Case
Study
Establishing the Hellenic Design Centre
Background
Based in Thessaloniki, KEPA (Business and Cultural Development Centre) is the Intermediate Managing Authority of innovation programmes for SMEs, on behalf of Greek Ministry of Competitiveness and Development for Central and Western Macedonia. In the programming period 2007-2013, KEPA allocated €612 million to Greek businesses in the energy, construction, manufacturing, tourism, environment and professional services sectors. Through European initiatives such as SEE – Sharing Experience Europe’ and BEDA – Bureau of European Design Associations, KEPA embraced design as force for innovation and made it a main pillar of its investment activities. Consequently, design was included in the Smart Specialisation Strategy for Central Macedonia as well as the national funding scheme for the Ministry of Development.
“Support of design and
creativity is an activity
that will be used to achieve
the goals the Specific
Objective 3: Creation and
validation of an Innovation
Support System.”
Smart Specialisation Strategy
for Central Macedonia, 2015
“Application of the design
methodology for new or
improved product, service,
operating system or
organisational process up,
to the amount of €5,000. The
design methodology comprises
5 stages, for each of which
are used specialised tools.
These stages are: 1.
Defining the challenge, 2.
Developing ideas, 3.
Prototyping, 4. Testing and
5. Implementing and
evaluating”.
Call for Proposals Guidebook,
“Upgrading micro and small
businesses for the development
of their capacities to new
markets” Programme, 2016
Joining Design for Europe was a concrete opportunity for KEPA to deepen its knowledge and implement the objectives of the Smart Specialisation Strategy and the national programmes that will include design as eligible costs in beneficiaries’ project budgets.
SMEs struggle to separate thinking about design as merely product development from design thinking on a strategic level. Through Design for Europe we have been able to develop an effective response to this question using data, testimonials and case studies
“When we engage with
businesses and promote
design for innovation they
often ask “Why should I hire
a designer and not a
management consultant?” SMEs
struggle to separate
thinking about design as
merely product development
from design thinking on a
strategic level. Through
Design for Europe we have
been able to develop an
effective response to this
question using data,
testimonials and case
studies.”
Angeliki Barakli, EU Department
Project Manager, KEPA, Greece
How Design for Europe helped
During the course of Design for Europe, KEPA hosted events in Greece and in Brussels to foster collaboration between actors at home and international experts.
Meetings have taken place with the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, Greek MEPs, Athens Development and Destination Management Authority, City of Thessaloniki, Alexander Innovation Zone, MIT Enterprise Forum Greece, HeBAN (Hellenic Business Angels Network), Region of Central Macedonia, Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism, and the Managing Authority of European Territorial Cooperation Programmes to advance the case for design in Greece. For example, in October 2015, KEPA arranged a meeting with two Greek MEPs to canvas support for KEPA’s ambitions to establish the Hellenic Design Centre.
“KEPA’s participation in
Design for Europe as
well as other EU
networks has had a major
leverage effect to
advance the use of
design in Greece. The
insight gathered across
Design for Europe’s vast
network helped us to
identify critical
success factors and
pitfall when developing
the design pilot
programme for SMEs as
well as the business
case for the Hellenic
Design Centre.”
Christina Skoubridou, EU
Department officer, KEPA,
Greece
No one is downplaying the economic situation in Greece. However, it is in times of crisis that innovation often flourishes. We have a chance to do something differently.
The commitment to design was further reinforced by the business community at the gathering of the Innovation ID conference in April 2016 in Thessaloniki. This event brought together the most influential decision-makers in the region to showcase examples of design-driven innovation already happening in Central Macedonia and across Greece.
“No one is downplaying
the economic situation
in Greece. However, it
is in times of crisis
that innovation often
flourishes. We have a
chance to do something
differently, to support
companies and the public
sector to be innovative
using design approaches
and putting the user or
citizen at the heart of
the process.”
Simon Bensasson, Member of
the Thessaloniki City
Council, Advisor of the
Municipality of Thessaloniki
for Entrepreneurship, Greece
“Greece has major
strengths in design but
also major weaknesses.
Design is not part of
the standard lexicon of
small business in
Greece, yet there are
pockets of highly
innovative design
activity going on such
as the work of BrainBox
creating the Easybike
system for bike sharing.
There is fertile ground
for design in Greece.”
Dimitris Dimitriadis,
Business Development
Director, BrainBox, Greece
“I would like you to know
that it was a great
pleasure for me to
attend the Innovation ID
conference. That was an
ideal opportunity to
reflect on the
challenges that lie
ahead and find effective
and innovative ways to
overcome them. I was
also impressed with how
professional the follow
up was. It's something
not common in Greece and
I am delighted that KEPA
is a pioneer!”
Christos Koutousis, Head of
Extroversion Programme,
CERTH - Centre for Research
& Technology, Hellas
Βy exchanging best practice
with stakeholders across
Europe, KEPA identified two
pressing activities to
achieve through Design for
Europe – establishing the
Hellenic Design Centre and
implementing the first
design pilot for SMEs in
Greece. In this way, design
would be a formalised part
of the Innovation Support
System.
Outcomes
-
€5,000 to help SMEs integrate design methodologies
-
8 priority sectors created out of small enterprises
-
3 Design for Europe events held in Greece over past three years
The expertise within the Design for Europe network has been invaluable for enabling KEPA to instigate its ambitions of establishing the first Hellenic Design Centre.
By sharing best practices from existing partners and other European design centres (particularly the Danish Design Centre, Design Council, Estonian Design Centre and Design Flanders) KEPA has been able to identify the critical success factors and pitfalls in setting up the HDC. KEPA considers that the establishment of the HDC would significantly advance the use of design across the private and public sectors in Greece. European counterparts tend to be almost fully funded by government and receive public funding to conduct their activities.
Alternatively, KEPA is working on a business model for HDC that will ensure it is self-sustainable in the long-term. Nevertheless, some seed funding would be required from public and third sector sources to start operations. Ideally and similarly to EU counterparts, the HDC would benefit from a range funding sources including regional, national and EU funds as well as commercial income. The business plan for the HDC is currently under review by private and public investors.
The incubator will nurture design talent and enable start-ups to launch new products and services creating more Greek success stories. The HDC moves us one step closer to the wider ambition of a national design policy.
“There
are two
sides to the
problem in
Greece, both
a lack in
demand –
design
readiness in
companies –
and a lack
of supply –
trained
designers.
The Hellenic
Design
Centre will
be
established
to tackle
both issues.
The
incubator
will nurture
design
talent and
enable
start-ups to
launch new
products and
services
creating
more Greek
success
stories. The
HDC moves us
one step
closer to
the wider
ambition of
a national
design
policy.”
Nikos
Efthymiadis,
Entrepreneur,
Chairman of
KEPA, Greece
A significant breakthrough occurred in 2016 when the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism, after having participated in many dedicated workshops and consultations with KEPA, recognised the added value of design and decided to include it as an eligible cost to a next call for proposals targeting SMEs. For the first time, Greek SMEs have the opportunity to access €5,000 to perform a design diagnostic and develop a set of actions as part of a more holistic business plan. The aim would be for the SMEs to integrate design methodologies into their core business operations, particularly at a management level and subsequently to develop in-house design capabilities or invest in external design expertise. An indicator of success for the programme would be the number of SMEs that using budget for design.
“The
challenges
for design
in Greece
have been
compounded
by the
crisis. The
economic
downturn has
obviously
affected the
budgets for
companies to
investment
in design.
Therefore
KEPA has
been
engaging
with the
Ministry of
Economy,
Development
and Tourism
and now
design has
been
included in
a new
funding
programme
for SMEs to
access up to
€5,000 to
hire a
designer.”
Dimitris
Kaboukos, EU
Department
officer, KEPA,
Greece
The action aims to strengthen micro and small enterprises in the 8 EPANEK (the 2014-2020 Operational Programme ‘Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, Innovation’) priority sectors. These sectors are agrofood/food industry, energy, environment, ICT, logistics, health, materials-constructions and cultural industries. Through the specific action, SMEs will upgrade their competitive position by investing in technological, organisational and business modernisation or remodelling their products and services. Beneficiaries’ projects should be clearly targeted to improve the quality of products and services or create new ones, which should cover specific market needs.
“To include
design as an
eligible
cost in a
national
programme is
a ‘pilot’
action for
us and a
good outcome
will make us
do even
more. We all
know that
sometimes,
it is very
difficult to
develop new
things. But
during these
difficult
times for
our country,
we are glad
to have
discovered
the design
thinking
methodology,
a very
promising
tool for our
SMEs. It is
also a
challenge to
raise
awareness of
design
thinking and
convince
companies of
its
effectiveness.
So, the
opportunity
is here,
things are
finally
starting to
move and we
all believe
that the
outcome of
all our
efforts will
be
significant.”
Stava Angelidi,
General
Secretariat of
the Governmental
Work
Coordination,
Greece