10-01-2011

"Innovation is no science fiction"

Innovation is often associated with science, robots and other futuristic ideas straight out of sci-fi movies. The Innovation Festival intends to break this preconception and brings innovation to all, from children to elderly, from students, workers, unemployed and retired alike. Barbara Cruz (European Design Centre): ‘We do not only want to demonstrate that innovation is available to all, but also show that it is accessible in many different ways and that  - above all - it can be fun!’

There are six participating regions in the Innovation Festival project. Each one of them is responsible for the organization of the regional versions of the Innovation Festivals, with a clear focus on a societal challenge that is relevant to their regional and national reality. During 2010 we have successfully carried out three IF's: Milan, Kortrijk and Lisbon. The latest IF took place in Lisbon, Portugal. Some highlights included:

• A series of workshops with children to reflect on the meanings of social innovation starting off with the sentence "What if...?”;
• A number of talks amongst designers and other creative professionals on design and its role on social innovation, which took place in MUDE, Museum of Design and Fashion in Lisbon;
• The IF Lab, an idea competition in which the winners will travel to the last Innovation Festival in Tallinn to be judged in an international jury together with ideas from all other Innovation Festivals.

Barbara Cruz: ‘The Innovation Festival initiative allowed many new local and regional partnerships between different innovation stakeholders both from public and private sectors. It built new platforms for dialogue amongst people from different walks of life, who would likely never have met otherwise.’

Get involved
If you want to actively participate in the past Innovation Festivals or the ones yet to come, you can join the Facebook pages of the different Innovation Festivals or get involved in the Innovation Festival websites (www.innovationfestival.eu). You can also create your own innovation highlights in your area in the hot spots map, catch up on news and blog entries, and follow the IF partners on Twitter.