The Final radi!2018 Creative Action Week Design Thinking Seminar to Take Place in Riga

Next Wednesday, 29 August, the final practical design thinking seminar of Creative Action Week radi!2018 will take place in Riga, bringing together the most enterprising residents from the capital and the regions. During the seminar, the strongest teams from the design thinking workshops held this summer in four Latvian regional cities will continue, under the guidance of experts, working on improving the projects they have already begun, with the aim of developing the creative potential of their cities. This time, they will also be joined by participants from Riga, bringing new and bold ideas.

In honour of Latvia’s centenary, the radi!2018 programme was designed to be particularly interactive and focused on the development of the entire country. Therefore, this year, centres in various Latvian regions were selected as the venues for its main events. There, with the involvement of representatives of various sectors, professions and institutions, issues important to the cities were brought to the fore and solutions were generated in order to jointly create a better, more orderly and more modern surrounding environment. At the beginning of the summer, the radi!2018 team, together with local and foreign design thinking experts, travelled to Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava and Cēsis to invite local residents to develop innovative regional development projects that can be implemented in the near future.

During the upcoming event in Riga, the participants’ teams will deepen their knowledge of design thinking methods with the aim of gaining practical experience in implementing the ideas developed, as well as promoting the development of Latvia’s creative industries in the capital and beyond. The seminar will be led by experienced experts from the agency PDR Consulting, Piotr Swiatek and Jo Ward from the United Kingdom. A design enthusiast and researcher of innovation policy, Piotr has devoted his professional career to examining the role of design in the public sector. He has worked on various projects focused on design-driven innovation and researches the impact of design thinking methods and new approaches in the fields of policy and the circular economy.

Designer and researcher Jo Ward, in contrast, is a multidisciplinary creative industries expert whose main passion is professional development with a focus on design. Based on an understanding of design methodology, Jo aims to create an environment that encourages creative thinking. In her daily work, together with the agency PRD Consulting’s administrative sector design team, she works on various European-level projects that apply design to the development of innovation in the service and business sectors, helping to find ever-new solutions for the future. Together with Riga and regional teams, the experts will focus on addressing the challenges identified by each city and sustainability, presenting the projects developed at the end of the day.

The practical design thinking seminar will take place on Wednesday, 29 August, from 10:00 to 17:00 at the Microsoft Innovation Centre in Riga, at 4 Kalpaka Boulevard, and everyone interested from Riga and the regions is invited to attend free of charge by completing the online application form by 25 August: ej.uz/dizainsRIGA. The number of places at the event is limited.

Creative Action Week radi!2018 has been held for the eighth consecutive year, and its aim is to promote understanding of and interest in the development and interaction of the creative and cultural sectors, actively involving Latvia’s residents in various events involving co-creation, thinking and action. In 2018, Creative Action Week is being expanded into a series of seven events organised by the radi!2018 team, which together symbolically form a seven-day cycle, or week. This summer, four interactive cross-sectoral entrepreneurship development seminars have already been held as part of the radi!2018 programme, with the participation of experienced Latvian and foreign experts, bringing together dozens of residents from the regions. The seventh and final event of the radi!2018 programme is expected at the beginning of October.

News about Creative Action Week radi!2018 can be followed on the website www.radilatvija.lv, as well as on social media: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. #radilv.