KEPA is participating as a partner in the newly approved project «Design4Innovation» under the European Programme INTERREG EUROPE 2014-2020.
Design for Innovation (Design4Innovation) is a collaborative project of eight European partners working together to promote design as a tool for user-centred innovation. Design4Innovation aims to help small and medium enterprises create more desirable products and services, be more profitable and grow faster; ultimately enhancing competitiveness of European SMEs.
The project corresponds with the European Commission’s ‘Action Plan for Design-driven Innovation’ (2013), which states that:
“A more systematic use of design as a tool for user-centred and market-driven innovation in all sectors of the economy, complementary to R&D, would improve European competitiveness. Analyses of the contribution of design show that companies that strategically invest in design tend to be more profitable and grow faster“.
The project’s objective is to integrate design-driven innovation for SME competitiveness into the ERDF operational programmes of eight countries/regions and consequently for 2,000 SMEs to benefit from the policy instruments for design by the end of 2021.
Its main outputs will be:
- 9 thematic workshops using hands-on methods to facilitate shared learning among policy-makers,
- 3 Policy Booklets for governments to integrate design into ERDF policy instruments,
- 4 video explaining design for innovation,
- 8 Design Action Plans,
- 1 high-level conference.
The project partners, except from KEPA, are regional authorities, Design Centres and Innovation organisations, such as:
- PDR – Cardiff Metropolitan University, Lead partner (Wales)
- Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Belgium)
- Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (Latvia)
- Culture Directorate, Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government (Malta)
- Marshal’s Office of Silesia Region, Silesian Government (Poland)
- Galician Agency of Innovation (Spain)
- Barcelona Design Centre (Spain)
More information is available at https://www.interregeurope.eu/design4innovation/.