The first Design4Innovation project meeting on 7th, 8th and 9th of March, kick-started a new interregional collaboration aiming to enhance SME competitiveness. The partners gathered in the historic city of Bruges for an event combining a Partnership Meeting, an interactive workshop with key stakeholders from partner regions and a study visit to three Flemish SMEs that have successfully used design for innovation. Our hosts – Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship organised every detail of the meeting to perfection and set the standard for the next project workshops.

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This event will look at which policies public authorities can implement to optimise the collaborative economy for consumers and companies.

On 28 February in Athens, the European Commission officially launched the 2017 edition of the European Social Innovation Competition aiming to ‘reboot’ equality by inspiring Europeans to provide fresh and energetic approaches to technologies, digital inclusion, connectivity and skills development.

The Commission has published the third edition of the Regional Competitiveness Index for 263 EU regions, a study that provides useful insights for regions to boost their economic performance. Regional competitiveness is the ability of a region to offer an attractive and sustainable environment for firms and residents to live and work.

KEPA, Luxinnovation and MBB start a new Horizon 2020 project on design support programmes for SMEs. Design for Europe partners KEPA (Business and Cultural Development Center) and Luxinnovation together with MBB (Malta Business Bureau), ambassador of DfE in Malta, will start soon a new Horizon 2020 project with the name DesignShots. Through a peer-learning exercise, we will review different existing Design-Driven Innovation Programmes, their pros and cons as well as their relevance and potential applicability in our respective countries: Greece, Luxembourg and Malta. 

The Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills is a new framework for strategic cooperation to address short and medium-term skills needs in a given economic sector. The publication outlines how stakeholders (businesses, trade unions, public authorities, research, education and training institutions etc.) can apply the framework to address sectoral challenges, illustrating the steps towards delivering sector-specific skills solutions through sectoral partnerships. The Blueprint currently focuses on six pilot sectors including: Automotive; Defence; Maritime Technology; Space (geo-information); Textile, Clothing, Leather & Footwear (TCLF); and Tourism. It will be extended to additional sectors in the future.

A new Interreg Europe funded project Design4Innovation led by PDR and having KEPA as partner starts its activities as of January 2017. Design for Europe partner KEPA will participate in a new EU project called Design4Innovation and led by PDR (International Design and Research Centre).

With the support of Design for Europe, KEPA, Design Council and a whole set of stakeholders join forces to give Thessaloniki’s oldest market Kapani a new identity and a new renovated life. Kapani market is the oldest market in Thessaloniki. Located in the heart of the city centre, the market hosts a whole array of shops selling from fish, meat and vegetables to homeware, clothing or flowers.

The call for proposals for Sectoral Skills Alliances is now open and we will hold an online info-day on 16 February 2017. Lot 3 of the call is open to sectors who have been chosen to pilot the Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills. The info-day will take place in the afternoon of 16 February 2017 to explain the funding opportunities available under Erasmus+ Key Action 2: Cooperation for Innovation and Exchange of Good Practices - Sector Skills Alliances (SSA). This info-day will focus on: