One nation, under strategic design
The strength of good strategic design is at last being recognised. Currently, the hunt for a national design strategy aimed at innovation and growth in Denmark is well underway.
“Design has evolved from being able to create beautiful and functional products to be a process that can drive the evolution of services, products, business models, organizations and ways of thinking. Therefore, design is an important part of Denmark’s future.”said Eskild Hansen, head of European Design Centre at Cisco, one of the participants at a summit held by the Social Liberals.
Denmark has a strong history of design that has evolved from design and aesthetics to a strong strategic power through which companies are able to innovate and grow. It’s this strategic design power that has recently sparked a debate in the political world and within the design industry.
The Danish Design Association (The DDA) have, as a result, invited all parties concerned to a meeting on April 26th 2011 in the hope of coming to an agreement, and to make a start on the road to a stimulating and bold design strategy that will fully benefit all of Denmark, on national and international levels.
The concern is that by effectively working against each other, the potential power and strength of a national design policy could be hampered. The DDA believe that by working together, and including the knowledge, experience and strategic thinking of professionals both from within the industry, and outside the industry, a true visionary design strategy can be created.
Two political parties (the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre)) and the current government of the Liberals and Conservatives (Venstre and Conservative) are working on their own national design strategies.
The Liberals recently unveiled their ‘Design the Future’ (Design Fremtiden) which focuses on four areas; design education, internationalisation of Danish design, public Design challenges, and growth in the creative industries.
The government have formed a ‘Vision Committee Design 2020’ comprising of six members, selected based on their personal qualities, professional activities and knowledge of the design area. The committee will recommend strategies and to strengthen conditions for design until 2020.
Denmark was the first country in the world with a design policy in 1996, and the time has come to reformulate this in order to keep Denmark as a leading design nation. It’s an exciting time for Danish design, and needless to say, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the matter.