Supporting design in Lithuania and the Baltics

As Design for Europe continues to build its visibility and impact, we are supporting the Lithuanian Design Forum to improve innovation in the Baltic region.

Design for Europe aims to help people use design to accelerate innovation to boost economic growth and job creation. Targeting businesses, public sector services and policymakers, the programme is driven by a group of institutions representing a range of European perspectives. Design for Europe’s partners have a wealth of expertise and a shared vision to increase the awareness and take-up of design-led methods and tools across the public, private and policy sectors.

We have a shared commitment to raising the profile of design as a force for change. Together we have been running and supporting a series of events across Europe, engaging with a range of audiences and the ecosystems that support these sectors.

Through these activities, we have identified and mapped key themes for further debate. We’ve invited experts and opinion formers to debate these challenges online to increase the visibility of the issues and barriers to using design. We have prompted local discussions and formed regional communities around critical topics, and we’ve encouraged hands-on participation in design and innovation workshops. But we can't stop there.

Regional focus

Design for Europe is seeking ways to maximise the impact of the programme. In order to create real change, we understand that we need to support and influence not just one sector, but the entire system. In other words, we believe real impact is created by working across the public sector, the private sector and at the policy level.

As a result of this, Design for Europe partners Nesta, Politecnico di Milano and Danish Design Centre are joining forces and focusing our efforts on a particular region: Lithuania. Our objective is to help strengthen and accelerate design as a way of innovating in Lithuania and the Baltics, ultimately boosting economic growth and service improvement.

'Over the past 25 years since its independence, Lithuania has been transforming into a modern European country,' explains Audronė Drungilaitė, director of Lithuanian Design Forum. 'As part of this transformation, we have a huge interest in expanding our design capabilities. I strongly believe that with the help of the experienced partners in Design for Europe we can create a better future, and that this cooperation will help us to spur on the uptake of design in Lithuania.'

Our approach will be to work directly in Lithuania and identify key areas where we can provide guidance, support and signposting. We will help put into practice new approaches that will raise the profile of design and innovation and highlight areas for future investment.

The programme

Nesta, Politecnico di Milano and Danish Design Centre will work in Lithuania to carry out interviews with key networks to establish a focused and tailored programme of local activity. Together with the support of the other Design for Europe partners, we’ll organise a series of events and activities aimed specifically at strengthening design in innovation in Lithuania. This will enable Design for Europe to demonstrate more focused impact and encourage stronger engagement within the Baltic regions.

Design for Europe is very much looking forward to working together with the Lithuanian Design Forum and helping them to embed a stronger commitment to design, strengthening the connections that exist, and to build the foundations of a national design strategy.

Author

Sonja Dahl

Sonja Dahl

Sonja Dahl

Director, Innovation Skills

As Director, Sonja led the team responsible for spreading innovation skills and strengthening the conditions that allow innovation to thrive.

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