Given the constantly changing economic, political and social challenges facing Europe, design has been gaining in importance and influence in recent years. National and regional design institutions have made a significant contribution to this, because their principle task is to promote business-oriented design. To this end, a wide range of instruments has been developed and tested in practice. However, it is still necessary to raise awareness and there is still a great deal of persuading to be done in order to effectively exploit the huge potential of design.
In terms of design, recent decades have also seen major developments in the academic arena. In addition to classic design, design research has been able to establish itself as a new discipline in many countries, but often without discourse geared to practical application. The debate about the contents and orientation of this new discipline is still ongoing. International exchange is desirable.
The above developments give rise to a number of questions: What are the design policies in the individual European states and how are they promoting design? What design strategies have been developed and are practiced there? What can and should a European design policy do? Is it possible to measure the positive economic effects of design, and if so, how? How do international and successful companies address the issue of design?
In order to discuss these issues and to give fresh impetus to the European discourse on design, the German Design Council is staging an international congress on 30 November 2015 in Berlin, with BEDA as one of the strategic partners of the event. BEDA will mainly participate in the promotion of the congress through its network within the European design sector. As some BEDA members will participate as keynote speakers, a BEDA Board meeting will be also held in Berlin during the same period. These activities, which aim to build the capacity of our members and create new partnerships, are part of DE2021, a project funded with the support of the Europe Creative programme of the European Union.
After an input lecture on the design policy of the European Commission, a total of four panels of renowned international experts will talk:
- Best Practice “Policy and Strategy”: Presentation of different design strategies and nationally funded projects in Europe.
- Best Practice “Value of Design”: Presentation of scientific approaches, using which the positive economic effects of design can be measured.
- Best Practice “Research”: Current issues of international design research in theory and practice.
- Best Practice “Business”: Representatives of the world of business report on how success can be achieved through design on the basis of specific examples.
The one-day event, enabled and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, is aimed at employees of national and international design centres, federal and state ministries, media, firms (in particular SMEs), universities and research institutions as well as students of relevant disciplines.
For further information visit: http://www.german-design-council.de/en/design-academy/design-innovation-europe.html