Why we did this?

Europe benefits from world-leading expertise in design, but there remain large parts of the European economy where the knowledge and capacity to implement design-driven innovation is lacking. To combat this, the European Commission co-funded a three-year programme to develop a design innovation platform that shared know-how and expertise from across the continent.

This equipped the regions that are lagging behind to exploit the knowledge that exists, and upskill those who have yet to adopt key principles. The programme was led by the Design Council, which brought together a consortium of expert partners, and Nesta was chosen to drive the agenda for public sector innovation, building on our strong track record in this space.

What we did?

Along with two support partners, La 27e Region and the Estonian Design Centre, Nesta led on increasing the knowledge and capability of key public sector actors in Europe and improving access to leading edge thinking and evidence on the implementation of design-led innovation approaches. We did this by sharing best practice examples and approaches, and by delivering intensive workshops to encourage collaboration and shared learning experiences.

Over the three years we initiated, staged and promoted a series of opportunities for key stakeholders to engage with and test existing principles. Key participants built their understanding of, and confidence in, ways of applying design-driven innovation to public services in national or regional programmes.

Available through the platform were:

• Best practice examples on how design and innovation principles and approaches have been successfully applied.
• An expert-led forum to open up the discussion and debate to an international audience of practitioners and thought leaders.
• A collection of useful tools and resources to help support the take-up of innovation principals.
• Access to a wider network and community around design and innovation in Europe.

For further information, visit Design for Europe.

Background

Design for Europe: a wider European innovation agenda
The Design for Europe programme was created to deliver the European Design Innovation Platform (EDIP) project, which was part of the Commission's Action Plan for Design-Driven Innovation. The project was co-funded by the European Commission and delivered over three years, beginning in January 2014.