Building on Europe’s world-renowned cultural heritage, well-educated and talented workforce, craftmanship and strong creative traditions, European design is in many ways considered world leading. Large parts of the European economy rely on top-notch design for competitiveness, such as for instance luxury and high-end goods, fashion or the automotive industry. It is estimated that design-intensive industries employ around 27 million persons in the EU, representing around 13% of total employment and more than 15% of GDP.

Despite its outsize importance for future prosperity and societal and planetary wellbeing, design and its role in driving innovation and competitiveness have not been sufficiently researched. While being one of Europe’s key competitive strengths, the European design sector and design professionals are structurally vulnerable and face a challenging pace of drastic changes. For instance, ever more powerful ‘generative artificial intelligence’ tools become capable of automating tasks previously requiring high levels of skills, while challenging new expectations in terms of reducing the environmental impact of products and services are added.

The challenge is to deepen evidence-based understanding of the European design sector and design professionals, and devise effective methods to strengthen the sector and make Europe a global powerhouse of design for sustainable competitiveness. Such methods may include new or adapted technological solutions, conceptual frameworks as well as innovative business models and policies. The proposed solutions should to the extent possible be effective as well as economically and politically feasible and culturally acceptable across the diversity of EU member states and associated countries, as well as across different economic sectors. Thus, a wide range of stakeholders should be involved, in accordance with the focus chosen.

Solutions may involve the use of platforms or networks to facilitate sharing investments, facilities or competencies among actors. In such cases, established platforms, networks or clusters should be taken into account, to avoid duplication of efforts.