İzmir Design Factory Erasmus Project

Project Title

İzmir Design Factory

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

Design is increasingly recognised as a key discipline and activity to bring ideas to the market, transforming them into user-friendly and appealing products or services1 . Though still often associated solely with aesthetics, the application of design is much broader. A more systematic use of design as a tool for user-centred and market-driven innovation in all sectors of the economy, complementary to R&D, would improve countries competitiveness. Analyses of the contribution of design show that companies that strategically invest in design tend to be more profitable and grow faster. Design provides a series of methodologies, tools and techniques that can be used at different stages of the innovation process to boost the value of new products and services. When applied to services, systems and organisations, user-centred design thinking drives businessmodel innovation, organisational innovation and other forms of non-technological innovation. These methodologies may also be instrumental when addressing complex and systemic challenges, for example in redesigning public services and in strategic decision-making processes.
Design is not just about the way things look, it is also about the way they work. Design creates value and contributes to competitiveness, prosperity, and well-being in Europe. The European Commission aims to accelerate the take-up of design in industrial and innovation activities at European, national, and regional level.

The importance of design as an activity to bring new ideas to the market has been recognised in the Innovation Union, a flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Growth Strategy. With over 400000 professionally-trained designers, Europe has internationally recognised capability and a leadership position in design.

On the other hand, when we examine Turkey, a candidate country for the EU, we can see that she lags behind developed countries in design and innovation.(2017 Global Innovation Index / Turkey is ranked 43rd.) This is one of the biggest obstacles in terms of our development goals. In today’s world, products and services which are undeveloped in terms of design and innovation have no chance of success.

Public policies in Turkey have increased design awareness in recent years. The Design Strategy Document and Action Plan prepared within the framework of the Turkish Design Solidarity Council, established in 2019, were first carried into effect between 2014 and 2016. Significant results were achieved from this. Following this, a new plan covering the years 2017-2019 was put into action.

This plan generally overlaps with the action plans prepared by the European Commission. In this context; this plan aims to

” increase the use of design for innovation and growth across Europe and Turkey
” raise awareness of how design-driven innovation increases efficiency in public services and drives business growth
” create capacity and competencies to deliver these policies

The aim of the project “İzmir Design Factory”, which set off on its journey with all these goals, to establish our country’s first international design center associated with universities, private sector, professional chambers and non-governmental organizations.

İzmir Design Factory-IDF will establish in İzmir to advance knowledge and nurture leaders and innovators to anticipate, serve or solve societal and economic needs, through an integrated interdisciplinary education program, focused on developing the skills required by an ever-changing world and determined to co-create new knowledge and innovation with societal stakeholders.

The center to be built within Originn Coworking, Turkey’s largest coworking area, will focus on fashion, interior design, service design and food design by utilizing the local capacity and needs of Izmir.

The young people who will participate in the certified and accredited vocational education programs to be established within the scope of the center will first intern at the Porto Design Factory in Porto, one of the biggest design centers of the EU. These young people will then work in teams on design and innovation-based work to be taken from firms in Turkey and Europe, especially in Izmir, and develop innovative solutions. IDF, which will provide R&D support to corporate firms and smes, will enable the young people to gain business and career experience by allowing them to work directly in international teams.

With all of the above mentioned aspects, our project directly covers the priorities of innovation, entrepreneurship, employment and professional qualification of Erasmus+, as well as offers a concrete contribution to the development action plans of the EU and Turkey.

Project Website

https://www.argeburada.com

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 173748 Eur

Project Coordinator

ORIGINN OFIS HIZMETLERI VE ISLETMECILIGI LTD STI & Country: TR

Project Partners

• Aegean Industrialists and Businessmen Association
• YASAR UNIVERSITESI
• Egitim ve Gelecek Teknolojileri Dernegi
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DO PORTO
• CONSORZIO MATERAHUB INDUSTRIE CULTURALI E CREATIVE SCARL