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Towards sustainable business: DeCo partner meeting
- Circular design
- responsibility
- Sustainable design
Design Collaboration for Sustainable Business: European project partners met last week in Lahti and Helsinki.
Design Collaboration for Sustainable Business is an Interreg Europe funded project aimed at improving local, regional, and national policies on sustainability, with a particular focus on circular design, production, and manufacturing.
LAB University of Applied Sciences in Lahti as the Lead Partner, the project brings together partners from seven European countries: Croatia, Spain, Greece, Poland, Belgium, Czech Republic, and Finland. These include regional and business development organizations, educational institutions, and design promotion bodies.
The project’s main objective is to influence local and regional decision-making and policies, embedding sustainability and circular principles into these processes. This will be achieved through the exchange of experiences and capacity-building, especially in design, production, and manufacturing.
While many impactful projects are underway across Europe, awareness of them remains limited. This makes information sharing essential, allowing participants to learn from one another, potentially form new partnerships, and even initiate new projects.
The project’s first partner meeting took place September 11–13 in Finland. The first two days were spent in Lahti, where participants received an overview of sustainability efforts in Finland and explored local businesses and projects. On the third day, they travelled to Helsinki.
In the Helsinki metropolitan area, participants first visited Aalto University and its Designs for a Cooler Planet exhibition, showcasing innovative and sustainable solutions to various challenges. Next, they visited the Helsinki-Uusimaa Circular Hub, part of the Regional Council, where we heard about its inspiring and effective operational model. The three-day event concluded with a meeting with Ms. Piritta Hannonen, Design Manager for the City of Helsinki, who discussed the city’s design strategy and its implementation.
The DeCo project continues with an online Round Table hosted by Design Forum Finland on September 19th.
