Sharing Experience Europe – Policy Innovation Design

SEE is a network of 11 European partners sharing international best practice to enhance the understanding of design for innovation among policy-makers and programme managers. It is the European Commission’s vision that “by 2020, design is a full acknowledged, well-known, well-recognised element of innovation policy across Europe” (Peter Droll, European Commission, speaking at the SEE conference, 29 March 2011). SEE aims to build a pan-European platform that engages national, regional and local actors currently active in innovation support and policy to enhance the use of design for user-centred innovation. Since 2005, Design Wales / Cardiff Metropolitan University have been leading the SEE network. From 2012 to 2015, SEE is operating as part of the European Commission’s European Design Innovation Initiative (EDII). EDII forms part of the Commission’s implementation plan for the strategy Innovation Union.

The challenge we face is convincing a wider audience of design’s potential to foster innovation among SMEs and deliver innovative solutions for products, services, society and the public sector. Through workshops involving partners and policy-makers, dissemination events, case studies, policy-booklets, bulletins and the annual Design Policy Monitor, SEE has the following objectives:

  • Establish a Platform that will become the focal point for disseminating knowledge and championing design as a tool for user-centred innovation in Europe.
  • Engage the SEE partners, their policy-makers and European innovation networks in co-developing policy recommendations and practical tools to foster a greater integration of design into support programmes and policies.
  • Communicate with regions and actors in Europe who are not yet familiar with design as a tool for user-centred innovation to foster greater integration of design into mainstream innovation practices and policies. SEE aims to engage with 100 European regions new to design over the three years.
  • Build a bank of evidence including new research, tools, policy guidelines and publications related to design as a driver of user-centred innovation to support policy-makers, innovation programme managers and SMEs in Europe to integrate design into their mainstream practice.

A key initiative of SEE is to examine design policies and programmes in the partner countries in the annual Design Policy Monitor to facilitate the multilateral exchange of good practices in design policy, support and promotion between experienced and less experienced countries and regions. This activity will bring together organisations that have developed a strong track record in delivering effective practical design interventions in both the private and public sectors. During the course of the three years, the project will have the following outputs:

  • 3 Design Policy Monitors (examining trends in design policy across Europe annually).
  • 5 workshops involving partners and policy-makers on different themes: Design Policy; Business Support for SMEs; Service Innovation for SMEs; Social Innovation and Academia-Industry links.
  • 5 ‘toolboxes’ based on the output of the workshops including policy booklets, practical tools and presentations specific to each workshop theme.
  • 80 dissemination events targeting non-design audiences based on the themed toolboxes.
  • 20 presentations at innovation network meetings to enhance understanding of design among innovation audiences.
  • 6 bulletins containing research, case studies, policy updates and resources from around the world.
  • 44 case studies on policy and practice related to design and innovation.

SEE is an open network that is looking to provide support to actors seeking to develop design programmes and integrate design into innovation policy. As an ultimate goal, SEE expects to be able to further accelerate the integration of design into innovation policies and programmes in partner countries as well as non-partner regions.

SEE partnership:

  1. Design Wales / Cardiff Metropolitan University (Lead Partner, UK)
  2. Design Flanders (Belgium)
  3. Regional Development Agency of South Bohemia (Czech Republic)
  4. Danish Design Centre (Denmark)
  5. Estonian Design Centre (Estonia)
  6. Aalto University School of Art and Design (Finland)
  7. JAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
  8. Business and Cultural Development Centre (KEPA, Greece)
  9. Border, Midlands and West Assembly (Ireland)
  10. Castle Cieszyn (Poland)
  11. Design Council (UK)

Yhteyshenkilö JAMK:ssa

Projektipäällikkö
Juha Tuulaniemi
juha.tuulaniemi (a) jamk.fi