Revista The Magazine - nr 30: Imagineaza. Creeaza. Inoveaza

8/6/2019 Revista The Magazine - nr 30: Imagineaza. Creeaza. Inoveaza.

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TheMagazine

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

N312009 Imagine.Create. Innovate

Education and trainingI Culture IYouth I Multilingualism I Sport I Citizenship

ISSN 1023-3725


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Informal learning, a territory to be discoveredInterview with Commissioner Jn Figel

PG

Creativity and innovation at the heartof the struggle for the future of Europe.PG

New Skills for New Jobs:need for a revolutionPG

Good practices in creative& innovative projectsPG

European year 2009:Ambassadors and agenda.PG

The EIT : taking the next stepPG

Design as a tool for innovationBeyond The myths about design.PG

Creativity is innovations prime sourceInterview with Gnter Verheugen

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Regional aspects of creativity and innovation:European cohesion policys role inStrengthening InnovationPG

Innovation in FarmingPG 4

Creativity and innovation in educationPG 4

Together in Diversity2008 European Year of Intercultural DialoguePG 4

European youth voiceAspirations & concernsPG

Commissioner Figel attendsParalympic Games 2008PG

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The Magazine 31

SUMMARY


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A unique system o goernance an its achieements oer50 years are proo o the ability to reinent itsel to ace newchallenges. The single market, the euro, enlargement theseare all eamples where Europe has remaine true to itsunamental alues o soliarity an social justice, but whereit has oun new answers an new ways to aapt.

Europe toay has as much nee as eer o innoation ancreatiity. We ace a set o challenges o unpreceente scalean compleity: ar-reaching challenges such as steering ourEuropean society into a more sustainable uture, aressingsuch many-layere issues as climate change, energy security,

migration an an ageing population.

We eed to hess o cetty dote to d the ht swes.

Globalisation has create a new contet or Europe, askingnew questions an sparking new opportunities. The LisbonStrategy or growth an jobs is our key platorm to aaptour economies an our societies to the challenges aneelopments o our globalising worl.The growth an jobs strategy has promote the nee oran innoation-rienly enironment where knowlege is

conerte into innoatie proucts an serices. But it hasalso mae clear that innoation is not just or the ew. Themoern economy, with its emphasis on aing alue by betteruse o knowlege, works best when eeryone can broaentheir creatie skills. I the potential or innoation ancreatiity is unlocke, it benets people acing up to change in

a more ui economy, opens up new ieas to meet the neeso a changing worl an allows us all to make the most o ourcultural iersity.

The European Commission an the European Union arecommitte to promoting innoation an creatiity. 2008saw the launch o the European Institute o Innoation anTechnology, which will urther reinorce the triangle oeucation, research an innoation an help our companiesto remain competitie in increasingly global markets.

I am, thereore, elighte that in 2009, the European Year

o Creatiity an Innoation will oer a particular ocus,raising public awareness, spreaing inormation about goopractices, stimulating research an promoting policy ebatean change. By combining action at European, national,regional an local leels, an by inoling all key stakeholers,we can release our continents creatie energy an showhow Europe remains the crale o new ieas. Creatiity aninnoation are the riers or the Europe o tomorrow. Letsuse this year to show what is possible.

Jos Manuel BARROSO,Presient o the European Commission

Innoation an creatiity hae always been at the heart o the European story. TheRenaissance, Enlightenment, eploration o the worl an inustrial reolution all theseecisie steps in European history relie on the willingness o Europeans to take a reshlook, to attack a new challenge. The European Union is in itsel testament to the creatiegenius o the ouning athers.

Forewor

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Cete tets e bo, d tehs ch be oe cetty

th te. Do yo see y eso toody ths coo wsdo?

Itistruethatourgeneticinheritancemayhelpsomeoustobeanoutstandingtalentinoneorotherdomainsolie.Butliehasmanydomains,andapersonwhoisnotcleveratplayingtheviolin,canstillbeanoutstandingengineer,andvice versa.Andthere ismore:althoughwe aregeneticallydetermined, the culture around us this specic andwonderully rich git ohumanity canmodiy ournaturaldisposition.Bychangingourhabits,wechangeourselves.Inact,thisobservationisnotnew,asthehistoryoeducationproves.Iwouldplacethestressonhowweeducate,howwechangehabitsnotonlythoseoourchildrenbutoouradultellowcitizensaswell.

Oe cod sy tht Eoeedcto systes wee ey ecet

the st, d we e ey od oo y edcto, whch s oeto , d y o o estestht he odced et tets.Wht shod we che?

Ocourse,wemustpreserveeverythingthathasproventobeefective,andwemustcontinueoferingschoolingoreverychild.Butitisnotenoughtooferthepossibilityolearning.Wehavetoretainstudentsuntiltheyacquireenoughotheskillsthatwillhelpthemtondajobinarapidlyevolvinglabourmarket.

Eachchildisdiferent,andhasdiferentneeds.Someothemcanlearneasilyandalone,othersneedguidanceandhelp.Iamnotconvincedbyasimpledivisionbetweengoodandbadstudents;rather,therearestudentswho,oronereasonoranother,havebeenabletondanddeveloptheirtalents,andtherearethosewhohavenotbeensoortunate.Creativityisnotaprivilege.Creativityisthereinallous,anditisahugeresponsibilityorallinstitutionsdealingwitheducationnottodiscouragecreativebehaviour.Letsidentiythespecialgitineverybody,andletsbuildcareersonthat.

We needa newapproach: instead oocusing onlyontheprocess o teaching, we should put the emphasis on the

outcomesothatprocess.Inordertoproduceoutcomesthatboththestudentandtheoutsideworldwillvalue,weneedtoocusoneachstudentsspecialneeds.

inOrmal

lEarningaterritory to be iscoereiteew wth Cossoe J e'

We use to think that creatiity is the priilege o those ew who ha a goo eucation, anthat creatie thoughts turn more or less automatically into innoations. European historywoul seem to support this iew. Now Jn Fige, the European Commissioner responsibleor eucation, training, culture an youth, tells The Magazine what he thinks, an whathe epects rom the European Year o Creatiity an Innoation.

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Our economy isbased onknowledge and high skill levels more andmore specialisedknowledge, and ever-higherquality skills. Education, thereore, has to satisy theincreased demands or specialisation in the market. That

iswhy I emphasise cooperation between schools and theeconomyatlarge.

This connection is important or another reason too creativethoughtsdonotturnthemselvesautomaticallyintoinnovations. They will contribute to ourqualityo lie onlyi we pave the way or them, or example by cooperationbetweenschools,researchinstitutionsandenterprises.TheEuropean Institute o Innovation and Technology (EIT), orexample,shouldbecomeanexcellentexampleosuccessinthisrespect.

Thee y be sdde ches

the ket: wht ws soht teyestedy cod be sefostooow. is the ket ood jde?

Likeitornot,weliveinamarketeconomy,andcompetitionisabasiceatureomarkets.Nodoubt,Europeneedsacompetitiveeconomy,butitshouldatthesametimebeasustainable,viableonethatdoesnotdestroysocialcohesion!

Thereareconstantchangesintheeconomy,andwearealsoexpected tochange.Toquoteanoldwisesaying:Temporamutantur,etnosmutamurinillisTimeschange,andwechangeinthem.Wecannotstoptimeandchange,butwe

cancontrolourresponsestothem.Inthiscontext,thereore,weneedtodevelopourskillsandcompetencessothatwecanmeetthosechallenges.

Nodoubtitisimportantoralltobeabletocommunicateintheirmothertongue,andlearninganotherlanguagebringsproven benets too. Knowledge o basic mathematics,scienceandtechnology(includingdigitaltechnologies)are

nowindispensableinourworld.Butwhatismostimportantisthecompetenceolearninghowtolearn,andthisshouldbetaughtatanearlyageinschool.

Whilelanguage,mathematicsandsciencecanbetaught intheclassroom,theotherkeycompetences,suchaslearningtolearn,socialandciviccompetences,asenseoinitiativeandentrepreneurshiporculturalexpression,areusuallybestacquired inthe amilyor inthewidercommunity. Learningdoesnotendwithgraduation,itispracticallylielongandlie-wide.Wehavetobeawareothisact,andplanoureducationandtrainingsystemsinawaythatcountswithextracurricularlearning.

Do yo e tht the edcto o keycoeteces s ot the tsk o theschoo syste oe?

Exactly.Schools arestillvery important,butwhathappensoutside the classroom is similarly important. Schools areprimarilyresponsibleorso-calledormallearning,buttheyalsoprovidenon-ormaland inormal learningaswell.Theamily,theworkplaceandplaceswherepeoplespendtheirreetimearealsohavensor inormallearning.Everyonelearnsrom amilymembers, relatives, riends or acquaintances,andtheymakeuseothatknowledgelater.

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How c the Ye o Cetty& ioto cotbte to thteoto?

ThemainunctionoEuropeanthematicyearsistoraisepublicawarenessaroundatheme.Ihopethatraisedawarenesswillresultinpublicdebatesonhowwecanostercreativityandinnovation,notonly ineducational institutions, butalso ineconomiclieandsociety.IwouldlikeallstakeholderstomaketheirvoiceheardthroughouttheYearandattheconerencesthatweplantohold.Andnotonlythere,butalsointhemediaandinallpublicora.

Ihaveanotherexpectationaswell.TheEuropeanCommissionconstantly underlines the importance o investing ineducationandculture.Itwillcontinuetobeatoppriorityorthe Commission in the uture too. But when people invest

insomething,theywanttoseewhatthereturnswillbe.Intheareaoeducation,wehavetroubleshowingwhatthosereturnsare,becauseoalackostatisticsandrelevantharddata.So,wewillbeworkinghardtodevelopstatisticaldatagathering systems in education, especially in the area oinormallearning,toshowthatitisreallyworthinvestinginknowledge.

These e btos os.Do yo thk tht oe ye w beeoh to coete t?

Clearly,oneEuropeanYearisnotenough!Thereissomuchtodo.AterevaluatingtheresultsotheYear,wehavetone-tune ourpolicies to channelcreative orces into oursocialandeconomiclie.ButIamquitesurethattheYearwillgivean impetus to the process o orging an EU-wide cultureo learning,which will bea dening characteristic o theknowledge-basedEuropeansocietyotheuture.

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Creatiity an innoationat the heart o thestruggleor

THE uTurEO EurOpE.

There are two things wrong with this iew. Firstly, it reectsonly a partial ision o what constitutes innoation. Many othe most important innoations come, not rom the work olonely scientists or artists, but rom the way people makecreatie use o social processes to come up with new wayso oing things. Think o how politicians prouce italinnoations rom the rubble o postwar Europe: eager to makea break with the isastrous past, this generation create bothnational systems o public social protection an a EuropeanUnion, an innoatie orm o goernance still unique in theworl. These initiaties change Europe or the better anirreersibly, just as much as the most startling technologicalbreakthroughs.

Seconly, the iea that creatiity is like lightning which strikesonly rarely an haphazarly is misleaing. It is possibleto buil creatie attitues an to oster an enironmentconucie to innoation. Public policies can be use to

ensure that original thinking is encourage an alue;that goo ieas will be hear, teste an gien the chanceto become reality; an that citizens can be persuae to beopen to the arrial o innoation an change in their lies.

Eerything we know about the uture makes us think thatEurope must, more than eer, become a society which lieson its creatie an innoatie abilities an which is open tochange. While we cannot preict the uture with precision, weknow some o the most important actors which will shapethe Europe we lie in.

We can be certain, or eample, o emographic ageing.We know that young people will be in short supply so the

numbers arriing on the labour orce will iminish. At thesame time, caring serices or the epane population ooler people will be more than eer neee. This squeezein human resources will pose major challenges or a Europewhich attaches importance both to high stanars o liingan to high stanars o social care.

We can also be certain that climate change an the neeto moe to a low carbon economy will proounly shapeeconomic an social lie, the way we prouce an earn aliing an the way we lie.

We can epect the pace o technological change to continuean probably to increase. New proucts oer recent yearshae largely been rien by the application o ICTs. Thiswill continue while the inuence o newer tools, such asnanotechnologies, will a to the eect.

Finally, we can epect notwithstaning the current economicownturn an increasingly globalise economic orer withan eer stronger presence rom the emerging economies, onein which Europe cannot simply take its place as a worl leaeror grante.

How c Eoe esod to thesete chees?

Europe has alreay chosen the strategy it will pursue in theace o these challenges the Heas o State an Goernmenteclare at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000their collectie intention or Europe to become the mostcompetitiveanddynamicknowledge-basedeconomyintheworld, capableo sustainable economic growthwithmoreandbetterjobsandgreatersocialcohesion.

THE CHALLENGE TO BE CREATIvE ANd INNOvATIvEWhen we think o creators an innoators we ten to think o rare iniiuals touche by genius artists an inentors, esigners an entrepreneurs, people who blaze a trail on behal o, butseparate rom the rest o us.

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In a rapily changing economic an social enironment,policy makers an practitioners nee to be able to ientiyan respon promptly to new an changing skills an jobsrequirements. Such ecisions shoul epen on reliableanticipatie inormation proie by research.

Cyst b?Noboy is able to preict precisely what the uture willhol, but eeryone has to prepare an plan in orer to aoiany unesirable outcomes an to make the most o theopportunities they ace. The sum o these iniiual plansan choices will inuence the uture path taken by Europe asa whole. These nee to be guie by robust labour marketinormation, incluing a orwar-looking element. The keyquestion, thereore, is not whether an attempt shoul bemae to anticipate the uture, but rather how to go about it.

Rather than relying on luck, or upon iniiuals own, possiblyill-inorme, jugements, there is a case or the EU proiingsuch inormation as a public goo, base on the applicationo transparent, systematic an scientic methos.

No single approach has the monopoly on truth. Nor can onemetho proie a ull an complete picture o the uture.Qualitatie an quantitatie assessments are neee. TheNew Skills or New Jobs initiatie aims to pool eistingresources an proies a comprehensie picture o the uture,allowing a ariety o tools to inorm an support each other.

As an eample, the rst assessment o skills nees presentein the Communication an etaile in the Sta Workingdocument is not only base on the quantitatie projectionsprouce by the European Centre or the deelopment ovocational Training (Ceeop), using econometric techniquesan large ata bases, but also qualitatie analysis, inoling

stakeholers an employers at the sectoral leel throughinteriews, ocus groups an share iagnoses on scenarios.Ceeop an the European Founation or the Improemento Liing an Working Conitions (Eurooun) hae worke onsuch oresight methoologies, which enable the eaminationo new riers o change an ealuation o their consequences,leaing to a more qualitatie assessment o skills nees.

Many Member States currently carry out such actiities.Howeer, the national approaches are ery heterogeneous,in terms o methos, scopes an institutional ramework.deelopment o common tools an methoologies will ensurebetter comparability. Gien the increasing interepenencyo European labour markets an the growth in cross borer

mobility, the case or a pan-European assessment o skillsnees has strengthene.

Wht do we edy kow o theoecsts?

Forecasting oes not aim to proie an eact picture othe uture, but it can gie an inication o general trensan highlight the nee or particular responses. For publicauthorities, eucation an training proiers, companies,workers an stuents, orecasting an anticipation canproie timely warnings o uture labour market imbalancesan skills shortages, an contribute to the esign o efcient

employment, eucation an training policies.

The Commission has just uneile an initiatie New Skills or New Jobs to help us anticipatethe skills neee or the jobs o the uture. It will ientiy the right skills mies so that we cantrain an prepare people or the new jobs that will come along.

New Skills or New Jobs:

nEED Ora rEvOluTiOn

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te o jobs d sks: bck, ee,ey o osecooed sceos?

The seerity o the nancial crisis an its economic spill-oeras an etraorinary egree o unpreictability about theuture o the worl economy, an makes pessimistic scenariosmore probable, at least in the short-term.

At the sectoral leel, the picture is more nuance. Primarysector an traitional manuacturing inustries areiminishing, while serices are still epaning an newsectors emerging. As an eample, eorts to mitigate antackle climate change an enironmental egraation,such as the pollution o water, lan an air, can create anew green economy, with millions o new jobs across theworl. The market or enironmental proucts an sericesis projecte to ouble. Enironmental concerns o not onlyimply the growth o new green sectors. They also require theeelopment o new competencies in more traitional sectorslike agriculture, transport an construction. As a consequence,eucation an training systems shoul be reay to eelopnew programmes or emerging new proessions, an newskills shoul be taught as part o changing job proles withineisting proessions.

Across all sectors an occupations, the nature o work is

alreay changing. Technological change an new workorganisations, inoling team work, job rotation anmultitasking, hae a consierable impact on the eman orskills. We epect signicant numbers o high skille jobs tobe create in Europe oer the net ecae or so, an skillsrequirements will also be higher in jobs at the intermeiateor low leel o the employment laer. Between 2006an 2020 the percentage o total jobs which require highqualication leels will rise rom 25.1% to 31.3% accoringto Ceeop projections. Up to 2020, 17.7 million net new jobswill be create in high skille non-manual occupations, suchas aministratie, marketing, logistics an sales managers,IT systems aministrators, teaching proessionals antechnicians.

Further eploration o skills shits in specic sectors anoccupations with qualitatie methos can proie a eepunerstaning o the crucial skills require or labour marketsuccess. There is now a growing eman rom businesses ortransersal key competences, such as problem soling ananalytical skills, sel-management an communication skills,linguistic skills, entrepreneurship an more generally, non-routine skills. The 2009 Year o Creatiity an Innoation willemphasise the importance o such transersal skills.

There is still a nee to acquire proessional epertise anknowlege, but training in a specic el o knowlege alsoacts as the carrier or builing other, more general, skills.

Later in the lie cycle, these transersal an transerableskills can be a aluable asset in the eent o reconersionater restructuring an isplacement.

A general tren towars a eman or a broaer portolio oskills is perceptible across sectors. In knowlege intensiean growing sectors such as nanotechnology an biomeicalhealthcare, there will be an een greater eman orscientists skille in more than just one area or research el.In aition, as the number o companies that eelop anmanuacture nanotechnology an biotechnology prouctsin cooperation with research institutes grows, eman orqualie personnel in both R&d an business increases.In the same ein, sotware proessionals hae to eelop

skills in public relations. In more traitional sectors such asautomobiles, commerce or tourism, eisting jobs will ten tochange in terms o the skills an competences require. Foreample, in the automotie sector, the emerging technologyan eolution o eman, rom greater iersity, urbanisationan pressure rom energy prices, will increase the nee orskills in esign, marketing an research.

deep eploration o skills requirements in the tourism sectoroun that in orer to ace the increasing competition in worltourism an keep its position as a aourite estination, itis crucial or Europe to respon to general trens, such ascustomise holiays, language an eucational holiays.The tren towars customise holiays requires highly

interisciplinary knowlege an multiskilling or thoseworking in the sector. This inoles knowlege o oreignlanguages, skills to ientiy opportunities or cross-promotion an cross-selling, customer hanling serices ancommunication skills.

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A majority o jobs coul be more interesting, while proiingbetter working conitions in the uture. Howeer, working liemay not be a be o roses. Creation o a signicant numbero jobs with ba working conitions in the serice sector isnot to be eclue. The changing sector an occupationalstructure may lea to some job polarisation with employmentgrowth at the higher an lower leels an the eman or jobsin the meium leel occupational layer becoming somewhatthinner. European eience tens to conrm the increasingeman or non routine tasks at the low an higher leels othe jobs laer, while routine task jobs, normally oun in themile o the wage istribution, hae ecrease. As routinejobs ie away an creatie tasks grow, people with only ery

basic skills will struggle to n satisactory employment.

What about orecasts on the supply sie, that is to saylearners an workers, in a non-economist way o speaking?The workorce becomes more an more skille as the youngercohorts with a higher leel o eucation enter the labourmarket, but this ery slow reolution will not be sufcient toanswer labour market nees. We also know that 70% o theworkorce in 2020 will alreay be working an the workorceis getting oler. This is the grey reolution, which requiresa constant eort to train an retrain aults an allow them toaapt in a rapily changing enironment.

Mismatches between skills supply an labour market eman

are epecte, an current imbalances alreay eist. Europe isconronte with high rates o unemployment or low skilleworkers in some countries (10.9% oerall, but more than 15%in Bulgaria, Germany, Hungry, Sloakia an Polan in 2007),young people (15.5% or 15-24 year ols in 2007) an non-EU nationals (14.7% in the euro area), alongsie persistentlabour market shortages o some skills groups, such as thoseinole in teacher training an eucation, engineeringan manuacturing, an health an welare qualications.Furthermore, unemployment rates ary signicantly bygeographical region, suggesting a lack o cross-regionallabour market mobility.

For those who hae a job, there is still a risk o morequalitatie skills mismatches. Recently, 52.3% o workersstate that their skills leels matche their job, while 13.1%epresse the nee or urther training an 34.6% sai thatthey coul cope with more emaning uties. Mismatchesare higher or people with only upper seconary eucationthan or those with the highest eucational leels an theincience o job mismatches iers accoring to the el ostuies. Howeer, a non-negligible part o skills mismatchesis a transitory phenomenon, in particular or young grauateswho accept jobs that o not match their eucational leel, butgie useul work eperience. Neertheless, unerutilisationo eucation remains a persistent phenomenon or migrants

in some countries. As a result, labour markets ten to makeinefcient use o the potential o migration to contribute tolling skills gaps.

These mismatches are likely to both continue an changein character as a consequence o the key trens escribeaboe. Labour eman an skills nees are changing bothquantitatiely an qualitatiely, as are labour an skillssupply. This situation both increases the nee or anticipatorymechanisms so that eucation an training policies anactie labour market measures can be well inorme anheightens the challenges o creating ali orecasts.

Policy makers nee to imagine the ay ater tomorrow,

the uture, but shoul ecie toay to alreay prepare ortomorrow. That is why the upate strategic ramework onEuropean cooperation will rmly set strategic objectiesor eucation an training systems, as well as immeiatepriorities.

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Sks eoto: ot y, eed

Upgraing an upating skills are not just a luury or the high-tech proessionals who hae to cope irectly with technologicalchanges. All leels o eucation are concerne. We shoultackle early school leaing, but also rop outs an ailures inthe rst years at uniersity, because grauates rom highereucation will be more an more in eman by employers.Ault training is all the more important as younger cohorts

shrink. As a consequence, uniersities shoul participate inault training. They shoul be opene to a wier public romierent backgrouns. Commitment to lie long learning inhigher eucation is all the more necessary.

Raising skills is a prerequisite, but training an eucationsystems shoul also proie the aequate skills to bettermatch labour market nees an to prepare or an actie rolein the society o tomorrow, without speaking here o personalwellbeing, which is as important, i not more so, as economicgoals.

We must gie eeryone the skills to continue learningthroughout their lie, aapting an prospering with the

changes that will occur. Key competences an transersalskills shoul be aequately coere in curricula.

It is equally important that we ensure our young peoplehae job specic skills. dialogue an partnerships betweenuniersities, training proiers an businesses are useul toeelop aequate curricula. In this respect, the 2009 Year oCreatiity an Innoation will promote partnerships betweeneucation, research an business to boost innoation an aknowlege-base economy.

Roamap:concrete tools orbetter match o

skills an jobsTo anticipate an match new jobs an skills requirements, theNew Skills or New Jobs initiatie contains concrete proposalsuner our heaings.

Firstly, the initiatie will strengthen the Unions ability toorecast an anticipate skills an job nees, by harnessing theresources an epertise o Eurooun an Ceeop. Upatequantitatie projections o skills an labour supply aneman will be publishe eery two years starting in 2010,along with a hoc early warnings o potential labour marketimbalances. The use o employers opinions as an alternatie

to these quantitatie methos is now being ebate. I wewant to know what employers skills nees will be, why notask them? The possibility o an employers surey tool anqualitatie stuies on the skills nees o businesses will beeplore. Howeer, past eperience suggests that employersare not ery goo at anticipating their uture skills nees.Inee, employers can eel either too concerne by their owncompany an local constraints, or n ifculties in analysingthe key actors, both backwars an orwars, to escribepossible options, their likely strategies an occupationalconsequences.

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This justies the nee to organise collectie iscussions,where consensual positions can be epecte, base on cleararguments. Foresight analysis at the sectoral leel, inolingall stakeholers an eperts, helps to assess uture skillsrequirements. The comprehensie results or 16 sectors,coering 75% o total EU jobs in the priate sector, will beaailable in mi 2009, proiing a ull picture o laboureman an its implications or restructuring, base on acommon oresight methoology. This coul be the rst steptowars the establishment o sector councils on employment

an skills at European leel, to collect inormation aailablein Member States an to istribute recommenations rawnrom echanges between stakeholers. The Tuning EucationStructure in Europe will also help to share inormation ancompare the iews o stuents, acaemics an employersabout current skills achieements an uture requirements.

The secon stran o initiaties shoul aress skillsmismatches. We enisage creating a user rienly, transparentonline serice or citizens, proiing qualitatie inormationon occupations, skills, learning an training opportunitiesacross the EU. This will take the orm o a clear geographicrepresentation o the job oers matche to a users prole,an uture projections o occupations an skills with eeback

on why jobs an skills o not match up an aice on possiblesolutions. The serice will gather job matching, geographicisplay an learning perspecties together in one shop. Baseon eisting instruments such as EURES an PLOTEUS, its namecoul be Match an Map. In aition, the Commission willorganise an annual Partnership or skills an employmenteent to recognise the most innoatie partnerships matchingskills supply an eman.

Thirly, this initiatie will eepen international cooperationto anticipate an match supply an eman. Trens in otherparts o the worl will aect the skills an employmentrequirements in Europe. Policy ialogue an cooperationwith our neighbours an other continents can help us to acecurrent an uture challenges.

Last but not least, the New Skills or New Jobs initiatie placesthe nee or the skills upgraing o Europes population at thecentre o the EUs strategy or growth an jobs by rawing on

the Unions resources. In brie, eisting EU policies, nancialpossibilities an concrete eelopments such as the EuropeanQualication Framework will support the New Skills or NewJobs initiatie.

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Citizens Panels :empowering

the publicImagine that you, as an aerage citizen ina European country, ha the opportunity toebate an ormulate recommenations ontopics that woul be e irectly into Europeanpolicy making. This real bottom-up approachmay soun utopian, but it is becomingpossible through the new innoatie measureo Citizens Panels.

Citizens Panels are an innoatie methoology with thepotential to encourage public participation in importanttransnational issues. They are projects where ranomlyselecte orinary citizens rom ierent emographic, socialan proessional backgrouns are inite to collaborate aniscuss common European issues both locally an at an EUleel.

The bottom-up approach is ensure by a commonmethoology. The project promoter selects the participants,proies them with accurate inormation an sees to it thatthe ierent sensitiities about an issue are represente. Theiscussions also nee to be skilully moerate. Ater ebating

with local an regional ecision makers on the subject, therecommenations are istribute at a European leel. TheEuropean Commission is a partner or the organisationsinole. As such, the directorate-General or Eucation anCulture will ensure that appropriate ollow up an ee backwill be proie to all projects.

Citizens Panels embrace creatiity an innoation as theyprouce outcomes that are o alue to the European emocraticsystem by using new methoology or citizen participation.More specically, si o the18 Citizens Panels that hae beenrecently selecte eplicitly aress the issue o creatiity aninnoation.

One interesting eample o a Citizens Panel is the Newdemocratic Toolbo or New Institutions, run by the Europeannon-prot organisation European Citizen Action Serice. Theocus o the project is to create an innoatie emocratictoolbo by eeloping guielines or a consoliatemethoology or European-scale Citizens Panels an citizeninolement. Actiities are taking place in Belgium, Bulgaria,Hungary, the Unite Kingom an Latia, where the opinionsan recommenations rom the citizens participating in theeercise will constitute the emocratic toolbo. This will thenbe presente to the new European Parliament an the newCommission which will both take up ofce later this year.

Another innoatie Citizens Panel is le by the networkIntegrating Irelan The Immigrant Network. This aims topromote a goo moel o immigrant integration or a air aninclusie society. This is one by using national an regionalpanels that inclue arious actiities such as training, ebatean iscussion. The project wants to empower young peopleto participate in the ecision making process on the utureo Europe an to acilitate intercultural ialogue an actiecitizenship. It inclues aisory groups an regional annational panels in Irelan, Germany, the Unite Kingom,Latia an Portugal. A European intercultural ialogue meetingwill take place in Irelan to highlight an share eperiencesan best practices an to aopt recommenations orregional, national an European action on integration an the

ght against iscrimination.

These two eamples o Citizens Panels inclue not only alearning aspect since they increase an iniiuals ability ancreatiity, but they also promote policy ebate an combineEuropean, national, regional an local action. They create

gOODpraCTiCESin creatie& innoatie projects

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synergies an help to ocus policy ebate on specic issues.All o this is in line with the objecties o the European Year oCreatiity an Innoation.

Culture unzipsEuropean creatiityAll oer Europe the wor 'creatiity' is buzzing.It is increasingly reerre to as a critical elementto boost innoation in Europe, to improe oureconomic perormance an at the same timecontribute to more sustainable eelopment.

Inee, creatie people spur economic eelopment. It istheir knowlege, aaptability an creatiity that make theierence. Policy makers can encourage this by stimulatingcreatie areas to eelop. The creatie economy has proen tobe one way to boost the growth potential o cities an regions.Howeer, a key question remains: how to unzip Europeancreatiity?

This is all the more urgent as creatiity an technologybecome inetricably linke an the multi-acete process oinnoation becomes eer more ifcult to grasp.

Against this backgroun, it, thereore, oes not come as asurprise that an increasing number o cities, regions an eencountries in Europe are eeloping creatie strategies, where

culture an cultural inustries are use as ways to unzipcreatie potential.

Europe is witnessing a growth o creatie istricts, wherecultural actiities are clustere together with businesses,research centres an uniersities, inoling more an more

people an generating work an wealth. Throughout Europe,there are scores o eamples o initiaties linking art withcreatiity an innoation. A great many o these improe thecompetitie potential o regions an cities.

One eample is base in the Netherlans. The Youngdesigners an Inustry initiatie connects young esigners

(oten recently grauate) to the comple esign challengessociety aces. By oing this, it osters esign projectscombining economic, social an cultural elements whichpromote creatiity in the wier economy. Another eample canbe seen in Portugal, where a specialise incubator has beenset up within the Funao e Serrales, an internationallyrecognise institution promoting contemporary art. It aimsto stimulate an support entrepreneurial initiaties in thecreatie inustries by briging the gaps between creatiepeople/artists an the business worl, in a broa spectrum oareas that range rom music prouction to web Tv, multi-meiaesign or spaces, contemporary art restoration, iacticclothing, jewellery or the eelopment o multi-isciplinaryworkshops or chilren.

This growing importance o creatiity an its close link withculture is also recognise by the European Union in theEuropean agena or culture which the European Commissionpublishe in May 2007. Promoting culture as a catalyst orcreatiity in the ramework o the Lisbon Strategy or growthan jobs is seen as one o three policy objecties share by allstakeholers (the European institutions, Member States anciil society) together with the promotion o cultural iersity,intercultural ialogue an the strengthening o culture as aital element in EU international relations.

The EU Heas o State an Goernment hae unerline the

potential o cultural inustries in boosting creatiity aninnoation in Europe. The way these inustries contributeto Europes economic strength an our competitie powerwill be a ocus o the 2009 European Year o Creatiity anInnoation.

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The European Commission stimulates the mobility o artistsan their works as well as intercultural ialogue, an thus thepositie an ynamic links between culture, creatiity aninnoation through its 2007-2013 Culture Programme.

These projects coer a range o actiities. European artistsan acaemics working in interactie meia art will eplorethe interace between art, technology, science an societyin the European mobile lab or interactie meia artists.The International Yehui Menuhin Founation brings art into

schools in orer to stimulate the creatiity o young chilrenan release their potential through its MUS-E programme. TheEU Prize or Contemporary Architecture highlights ecellenteamples o architectural creatiity or works less than twoyears ol. The rst eer European Union Literary Prize willbe aware in 2009, highlighting the creatie quality aniersity o European literature.

The European Capitals o Europe, partly une through theCulture Programme, is one o Europes major annual culturaleents, showcasing the continents enormous cultural wealthan eeloping creatie projects to trigger local eelopmentan social inclusion. In this contet, creatie inustry projectsoten emphasise the importance o creatiity or sustainable

eelopment. vilnius (Lithuania) an Linz (Austria), thetwo 2009 European Capitals o Culture, will clearly play thecreatiity car throughout the Year, to the great elight otheir many isitors.

What emerges rom such showcase projects is that the creatiebuzz is regenerating cities an regions. But what alsoemerges is that to be truly successul, a great eal o planningan research is neee to tailor policies to meet acknowlegenees. When well planne, culture not only unzips creatiity,it zips cultural entrepreneurs together. These creatie clustershelp to stabilise an reitalise areas by inoling people romall walks in lie in the best culture has to oer.

Innoation& Creatiityin Eucation

lEarning THrOugH animaTiOn

Changing the role o teachers by proucingan using enriche animate lessons.

Oer the last ecae, computer assiste animation haseelope totally new ways o epression an communication,especially in the els o lm, cartoons, aertising anhomepages. Youngsters spen hours with computer-generate pictures. They gather inormation, n amusementan construct their ientity aroun the new meia. Schools inEurope shoul reect this reality.

The project intens to help encourage wier use o computer-assiste animation in elementary schools in Europe. Thetechnology has huge iactic potential, but is still remarkablyuneploite. Base on eperience, the new techniques areetremely suitable as a way or chilren an youngsters tolearn.

The project will eelop, test an prouce a training manualor teachers in elementary schools an stuents in teachertraining colleges. The main result (currently being eelope)will be a sel-training programme an a manual on thetechnical potential o teaching with animate programmes.Seeral animate lessons, mae by ieo recorings uring

the project workshops, will be teste an assesse withtrainers an pupils in the pilot schools.

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The main aim is to optimise the use an eectieness oanimate programmes an challenge the traitional teachingmethos use in schools. This will hae a multiimensionalbenet: or teachers training pupils with learning ifculties,the social cohesion o pupils, increasing acceptance ocomputer-base technology as a iactic tool, an integrationo this metho into the curricula o teacher training

prODuCing OnlinE OpEn lEarning

SYSTEmS (pOOlS)This project has helpe to ensure that newICT an ieo technologies can be accesse,eelope an applie to teaching an thatteachers themseles can eelop their owncontent.

The proucts eelope help teachers make goo use o thelatest technological aances or the benet o their stuentssuch as Hot Potatoes, Web Page Tet Blener (an innoatieprouct not une through POOLS but oere as a useul

complement to it), pocasting an blogs.

The project has create a number o new proucts whicheectiely respon to the eisting problem o unerutilisationo eLearning technologies within lesser-taught languages. Foreample, it has built a aluable library o new igital teachingmaterials or teachers. It has also eelope user rienlytools to help teachers make the best use o technology intheir language teaching methos an instructions on how toeelop materials rom scratch. As such, the project increasesthe capacity o teachers o lesser taught languages to useinnoatie approaches.

Ecellent use is mae o the website to put the transparency

principle into practice. This acts as a useul conuit to reportan iscuss progress both between partners an betweenparticipants. The project blog was o particular use here.

Peer reiew o other partners work helpe keep the projectresh an ieas owing.

The proucts eelope hae the potential to transertechnological innoations in language teaching to the teachingo lesser taught languages. It is particularly promising, oreample, that the Romanian partner has begun the processo national accreitation or the teacher training mouleseelope uring the project.

BuilDing BriDgES

The aim o the project was to encourage emalearmers who are actie in their respectieagricultural communities to become mentorsor their counterparts in each participatingcountry.

The women receie training, mostly online, or eample onmotiational methos or sel-empowerment an ostering oentrepreneurial spirit; the organisation an management omeetings; eelopment o networks or emale armers; anaice on how such women coul gain more inuence eitherthrough urther eucation or by being more actie in thearming community.

The project prouce e learning moules in e languages.These are accessible through an online classroom in theproject website (www.builing-briges.is) an a rameworkan hanbook or creating sustainable networks o women inarming.

during the project, emale armers isite ierent partnercountries, got to know each other an share eperiences aninnoations. This mobility will continue ater the project ens.

Three TOI proposals builing on the results o the projectwere in process or the 2008 call.

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Innoationan creatiity

in youth policyThrough its Youth in Action programme,the European Union eery year supportsthousans o projects esigne to promotethe actie participation o young people insociety an to oer them the rich eperienceo non ormal apprenticeships. Numerousprojects emonstrate real creatiity, whetherin what they prouce at the en or the

processes they establish, as can be seenrom the two innoatie schemes presentebelow. They were selecte rom among thosepresente to specically promote innoationan quality (action 4.4 o the programme).

EurO ExCluDED YOuTH

Osto:msso loce de msee ce

This project was submitte by the Mission locale e Marseille,

a local public boy. It inoles our partners rom France,Spain, Hungary an Germany. Conentional methos oocational training hae aile to gie a signicant impetusto the proessional inclusion o young people with eweropportunities liing in suburban areas. So, the project aims toeplore, assess an isseminate best practices on alternatiemethos o eucation in orer to boost these iniiualsproessional eelopment.

These success stories will be mae aailable through anonline atabase. The alternatie methos basically consist oan iniiual approach an oster personal coaching in orerto make young people aware o their own abilities an skills,allowing them to acquire autonomy. Solutions promoting

support or innoatie business eelopment will also beeamine as will the introuction o inormation esks in theareas where young people with ewer opportunities lie.

Furthermore, the project will prepare the way or theeelopment o a European network o alternatie practicesor the social an proessional inclusion o isaantageyoung people.

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This shoul secure its sustainability. The partnership will alsowork on a lobbying strategy to attract attention rom Europeaninstitutions to the releance o these methoologies or policymaking on youth, employment, eucation, an non ormaleucation issues. Finally, the project shoul lea to urtherEuropean cooperation on the recognition an appreciation onon-ormal skills

OrganiSaTiOn:rEgiOnE vEnETO - iTalY

This project, submitte by the Youth department o the venetoRegion, inoles a strong partnership between 11 organisationsrom Italy (2), Spain (2), Unite Kingom (3), Sween (2) anGreece (2). It is base on an innoatie approach an aimsto bring together proessionals rom public boies an youthNGOs to eelop collaboratie entures.

These inclue implementing concrete actiities with youngpeople, echanging goo practices an eeloping long

term cooperation in the contet o non ormal eucation. Tothis en, the project will organise youth contests on how toimproe the quality o lie o young people liing in suburbanareas.

Young people with ewer opportunities will be inite tosubmit projects aressing this theme an be gien theopportunity to atten training sessions on youth work anproject implementation. The initiatie encompasses ariousactiities such as local press conerences to raw attentionto the project, a preparatory meeting in venice, a thematicseminar in Lierpool to prepare the contest, the launch o acall or tener, an establishment o help esks to proieassistance to potential applicants. There will be one projectper participating country.

This project osters cooperation between the NGO sector anpublic boies. It shoul hae an impact on policy making angie a new impetus to non ormal eucation. The plan to makeknown the results o the project will associate the EU throughits Eecutie Eucation an Culture Agency, which shoulreceie a list o suggestions or uture proposals base on theeperience receie.

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European Year 2009

CrEaTiviTY&innOvaTiOn

The meia launch was not or the aint-hearte: an aalancheo peas an beans on stage, pieces o smashe cabbageeerywhere an all the orchestra's instruments cooke upin a soup or the auience to taste. The vienna vegetableOrchestra put on a show to be remembere or its noelty ancreatiity. Playe on instruments mae solely o egetables,this inaugural concert also marke the ofcial hanoer

rom the European Year o Intercultural dialogue 2008 to itssuccessor o 2009.

The concert was precee by a press conerence, whereCommissioner Jan Figel was accompanie by EYCIambassaors Ewar e Bono, Karlheinz Branenburg anJori Saall. They all sai that Europeans must better eploittheir creatie potential in orer to lie better an compete ina globalise worl.

The ofcial launch in Prague was organise by the CzechEU Presiency, together with the European Commission.In a solemn ceremony in the National Theatre in Prague,

Commission Presient Jose Manuel Barroso stresse theimportance o ocusing on creatiity an innoation preciselyuring a serious economic slowown.

A well-attene conerence was organise in the historicalpremises o the Czech Senate in Prague, aresse byCommissiner Figel an the Czech ministers or Eucationan or Culture, Onrej Liska an Roman Jehlicka. NineAmbassaors o the Year attene the eent; in a separatemeeting they prouce a set o recommenations to theEU goernments, which became a goo starting point o ayear-long ebate that shoul lea to the rating o a strongpolitical maniesto.

The main threa o the ebate was stressing the necessityor inestment in eucation an skills as a top priority. ForEU institutions an goernments. It woul be a unamentalmistake to cut research an eelopment an spening oneucation in the contet o the current crisis, stresse theambassaors, accoring to whom creatiity an innoation

are tools to tackle Europes challenges, wich inclue the moeto the knowlege society, emographic ageing, globalisationan climate change.

All ocumentation rom these meetings can be accesse at:

http://create2009.europa.eu/

EYCi o st o eets

dozens o eents an actiities linke to the EYCI are in preparationat European, national or regional leel. Here are some o the moreisible ones:

EBruarY: DEBaTE : CREATIvITY ANd INNOvATIONANd THE KNOWLEdGE SOCIETY

marCH CONFERENCE ANd ExHIBITION ABOUT BEST CREATIvE ANd

INNOvATIvE PROJECTS FINANCEd THROUGH EU PROGRAMMES

DEBaTE : EdUCATION FOR CREATIvITY ANd INNOvATION

aprilORBIS PICTUS ExHIBITION

YOUNG TALENTS FROM EU REGIONS PRESENTINGTHE RESULTS OF THEIR WORK

maY FIRST EUROPEAN SME WEEK

CREATIvE ITALIAN SCHOOLS COMPETITION

DEBaTE : CREATIvITY ANd INNOvATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Detailsaboutalltheseanddozensootherevents:

http://create2009.europa.eu/

The Year was inaugurate twice or the meia on the 5th o decemberan then, ofcially an politically, in Prague on the 7th o January.

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The abssdos

The Ambassaors o the Year are high-prole gures whoare committe to, an share, the aims o the European Year

o Creatiity an Innoation. The Ambassaors len theirsupport to making the Year a success.

The ofcial EU ambassaors o the Year are:

FerranAdriAcosta(ES),creativeche

EskoAho(FIN),executivevice-president,Nokia

KarlheinzBrandenburg(DE),

proessor,researcherininormationandcommunicationtechnology

Jean-PhilippeCourtois(FR),president,MicrosotInternational

EdwarddeBono(MT),

authorandinternationalspeakeroncreativityandlateralthinking

AnneTeresadeKeersmaeker(BE),dancechoreographer

Jnurovk(SK),dancechoreographer

RichardFlorida(US,CA),author,proessor,economist

JackMartinHndler(SK),conductor

AntonnHol(CZ),proessor,chemist

RemmentLucasKoolhaas(NL),

proessor,architect,urbanplanner

DaminiKumar(IE),designerandinventor

DominiqueLangevin(FR),proessor,physicist

RitaLevi-Montalcini(IT),Nobellaureateproessor,neurologist

ronLosonczi(HU),architectandinventor

Bengt-keLundvall(DK),proessor,researcheroninnovation

JavierMariscal(ES),designer

RaduMihileanu(FR,RO),lmdirector

Blankahov(CZ),proessor,microbiologist

KenRobinson(UK),proessor,authoroncreativityandinnovation

ErnRubik(HU),proessor,architect,designer

JordiSavalliBernadet(ES),musician,proessor

ErikSpiekermann(DE),proessor,typographydesigner

PhilippeStarck(FR),creator,artisticdirector,designer

ChristineVanBroeckhoven(BE),

proessor,moleculargeneticist

HarrietWallberg-Henriksson(SE),

proessor,president,KarolinskaInstitutet

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dr. Martin FH Schuurmans

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The reason is straightorwar. I Europe oes not manage topull its orces together an signicantly boost its innoationcapacity within the net two ecaes, emerging internationalplayers will leae us staning on the sielines in the globaleconomy. The problem in Europe is not a lack o researchor inentions, but a lack o implementation towars newbusiness. All the elements o innoation are there, but wenee to put them together an create a powerul an ynamicengine out o the iniiual parts.

This is precisely where the EIT comes in. It is not simply anotherinstitute or programme or a uning agency or that matter, butwe are taking the net step. It is a blueprint or enhancing thestakeholers innoation capacity. The EIT is to eplore new

innoatie relationships between ecellence in eucation,technology, research, business an entrepreneurship. This willbe one through the Knowlege an Innoation Communities(KICs) highly integrate partnerships o ecellent players intheir respectie els, rom Europe an beyon.

These KICs shoul hae a unique impact on the creation onew business opportunities, new jobs an new bright talentsuch as entrepreneurial people working across stakeholerbounaries.

Eteee eoe

We want Europe to be a stimulating place or worl classresearchers, technologists, eucators, business people,an entrepreneurs. We nee talente young acaemics romEurope an abroa, eible, mobile an eager to innoate.With the KICs, we can create incenties that will attract brightmins an skille people or a true brain gain: bringing

together top class teams; ostering the right conitions orieas to be turne into new business opportunities; proiinginspirational eucation beyon traitional isciplinarybounaries; an oering an EIT label or egrees aniplomas.

In orer to achiee this, we nee nothing more or less thana change in minsets. Too oten, new ieas are inhibite byrigi structures. Too oten, the ow o knowlege is blockeby the bounaries o isciplines or sectors.This is why the EIT oers a noel approach at a European leel.It is worth highlighting three eatures.

Through its KICs, the EIT will stimulate work an stuy in an

integrate way. Stuents, researchers, technologists anentrepreneurs will interact across isciplines an acrossistances. This high leel o interaction will also mean that aKIC cannot be a simple network sprea thinly across Europe.Resources will nee to be concentrate in a small number ocolocation centres that will be able to play a preominantrole within the structure o a KIC.

Another strong point o the EIT concept is its eucationalcomponent. So ar, eucation has oten been neglecte ininnoation partnerships. Howeer, it is a crucial actor or asuccessul an sustainable culture o innoation. We nee toeucate entrepreneurial young people who hae the skills anknowlege to make the best out o their ieas an talents. The

EIT Goerning Boar has mae this aspect a particular ocus inits reections on the creation o the KICs.

TheEIT: taking the

nExT STEp

More than eer, Europe nees ecellence an innoation. This is why I am conince that theEuropean Institute o Innoation an Technology is a ery timely an necessary initiatie.

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An nally business rie an entrepreneurships incluingthe creation o spin-os, start-ups an SMEs will be part othe KIC thus emphasising new business an job creation.

Chees hed

These aims are certainly ambitious but not unrealistic. Oneo the strong points o the KIC concept is that it buils onecellence. Partners within a KIC can raw upon the wealth otheir collectie eperience an epertise in orer to eplore

an n their optimal structure an operating methos.

The EIT Goerning Boar will set the strategic conitions toreach these objecties. It will establish a strategic innoationagena, an is set or a sustainable mobilisation o aitionaluning. The establishment o the EIT Founation is a priorityaction in this area.

The year 2009 will be marke by a number o pioneeringecisions or the EIT, most notably the selection o the rsttwo to three KICs. The ision is clear: we want the EIT to berecognise as a key rier o sustainable European economicgrowth an competitieness by stimulating worl-leainginnoation.

Dr.SchuurmansChairmanotheEITGoverningboard

Dr.SchuurmansisaormerExecutiveVicePresident,PhilipsResearch/PhilipsMedicalsystems(PMS).Heisco-ounderotheSino-DutchBiomedicalSchooloInormationEngineering(BMIE)inShenyang,China,andChairmanoBMIEs

InternationalAdvisoryBoard.

Eoe isttteo ioto d Techooy EiT

Innoation is the key to sustainable growth ancompetitieness. The European Institute o Innoation anTechnology (EIT) is set to promote innoation through newmoels o collaboration within the knowlege triangle ohigher eucation, research an business.

The 18 Goerning Boar members are:Pro. Joo Caraa, Pro. Manuel Castells, dr. Bertran Collomb,Pro. Gioanni Colombo (Eecutie Committee), dr. Ellen eBrabaner, dr. Aners Flostrm (Eecutie Committee),dr. daria Gobiowska-Tataj (Eecutie Committee), Pro.Wolgang Herrmann, Pro. Julia King, Mr. Morten Loktu, dr.Karen Mae, dr. Blint Magyar, dr. Erna Mller, dr. Yrj Neuo(Eecutie Committee), dr. Martin Schuurmans (Chairman othe Boar), dr. Peter Tropschuh, Mr. Linnar viik, dr. AleanerUllrich on Gabain

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EITs keymilestones in 2008 11 mch :EIT Regulation is aopte.

1 Je :EU Member States ecie unanimously thatthe European Institute o Innoation an Technology (EIT)will hae its heaquarters in Buapest.

Jy :The EITs rst Goerning Boar is ofciallyappointe ollowing a selection process launchein February 2008. The 18-strong Boar proiesa collectie balance o epertise an eperiencerom the worls o higher eucation, research,business an innoation in Europe.

1 Setebe :The EIT marks the launch o its actiities in Buapestwith the rst meeting o the Goerning Boaran unanimously elects dr. Martin Schuurmansas its chairman.

Net steps :EIT seminars to urther the ialoguewith all releant stakeholers.

S :Call or proposals or the KICs.

Ed o :Selection o the rst KICs.

Be o 1:Launch o the rst KICs.

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Des yths

No single, commonly agree enition o the wor esigneists. So, a number o images or myths about its naturepreail. True or alse? Juge or yoursel.

myth 1: The ose o des s esthetcs.

It is true that the esigner eals with the eternal appearanceo proucts, but that is not all. In short, esign is about puttingusers at the centre to ensure their nees are best met. It isa holistic approach which allows a range o consierationsbeyon aesthetics to be taken into account, incluingunctionality, usability, sustainability, cost an intangiblessuch as bran.

myth : Oy objects c be desed.

Many esigners work in manuacturing rms, ealing withproucts an packaging. But esign can also be applie toserices priate an public as well as to systems, as in the

case o urban planning. A serice esigner may look at how apatient eperiences being taken to an emergency epartmentor how bank customers react when isiting their local branch.Urban esigners eamine, or eample, how elerly orisable people eperience a isit to the town centre, or howto aoi the uncontrolle growth o shanty towns.

myth : Des s to ke odcts oeecse.

design can be use by companies to gie proucts anappearance or unctionality which customers are willing topay a bonus or, or to weae in together with braning anmarketing consierations o an intangible nature relateto user aspirations an image. It thus contributes to creating

unique competitie aantages that help companies moeaway rom pure price competition. Howeer, esign can alsobe use to create proucts an serices that are cheaper tomake, transport an use, an better aapte, or instance,or eeloping countries. Well known eamples o innoatie,cost saing esigns are the Tata Nano peoples car an IKEAsatpacks. Many esigners see their role as creating esignor all proucts an serices that eeryone can access anuse.

myth : Des s ctty whch oycoces deses.

design actiities are oten perorme by esigners, whetherin-house or eternal consultants. In the last 15 to 20 years,howeer, there has been a tren towars the use o esignas a strategic, cross-unctional an multi-isciplinary actiitywhich stretches across a number o processes in a company,rom research an engineering to customer relations,

do you think that esign is only about the appearance o proucts, ashion an cool urniture?

Think again. Companies, acaemics an policy makers alike are increasingly recognising esignas a tool or innoation, competitieness an sustainability. For the European Year 2009, theEuropean Commission is haing a close look at esign an its potential as a brige betweencreatiity an innoation. What then is esign?

design as a tool or innoation

BEYOnD THEmYTHS aBOuTDESign.

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marketing an management. This implies a broaer role orthe esigner, linking the other unctions an ensuring thatthe customer is always in ocus. design actiities can alsobe silent. For eample, in serice companies the personunertaking esign work may be calle something else.

myth : Des s o b coes oy.

It is true that many o the best known cases o innoatieesign leaing to market ominance come rom the worlo multinationals, such as Nokias mobile communicationeices an Apples iPo. Neertheless, plenty o eampleseist o small an meium size enterprises (SMEs) thathae use esign successully. Without knowing it, mostcompanies use esign in one way or another, but SMEs areless likely to use it consciously or strategically. Researchshows that obstacles to better use o esign by SMEs incluerisk aersion an lack o resources, eperience an support.Neertheless, esign is oten put orwar as an innoation

actiity or SMEs an low tech companies, as the initialinestment may be smaller than or other orms o researchan eelopment.

myth : a des hs o e ess otected.

An innoatie esign can be protecte in Europe at anational or Community leel. The system o the Communityesign was create in 2003 an is operate by the Ofceor Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) in Alicante.In reality, many rms o not register their esigns as theprotection oere is relatiely weak compare to other ormso intellectual property guarantees. Short prouct lie cycles

or consumer goos such as ashion items an the act thatminor moications sufce to create an entirely new esignalso limit the use o esign registration. Protecte or not, aesign can still be o consierable commercial alue.

myth : The des debte shod be et wththe ts d cte coty, d ot becosed wth bsess.

design is generally consiere an important part o thecreatie an cultural sector, an o Europes heritage.Moreoer, esign has the potential to weae into prouctsaesthetic an cultural aspects an allusions, such as thoselinke to traitions, alues an lie style. On the other han,esign is also a business actiity, aiming to improe sales,customer satisaction an protability or the company inwhich it is applie.

Beyod the yths

In short, esign is the actiity o conceiing an eelopinga plan or a prouct, serice or system that ensures the bestinterace with user nees. It is generally perorme by any

organisation, whether in manuacturing or serices, publicor priate, although not always recognise as such. It allowsa range o aspects to be taken into account aesthetic,ergonomic, enironmental, cultural an cost just tomention a ew, an as such is increasingly consiere astrategic actiity or user centre innoation, ierentiationan competitieness.

As esign is a rier o innoation, the Innoation PolicyUnit o the directorate-General or Enterprise an Inustry iscurrently looking into the potential o esign, an at what canbe one at a national an EU leel to ensure its optimal use.

Seeral questions arise, such as:

What is the nature o the relationshipbetween esign an innoation?

What is the economic impact o the use o esign bycompanies on their perormance, an on local,regional an national economies?

What o Member States an other countries o to

support the use o esign?

Wht s the etosh betwee des doto?

The arying interpretations o esign an its broa naturemake it ifcult to capture in innoation statistics. Relatielylittle comparable ata across countries eist on, or instance,the number o esigners or the use o esign by companies.The statistical manuals most commonly use or innoationpurposes the OECd Frascati an Oslo Manuals treat esigneither as part o research an eelopment, or o prouct ormarketing innoation. This means that it gets hien unerother labels. Some esign actiities are not coere by eithermanual an hence not measure at all.

Neertheless, esign is oten consiere as the brigebetween technology an the user since it has the potential to

make technological inentions appealing an user rienly.As such, it can make or break a market entry. As it transormsieas an creatiity into innoation, it is o particularreleance to the European Year o Creatiity an Innoation.

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Wht s the ecooc ct o des?

A substantial boy o eience on the economic impact oesign has been builing up oer the last two ecaes, asinterest in the topic has grown slowly, but steaily across theglobe.

The result o micro-economic research on the relationshipbetween esign an company perormance is ratherconclusie: the use o esign has a positie impact onperormance measure in terms o protability, share price,growth an employment. Eamples oer the past ecaeinclue the ollowing:

A UK surey showe that a portolio o publicly listeesign-le companies increase by 41% oer a e

year perio, while the market ine gaine only 14%;

A Belgian surey or the Ministry o Economyanalyse the eolution o business perormance inierent sectors an conclue that a stronginterest in esign improes company protability,solency an liquiity;

A danish stuy or the National Agency or Enterprisean Housing on 1,000 danish companiesshowe a strong relationship between the use o esignan increase sales, eports an job creation.

In aition to this, seeral national sureys show that

companies perceie esign as benecial to perormance: 32%o Sweish companies consier that esign has a high impacton sales; an 81% o Spanish companies, 75% o Norwegiancompanies an 42% o UK companies say that esign has animpact on prots. One thir o Polish companies reports thatesign has a positie impact on sales, market share, newmarket eelopment an competitieness.

How do mebe Sttes d othe cotessot se o des?

There is a history o esign support in many European countriesan regions. While early esign promotion mainly consiste

o awareness raising among local consumers an inustry,an international promotion o the image o a country, recentesign policies ten to be more ambitious an to emphasiseesign as a strategic tool or economic progress, improecompetitieness an job creation. National initiatiesrequently also promote esign with broaer societal

benets, stressing inclusieness, accessibility, welare anenironmental sustainability.

The support to esign aries greatly between Member Statesan regions. The eperience gaine by the more aancecountries in this area coul be taken aantage o at aEuropean leel, to the benet o all. Countries in other partso the worl, such as Inia an South Korea, hae realise thebenets o esign an ormulate national esign policies.

Eoe Cosso ttes des do

Gnter verheugen, the European Commissioner responsibleor enterprise an inustry policy, met representatiesrom the esign sector in January 2008 to eamine the roleo esign in European competitieness. As the iscussiontouche upon globalisation, it was agree that Europe mustmaintain its position as the most competitie region in theworl as ar as esign is concerne. design is a Europeanstrength an competitie aantage, but like eery asset, itnees to be looke ater.

The topic o esign is not new to the European Commission.Releant initiaties an actiities that the Commission haseither launche or supporte inclue the Community esigno 2003, the eco-esign irectie or energy-using proucts o2005, esign or all as a principle in the public procurementirectie o 2004, the SEE esign project isseminating goo

practice on esign support or SMEs (ene in 2007), the dMEawar rewaring European ecellence in esign managementan the ght against countereiting an piracy.

It is time to go one step urther an make esign part oEuropean innoation policy. The Commission is, thereore,planning a public consultation on the basis o a ocument onesign or the European Year o Creatiity an Innoation.

This article is an appetiser. For those o you who wish torea more about esign, recent publications supporteby the Commission inclue a stuy on esign as a tool orinnoation by the European INNO-GRIPS project an a reporton national an regional policies or esign an creatiity by

the TrenChart project. Both ocuments are aailable at thePRO INNO Europe website (www.proinno-europe.eu).

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Creatiityis innoations

primE SOurCEiteew wth Cossoe d vcepesdet gte veheeo the Eoe Ye o Cetty d ioto

Mr vice-presient, why a European Year o

Creatiity an Innoation?Creatiity is oten associate solely with artists an ne artsin peoples mins, whereas innoation is oten thought tobe about technological progress only in manuacturing. TheEuropean Year o Creatiity an Innoation allows us to takea wier iew an to look at these concepts rom ierentangles at a time when it is most neee rom an economic ansocietal point o iew. It is thereore a timely an importanteent.

Let me eplain in a bit more etail. Creatiity, in aition tobeing a characteristic o artists, is a human trait common to allo us, an a process which can be learnt an encourage. It is

the generation o new ieas. Innoation is about eploiting newieas to create alue, whether in manuacturing or serices,in the priate or public sphere. As such, innoation is a keyrier o growth. Creatiity is innoations prime source.

The challenges that Europe an other parts o the worl areacing toay are tremenous climate change, poerty,globalisation an the current economic slowown just tomention a ew. Tackling these comple challenges will requirenew knowlege as well as new approaches to combine eistingknowlege an n holistic solutions. Innoation relies onscientic an technical skills as well as on problem solingabilities, critical thinking, eperimentation, risk taking,openness to change an team work. These are creatie skills.

So in short the European Year o Creatiity an Innoationis important as it highlights the human aspect o innoationan the potential in all o us to contribute to prosperity anwell-being in Europe.

How oes the European Year o Creatiity an

Innoation t with the EUs oerall innoationstrategy?

The European Commission outline its broa-base innoationstrategy or Europe in September 2006. It is broa-base inseeral ways. Firstly, it aims to mainstream innoation intoother policy areas, such as eucation, cohesion policy anstate ai. Seconly, it stresses the importance o all orms oinnoation, incluing organisational an serice innoation.The broa-base innoation strategy is a step away romthe eclusie reliance on technology push towars a moreeman-rien approach to innoation policy. As such itrepresents great progress compare to earlier approaches.

The latest European Innoation Scoreboar publishe inFebruary 2008 shows that Europe continues to improe itsrelatie innoation perormance compare to the US anJapan, or instance, an that there is a process o conergencewithin the EU. Some Member States continue to hae a erystrong perormance as worl innoation leaers. Meanwhile,the large majority o European countries are catching up theleaers. This is encouraging an oers urther eience thatthe structural reorms launche uner the Lisbon Strategy orgrowth an jobs an the broa-base innoation strategy areworking.

There are signs that progress in the EU is slowing own. Tomaintain the positie tren, urther eorts are thereoreneee at EU an Member State leel to ientiy new rierso innoation an new ways o encouraging innoation. Letme try to illustrate this. A lot o political attention has beenpai to research an eelopment (R&d) as a key rier oinnoation. R&d is unoubtely a ery important creatieactiity, contributing to the creation o new knowlege an

Gnter verheugen is the European Commission vice-Presient in charge o enterprise aninustry policy. This inclues innoation. The directorate-General or Enterprise an Inustryhas been actiely inole rom the outset in the preparations or the European Year o Creatiityan Innoation. It is currently preparing a number o important actiities or the Year.

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progress, but it cannot eplain innoation on its own. InEurope, serice actiities account or aroun 70% o grossalue ae. Many serice sector companies o not hae anR&d epartment, but as global competition intensies, theyare boun to innoate to stay competitie.

Een when we look across all sectors, it raises similarquestions. Analysis o ata rom the Innobarometer 2007surey shows that more than 50% o innoatie rms innoatewithout carrying out R&d. Compare to rms that o R&d,these non-R&d innoators are generally smaller, actie inlow tech sectors an locate in countries with relatiely poorinnoation capabilities. Neertheless, they are growing at thesame rate as their R&d perorming counterparts. They engagein other creatie actiities to bring innoatie proucts anserices to the market.

This is eience that ierent riers o innoation eistthat esere our ull attention. Europe nees to encourageentrepreneurship, networking an complementary moels oinnoation, especially or small an meium size enterprises(SMEs) or whom setting up an in-house R&d epartmentmay seem too big an inestment. This is particularly true inthe current economic situation, where companies may n itmore ifcult than beore to n eternal nancing.

What are your epectations or the EuropeanYear o Creatiity an Innoation?

In aition to raising awareness among the public, I hopethat the Year will inuence the policy ebate an encouragecooperation between policy makers an enterprises on howto harness the creatie potential o humans or economic ansocietal purposes. I also hope it will contribute to makingpeople eel more positie about innoation.

What concrete actions is the directorate-General or Enterprise an Inustry planningor 2009 in the contet o this European Year?

A number o important eents will be organise uner the

European Years banner, such as the Patinnoa conerencethat the Commission is organising together with the EuropeanPatents Ofce, the SME week an the European Tourism Forum.Although these are regular eents, they aress ierentthemes each year. Creatiity an innoation will be the ocusin 2009. Also, a number o releant partner organisations,such as business associations, are currently planning eentsthat will contribute to the Year.

design as a tool or user-centre innoation is an importanttopic that the Commission will aress in 2009 with thepublication o a sta working ocument an an onlineconsultation. Seeral projects will be launche with particularreleance to the Year, such as regional Innoation Weeksan Innoation Inormation days or SMEs. The latter is aninitiatie in cooperation with the Enterprise Europe Network.We also plan to publish an istribute a hanbook or SMEson how to oster creatiity an innoation. An there is morein the pipeline...

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In this contet, the role o cohesion policy to strengtheninnoation an creatiity cannot be unerestimate. This

article looks at the contribution o this policy rom threeangles: how it channels consierable inestment oreeloping innoation an research; improes capacity withinthe regions to eelop aourable conitions or innoation;an nally stimulates innoatie an creatie approaches togoernance.

ioto d coheso ocy cotet

To consier the role o innoation among the priorities oEuropean cohesion policy, it is important to recall the policysunamental aim: to promote economic an social cohesion

by reucing isparities between the leels o eelopment oarious regions. This has always been its primary task.

Through the trinity o uning mechanisms the EuropeanRegional deelopment Fun (ERdF) operating in close liaisonwith the European Social Fun (ESF) (together generallyreerre to as the EUs structural uns) an the CohesionFun the EUs cohesion policy inests in hunres othousans o projects across Europes regions to achiee thisen. Within this, support or innoation has always been apreailing eature.

Howeer, in recent years, the regional eelopment contethas change raically. Regional economic an socialisparities hae wiene signicantly with the enlargemento the EU. Oer the same perio, competition on a globalscale has continue to intensiy. Globalisation has proienew opportunities or European regions, but it also requiresajustment to the ensuing structural changes.

The importance o innoation in improing the perormanceo the European economy has been recognise since the

launch o the Lisbon Strategy back in 2000. To aress, inparticular, these growing economic an social isparitiesan challenges linke to globalisation, the strategy wasrelaunche in 2005, setting out a more streamline bi toplace growth, jobs an competitieness at the top o theEUs agena an spelling out boosting knowlege aninnoation as a central objectie.

It is unoubtely a lauable ambition, but to achiee anelier action, concrete support rom an equally bol, aninee, inentie mobilisation o resources, is require.Although leels o support or innoation ha been signicanturing the 2000-2006 uning programme, it was clear thatthey neee to be steppe up.

robst esose o ew cohesoocy: est oto

In response, the new cohesion policy or 2007-2013 hasunergone signicant reorm creating, in eect, an inestmentun to support the objecties o the Lisbon agena theEUs top policy priority. The new approach is base on aneplicit strategic ocus aime at promoting the riers thatmake up the knowlege economy: research, innoation, theinormation society, a more skille an qualie workorcean business eelopment.

With a buget o 347 billion a signicant increase sincethe early ays the new cohesion policy programmes areepecte to elier 230 billion in inestment in thesekey areas o the Lisbon Strategy, with some 86 billionspecically irecte towars innoation relate actiities. Asinnoation is critical to achiee an maintain a competitie

designating 2009 as the European Year o Creatiity an Innoation is both timely an signicant.Timely, by proiing an occasion to promote the role o creatiity an innoation in the changingynamics o the post-2010 ecae an signicant, by giing an opportunity to reect on theongoing eorts to oster a more innoation rienly climate to meet the goals o the LisbonStrategy or growth an jobs, the EUs blueprint or competitieness an sustainable growth.

reo sects o cetty d oto:

European cohesion policys role in

STrEngTHEninginnOvaTiOn

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aantage in global markets, this massie inestment bycohesion policy has the capacity to transorm the economieso European regions, incluing the most isaantage, anthe EU as a whole.

led oe o eos osteoto

With sustainable economic growth increasingly relate tothe capacity o regional economies to change an innoate,Europes regions are inee a central player. Creating anenironment that encourages research, eelopment aninnoation is o the highest priority or European regionsan the regional leel proies the ieal platorm rom whichto oster innoation an growth. As the Commissioner orRegional Policy, danuta Hbner, has sai: It is increasinglyeient that growth strategies run rom the centre are notsufcient anymore: to be eectie, they must be integratewith tailore local an regional strategies.

It shoul be note, howeer, that research an innoationactiity tens to be highly concentrate. Such concentration

risks eacerbating eisting social an economic isparitiesan also unermining Europes economic perormance is--is its global competitors. Across the EU, 86 regions, witha population o 123 million, hae an innoatie perormancebelow the EU aerage.

Reucing this innoation ecit across EU regions is, an mustbe, a key priority. With more than a thir o the EUs buget,cohesion policy can make a signicant contribution to bolsterthis much neee inestment in research, technologicaleelopment an innoation, an, crucially, to reuce theinnoation ecit.

Sht estet ttesHow is this working in practice? The answer lies to a largeetent in the way the policy was reorme. Member States nowhae to allocate, or 'earmark', more o the aailable resources

to inestments which generate the highest impact in termso the growth an jobs agena. This new strategic approachrepresents a eparture rom preious programming rounsan is a major shit in inestment patterns.

An it is working. Member States an regions hae changetheir approach markely an now ocus ar more on ientiyingan supporting the key riers o a competitie economy. Asis clear rom the gures aboe, in the new 2007-2013 cohesionpolicy programmes, innoation has been recognise as a

policy priority as neer beore. Inestment in innoation (RTd,entrepreneurship support, ICT an human resources) in thiscurrent perio will triple compare to preious allocations.

Closely relate are the eorts uner the programmes toeelop knowlege base serice economies by inestingin ICT eucation an training, online serices to businessesan citizens, an a wiely aailable broaban inrastructure.Oerall, cohesion policy inestment in ICT relate actiity 15.3 billion has been plege is set to ouble comparewith the preious perio.

Tbe cotet to oto

As a key part o the moernisation agena, the new generationo programmes is moing away rom classic grant schemesan is supporte by new orms o nancial engineering ancooperation instruments, which are esigne to acilitategoo practice echange an to oster innoatie networks.A stronger ocus is also place on stimulating the businessenironment an promoting innoatie clusters, rather thanproiing irect ai to companies.

In practical terms, this translates into a more isiblecommitment on the groun in support or business aninnoation. For eample, cohesion policy can proie thenancial backing an technical assistance to harness closer

cooperation between uniersities an business. It canencourage entrepreneurship, improe access to, an use o,ICT, an unerpin this commitment by urther improing on-the-job skills an aaptability o the work orce.

WorkshopsAustria

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ioto och

Howeer, in this pioneering approach to ostering innoation,the commitment rom cohesion policy is ar more than asystem o istributing cheques. Innoation is also aboutoing ierent things an oing them ierently. The eryesign o cohesion policy an its unerlying principles opartnership, ealuation, transparency an participationhae also stimulate innoatie an creatie approaches togoernance, in all aspects o regional planning an policy

eelopment.

In promoting partnerships as a key element o goo goernancean encouraging an integrate approach to eelopment toimproe the oerall impact o sectoral policies, the aealue o cohesion policy goes well beyon the sheer size oinestment.

ioto cooeto

Moern economies epen on inormation networks.Cohesion policy also seeks to promote cooperation,supporting a ast network across the public an priate

sectors to echange eperience an goo practice, an toeelop new opportunities. New initiaties inclue Regionsor Economic Change, now an integral part o cohesion policy.This is esigne to spur urther echange o eperience insupport o the Lisbon Strategy an innoation. The initiatieintrouces new ways to energise regional an urban networks,working closely with the Commission, to hae innoatieieas teste an rapily isseminate into the regional policyprogrammes.

Couple to this, the directorate-General or Regional Policyawars annual innoation prizes, the RegioStars. Theobjectie is to ientiy goo practice in regional eelopmentan to highlight original an innoatie projects which coul

be attractie an inspiring to other regions.

Finally the EUs Open days, organise by the EuropeanCommissions dG Regional Policy an the Committee o theRegions in early October proie an ecellent orum or regionsan cities to swap successul ieas on how to boost growthan jobs. Open days is now rmly establishe as the healineeent in the EUs regional policy calenar. The 2008 eitioninclue Innoating Regions as one o the our main themes.Numerous seminars an eents emonstrate hans-on thebenets o working in partnership with hunres o regionsrom across the EU, each coming with their own eperiences,

an keen to share ieas an chart new an innoatie ways oharnessing European inestment. Innoation will again be atthe centre o the agena o the 2009 eition.

In conclusionThe consierable increase in resources now allocate towarsinnoation emonstrates that this new generation o structuralun programmes uner EU cohesion policy are responing tothe challenges we ace. O course, an een mor

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Revista The Magazine - nr 30: Imagineaza. Creeaza. Inoveaza