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News • Helsinki • Finland • 2012-11-15

Finland's largest corporate partnering entity made versatile use of design

The World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 year is the most extensive corporate partnering entity ever implemented in Finland. Together, the 21 World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 corporate partners have implemented a total of 48 projects as part of the year\'s programme, and used design to develop their operations.

- Design is now better recognised as a key success factor in various sectors. Our partners have been frontrunners and pioneers. I hope that their example will help business to further understand the significance of design in creating competitiveness, says WDC Helsinki 2012 executive director Pekka Timonen.

The work of corporate partners has been crucial to the entire implementation of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 year. The cooperation carried out over the last two years has been exceptionally diverse and has widened the concept of possibilities offered by corporate partnering. The economic extent of the partnering is over five million euros, plus the companies\' own investments.

- For BMW, design is a central part of business, but the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 year challenged us to consider the role of design in all our operations. Our understanding of design was deepened and our message is now clearer\', explains Marcel Buining, BMW\'s director in Finland.

- We implemented several procedures which tell BMW\'s design story. For example, bringing the \'BMW Art Cars\' exhibition to Finland through coopreation was significant. The exchange of information between coprorate partners and cooperation was also valuable, and for us it was a new way to share the strategic significance of design, Buining says.

The World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 corporate partners have utilised design in manners ranging from service design to architecture, fashion design to the visualisation of information, and from the design of user interfaces to industrial and graphic design. The partnering has resulted in benefits for companies, product and service users and the wider public.

Hundreds of company employees and dozens of other partners have been involved in the implementation of the projects. A large number of corporate projects have been open to the public and events made possible by the partners have been attended by almost 200,000 people.

Understanding of the significance of design and user perspective has increased

From a traditional corporate partnering perspective, the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 programme and corporate business operations have an exceptionally strong and natural relationship. The WDC Helsinki 2012 corporate partners have recognised the significance of design in their own organisations and methodically utilised it in various business sectors from personnel training to strategic output.

The corporate partners have increased not just their own, but also customers\' and interest groups\' understanding of the significance of design. Through 21 companies, design reached almost 100,000 employees and a large audience, from TV audiences and readers of newspapers to shoppers and airline passengers. The various uses of design were explored in the Donald Duck Design comic, the \'Nokia People Made\' exhibition, through using open data in the \'IBM Smarter Cities Challenge\', the \'BMW Art Cars\' exhibition and the \'Gloria Design\' magazine, among others.

Companies have paid more attention than ever to the user perspective. Users were included in design and product development concerning e.g., the Alepa design work uniforms and the service design at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, M/S Viking Grace and Blue1. Customer understanding was improved with the help of the globally organised KONE People Flow Day.

A new kind of cooperation in new places using new methods

For the partners, design became a way to solve problems in new environments. During the year, corporate partners have created products and services with the help of design competence. One of the most visible new solutions is the new service path at security at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Passengers are offered better services through the Suvanto lounges created through cooperation between the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 corporate partners. Led by IBM, companies such as Fortum and UPM became involved in the \'Redesigning 925\' project, which focuses on the revolutionisation of office work.

Key to the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 partnership model was the creation of new cooperation. Partnership projects were constructed between companies, designers, business and the public sector. In addition, cooperation supporting a new, basic business strategy was created and integrated in new methods to companies\' own environment.

Numerous joint projects sprang up between the corporate partners. UPM, the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, Fortum, Martela and Clear Channel all came together to create the Suvanto lounges. KONE, Fortum, Iittala, Paulig and Sanoma Magazines Finland all cooperated in the \'Muru Pops Down in Tytyri\' restaurant, which received extensive international attention. The wood and composite materials used in the Pavilion, the heart of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, were provided by UPM and cooperation was carried out with Martela, Paulig, Lapin Kulta and Iittala.

The World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 also brought together partners with other actors in business and commerce and public sector organisations. BMW found EMMA, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art; Fortum worked with Kulttuurisauna and the \'Gardens For All\' project; HOK-Elanto worked with the City of Helsinki Youth Department and Iittala found neighbourhood association Artova. KONE carried out cooperation with the Wastelands Architecture Festival and the Docomomo conference, among others.

The partners also committed to open up the city in a new way to enable new use. Examples of urban solutions implemented with the help of the corporate partners include the Pavilion, Tukkutori Wholesale Market and Muru Pops Down in Tytyri. The elevator map produced by KONE for design spotters opened up the city of Helsinki in an entirely new manner for both tourists and residents, and numerous open-door events gave the public access to companies\' facilities.

World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 has announced agreements with Main Partners Blue1, BMW, Fortum, Helsinki Airport, HOK-Elanto, KONE, Martela, MTV MEDIA, Nokia, Sanoma Magazines Finland, UPM and Viking Line as well as Partner agreements with Clear Channel, Deloitte, Fjord, hasan&partners, Iittala, Lapin Kulta, Paulig, and STOCKMANN.

WDC Helsinki 2012’s partner in corporate partnership agreements is Infront Finland Oy, which specialises in building co-operation for major events.

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