Design for Innovation 2020 is a new regional programme aimed at fostering use and systematisation of design in Galician businesses, with a special focus on SMEs. It was approved by the Regional Government of Galicia (Xunta de Galicia) on 21st June 2018.
This initiative, which is part of the Galicia Innova 2020 Plan, seeks to boost the growth of the Galician economy by providing businesses with the necessary means and support to effectively incorporate design in all its aspects (industrial, graphic, product, organisational, digital and multimedia).The programme objectives are:
- To improve the knowledge and consideration of design as a strategic factor beyond its aesthetic value .
- To empower companies and entrepreneurs to invest in design to develop innovative products and services, processes and business strategies.
- To promote the role and value of designer as a driver of competitiveness.
The programme has 11 strategic actions:
- Analysis of the design state in Galicia
- Design agents and their networks
- Design promotion in companies
- Design training for companies
- Mentoring of design in companies
- Financial support to design in companies
- Design & Entrepreneurship
- Fostering design talent and employment
- Design in public administrations
- Communication events and spaces for design promotion
- Galician design awards
The Design for Innovation 2020 programme has its origins in the Design4Innovation and USER-FACTOR projects.
Design4Innovation project was instrumental in the development of the programme. The knowledge gained through the project on design value, its contribution to the economy and the best practice in design support were used to build a case and influence policy change. Thanks to participation in the project, GAIN were able to convince policymakers that technological innovation support needs to go hand in hand with user-centred and market-driven approach of design.
GAIN is going full steam ahead with implementation of the new programme. Here is summary of the actions that took place so far:
Strategic line 01 - Analysis of design state in Galicia
- Publication of a book ‘GALICIA. O deseño como motor’ on transformative powers of design, launched on 11th December 2018.
Strategic line 02 - Design agents network
- Meeting with designer associations on 17th July 2018;
- Meeting with business clusters to define action proposals for the 2020 Innovation Design Programme on 18th July 2018.
Strategic line 03 - Design promotion in companies
- The first event called ‘First Design Conference for the business innovation’ on 21st June 2018 was the official launch of the Design for Innovation 2020. More than 200 people attended and the World Industrial Design Day was also celebrated.
- December 2018: Sponsorship of the Design Category in the Umbrella prizes of the Galician Graphics Communication Cluster to reinforce and promote Galician designers.
- November 2018: Support to MAKER FAIRE Galicia.
Strategic line 04 - Design training for companies
Two workshops were organised:
- Strategies for Design Rights Property Protection (25th October)
- New Materials for design and innovation (29th November)
See a video from the events here.
Summarising, almost 500 attendees and 55 speakers sharing their experiences and best practices in the 3 events and 2 workshops previously mentioned.
Strategic line 10 - Communication events and spaces for design promotion
Promotion the facilities of CIS GALICIA as ideal spaces for design events, workshops and conferences. Three exhibitions of Galician design were organised alongside different events such as:
- Event ‘Spanish design ecosystems’ on 13th November 2018;
- Event ‘European public policies and good design business practices for innovation’ on 11th December 2018.
Design for Innovation 2020 Programme: ACTIONS planned for 2019
- Map of Galician design service providers - an online catalogue of regional professionals in which entrepreneurs will be able to find designers, their services, reference projects and career path.
- Photographic project called ‘GALICIA. Imaxes do deseño’, what means 'Galicia, design images'. Its objective is to collect the history of the Galician industrial design of through photography. All the images will be published on an online platform.
- New financial instruments to support innovative projects based on design.
- Material showroom - collection of samples of new materials will be shown in a special site to stimulate the generation of the new ideas.
