European Design Upgrade: Transnational Capacity Building (EDU) is an interdisciplinary project to improve the professional level of young designers and develop creative teams, developed in collaboration with leading expert teachers from three countries: Belgium, Ukraine and Finland. It was implemented in partnership with the K.Fund foundation, the NGO GoLocal and the innovation and technology hubs Brussels Creative in Belgium and Urban Mill in Finland.
European Design Upgrade brings together designers, artists, architects, scientists, IT professionals and entrepreneurs to address the current challenges of urban ecosystems, find developments and solutions that can be implemented at the local or European level.
The project brought together 37 talented Ukrainian designers, artists, technologists from three countries, who studied with the best experts from Belgium, Finland and Ukraine. Participants listened to 48 hours of online lectures and 5-day hackathons, which were held in partnership with the accelerator hub Sector X.
7 the most interesting concepts from each of the participating countries were presented at the international exhibition Dutch Design Week from 17 to 25 October 2020.
- ChangeABLE. Ukraine. Decorative textile covers for prostheses.
- NanoRetention. Ukraine. Development of an urban water collection system using a natural hydrogel material — bacterial nanocellulose.
- Pink Glasses. Ukraine. A social poster on clothing printed with ink that appears under certain conditions.
- Delicode Ltd. Finland. COVID-19 risk monitoring program with CV.
- Aviran Oy. Finland. Location-based WiFi location service.
- Lapponia House Oy. Finland. Modular wooden houses.
- Project BB. Belgium. A BeachBot prototype that can detect and collect small debris.
The project was named one of the most successful during the Creative Europe 2014-2020 program.
