN PRACTICE

EU Policy Timeline


CASE STUDIES

Centre for Design and Innovation (c4di) (sCOTLAND, uK)

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Chinese proverb

The Centre for Design and Innovation (c4di) has adopted the above wisdom and developed material to teach companies techniques with which to identify improved products and services for themselves. The core philosophy of the centre is based on applying user-centred design and developing teaching materials targeted at SMEs in Scotland that encourage a creative and playful approach to innovation. This can include innovations centred on the business strategy, service delivery, product development and branding. The significance of this challenge is to make companies put aside their self-preconceptions and review their business in an objective yet creative manner.

Focused on front-end thinking, the centre employs a strategy of serious play and hands-on exercises to engage with its clients. The exercises include user-centred research techniques, idea-generation exercises and quick prototyping methods. A version of TRIZ specifically for the services sector has also been developed by c4di (www.c4di.org.uk.servicetriz). The skills transferred are universal and have been taught to companies in a wide range of sectors, including food, energy, biotechnology and the creative industries.

The use of design as a driver of innovation is well understood among the most successful companies in Scotland, but there is still some misconception as to what design can achieve at a strategic level. This programme aims to improve the awareness of the barriers to innovation and the adoption of clear strategies for developing a culture of innovation within their client organisations.

The success of the programme is heavily reliant on SME participation. Although participation in the programme is free, attracting interest in the centre is difficult, as companies often defer innovation during periods of economic constraint. A great deal of effort was expended at the start of the programme to develop a clear brand and mission that can be easily understood by SMEs. It is important to use a language targeted to the audience – ‘design speak’ is not necessarily ‘business speak’ – in order to make it clear what the centre offers.

Contact with companies is made initially through a workshop programme entitled ‘Innovation by Design’, with an introduction to design thinking and service design. From here the centre aims to create a one-to-one relationship with companies, beginning with site visits and undertaking design audits or bespoke workshops. Projects that progress beyond the remit of the initial programme, for example new product development, could be funded by knowledge transfer vouchers from the Scottish Funding Council.

C4di was initiated by the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. In addition to the university’s support, c4di is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Scottish Government’s SEEKIT Programme. C4di is aligned with the Scottish government’s economic priority areas, which are focused on support for innovation in the key sectors of the creative industries, energy, food, tourism and IT. Other partners in the programme include Aberdeen City Council, Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Enterprise, which recently updated its strategy to include design as a key driver of innovation. The total amount of funding provided to the centre is £1 million to December 2011.

When the project was originally conceived it aimed to produce new jobs, but since the recession the targets have been revised and now the emphasis is on retaining existing jobs. To date the programme has achieved most of its ‘SMEs assisted’ targets and is on course to complete all of the targets or exceed them. Further evaluation of the programme comes from statements from SMEs. These are related to an awareness of how design thinking can assist innovation and how practical steps can be implemented to develop a culture of innovation within the company. Furthermore, participating companies have agreed to share data on the amount of investment they have spent on innovation as a result of the centre’s intervention.

For more information contact [email protected] or visit www.c4di.org.uk.

Project Target

Achieved so Far

Estimated Achievement

Number of events held

14 18 20

Number of SMEs assisted (1–5 days)

33 41 50

Number of SMEs undertaking innovation/RTD projects

11 10 14

Number of new patents issued/IPR registrations made

5 2 2

Number of new links between SMEs and Research Institutions

22 55 60

Project Targets:


CASE STUDIES

In a significant step in 2007, design was incorporated into a national strategic framework in Poland: Operational Programme Innovative Economy 2007–2013. The policy presents nine ‘priority axes’ and within the fifth priority axis, ‘diffusion of innovation’, a number of measures are supported, including ‘information and promotion regarding industrial design’. Under this remit, ‘Design Your Profit’ (DYP) is the key programme for improving the competitiveness of Polish businesses by applying design for process and product innovation.

The rationale behind the implementation of DYP centres on the notion that ‘at present, enterprises, in particular SMEs, are not using opportunities created by industrial design. That is why the support in this area will contribute to the promotion of industrial design as one of the sources of competitive prevalence and, at the same time, to the growing interest of SMEs in conducting R&D activity in this respect.’ Highlighting industrial design on the policy agenda as a mechanism for innovation illustrates that Poland is at the forefront of a growing trend across Europe.

DYP is operating from September 2008 to December 2011 and is delivered by the Institute of Industrial Design with 23 full-time members of staff. With a budget of €18 million (85% subsidised by the European Union), DYP has the largest budget dedicated to a single design business support programme in Europe. The project has two target audiences, entrepreneurs and designers. The main objective is to develop a professional business environment facilitating collaboration between entrepreneurs and designers in the field of industrial design.

The programme is free for participants. A national information and advertisement campaign in printed and online media has been conducted to attract involvement, supported by active telemarketing. Participants are able to log into the project website and complete a self-assessment questionnaire. The self-assessment questionnaire for companies contains questions and a ranking system that helps to diagnose the ‘design implementation maturity’ in specific fields, such as awareness of design strategy, cooperation with designers, marketing strategy, design project management, resources and so on, resulting in a simple spider graph and recommendation of the best type of workshops for employees depending on their experience.

DYP offers four types of workshops: (1) methodologies for business processes, focusing on design management within companies; (2) principles of cooperation in multidisciplinary teams, which include designers (for companies); (3) methodologies and practices of cooperation with entrepreneurs in design implementation processes (for designers); (4) engaging both designers and companies in practical simulation of new product development.

As well as workshops, DYP delivers a comprehensive offering: e-learning capabilities through online access to a digital library containing design management resources, biographical profiles on prominent Polish designers available in the ‘Polish Designers Lexicon’, research articles, interviews and films, as well as exhibitions presenting business models used to develop products and enhance cooperation between designers and manufacturers.

A thorough evaluation process constitutes a tool for providing information about project implementation status, facilitating quick reaction if necessary. The project’s implementation process is subject to standard reporting procedures that conform to EU co-financing requirements. However, an additional, systematic and substantive evaluation of project results is performed using a specially developed methodology in cooperation with the Polish Evaluation Association based on guidelines from the Ministry of Regional Development. The programme evaluation is designed to assist project coordinators in the correct implementation and delivery of the project. This includes periodic evaluation covering all the major outputs of the project during rollout. A general report is drawn up biannually during the project, presenting results and recommendations for the next period designed to improve the project’s efficiency, effectiveness and quality.

A robust evaluation component should not to be underestimated, as the lack of tools to evaluate the role of design in competitiveness has been a stumbling block in communicating the value of design to policy-makers. Consequently, one of the key merits of DYP is the emphasis on learning and adaptation as a result of regular evaluation. Although the achievements to date are behind the original schedule, the DYP team are confident that as a result of what has been learnt, it will be possible to achieve the objectives.

For more information visit: www.zsz.com.pl/en/

Design your Profit (POLAND)

Activity Target To Date

Participants 1,600 580

Designers 100 52

SMEs 500 159

Large enterprises 50 20

Design exhibitions 23 15

Workshops/networking

sessions that bring together designers and

entrepreneurs

5 1

Digital library, number of

digitised items 2,500 1,505

Interactive communication

platform (portal)1 1

Quantitative Targets & Progress to Date:

SEE LIBRARY

The SEE bulletin is printed alcohol free using vegetable based inks on 100% recycled paper made from post consumer waste.©Design Wales 2010 (ISSN 2044-3226) All rights reserved. Reproduction of parts of the SEE bulletin may be made without seeking permission from SEE partners, on condition that reference is clearly made to the source of the material.

This is the fifth of six SEE bulletins to be published between 2008 and 2011. They include research papers, interviews, reports and case studies relating to policies and programmes for design and innovation from around the world. The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the SEE partners.

Publisher: PDR – National Centre for Product Design & Development Research (UK)Editors: Dr Gisele Raulik-Murphy, Anna Whicher, Darragh Murphy & Gavin CawoodDesign: Malin Flynn

Design Wales is delivered by the International Institute of Design Policy & Support (IIDPS)

Design Wales UWIC – Western Avenue, Cardiff, CF5 2YB, UK Tel: +44 (0)29 2041 7028 e-mail: [email protected]

www.seeproject.orgwww.designwales.orgwww.iidps.org

To receive or unsubscribe to SEE bulletins please email: [email protected].

9 772044 322004

Économie du Design (2010): Three French design organisations (l’Agence pour la promotion de la création industrielle, la Cite du Design and l’Institut Français de la Mode) were commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment to conduct a study on the state of design in France. The study examines the offering by design agencies and freelancers, the demand for design by companies, design’s economic performance, the evolution of the discipline and the impact of the crisis.

DMI Review (2010): The DMI Review has dedicated its December issue (volume 21, number 4) to the topic of ‘Design and National Policy’, exploring different national priorities, diverse perspectives on managing economies and their consequences for design and public policy. Insights are provided in a national context from Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Mexico and the USA as well as cross-comparisons between the UK and Asian countries and between China, South Korea and Japan. An analytical article also presents an ‘introduction to what matters’ in design policy.

Asia Design Survey 2009 (2010): This survey was published as part of the World Design Survey pilot project supported by ‘World Design Capital Seoul 2010’ and Icograda. Nine regions (Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, India and Victoria) provide policy-relevant data based on 20 common indicators for understanding the status of design in each region in an international context.

Australian Design Alliance Launch Report (2010): Efforts to create a flagship for design in Australia to facilitate collaboration with government, industry, education and the private sector have resulted in the Australian Design Alliance [AdA], a not-for-profit association. In September 2010, twelve peak organisations representing all aspects of Australia’s design industry and research networks launched the AdA, which emerged from a series of consultations about how design should be an integral element of Australia’s national innovation system.

Design for Innovation in Wales: Industry, Services & Society (2010): In October, Design Wales launched its manifesto. In a debate on innovation in the National Assembly for Wales, Assembly Members unanimously passed the manifesto’s recommendation to ‘harness the power of design for innovation in industry, services and society’. The manifesto also encourages Assembly Members to form a cross-party group for design and innovation to champion design. Building on this momentum, Design Wales set up a petition, gaining 369 signatures, which is currently under review by the Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Barcelona Design against the Crisis (2010): On 21 October 2010, the Barcelona Design Centre celebrated the 5th anniversary of Barcelona Design Week by launching the manifesto ‘Barcelona Design against the Crisis’. This Manifesto focuses on the importance of the Barcelona Design brand for the city’s socio-economic system, as well as underlining the importance of its promotion at all levels in order to add value to the products and services made in Barcelona. The petition is still open for signature from anyone anywhere and over 400 signatures have been collected so far.

SEE LibraryAccess to these documents is available from the SEE website: www.seeproject.org/papersanddocuments

CBP0001840710105042

POLICY, INNOVATION & DESIGN CONFERENCE

29 March 2011Flemish Parliament, Brussels

The SEE project final event will be

organised by Design Flanders.

For more information about the programme and to register please visit: www.belgiandesignforum.be

Creativity Unleashed: The design agenda in China

Design

Transcript of Creativity Unleashed: The design agenda in China