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2023: summary, projects, milestones and evaluations
2023: summary, projects, milestones and evaluations
And suddenly, December. As an intrinsic task at this time of the year, the time has also come for the Fundació del Disseny to take stock. And perhaps in this case with special sense and conviction, remembering that 2023 has been our first year of activity at the executive and more pragmatic level. Today, the fact of summarizing, evaluating and supporting the milestones achieved becomes a more than necessary exercise.
In the last twelve months we have wanted to understand Valencian design from a transversal perspective: graphic, social, industrial, fashion, architecture, contemporary crafts or urbanism… All of them are disciplines that jointly motivate everyday life and the reason for being of our entity, whether through professionals, companies, public and private institutions or society in general. But, above all, with the help of all those agents who have ensured the good work and the projection of an heterogeneous professional ecosystem.
At the beginning of the year we used with conviction five key words: disseminate, position, celebrate, connect and promote. Five objectives to which each of the projects we have carried out have responded: the beginning of the Consell del Disseny together with the Valencia City Council, the launch of the book “Design is good for health”, the integration of the “Designing the air” exhibition at the G20 summit in India, the launch of the digital museum Icons of Valencian Design together with the Arxiu Valencià del Disseny. We launched the first València Design Fest, which framed the self-produced exhibition “Time and Matter”, combining contemporary craftsmanship and design. We presented the documentary “València 22. City of Design”, a true lesson in design that we will release at the beginning of next year. We celebrated the “Paradís” festival, a meeting point for professionals highly anticipated. We launched the 2nd edition of the international sustainable fashion summit “Future of Fashion”, in which national and international names from the sector gathered, endorsed by representatives of Industry and Culture of the Valencian administration. And finally we were able to celebrate the designation of Valencia by UNESCO as a City of Design, becoming part of its Network of Creative Cities. Definitely, the design has already become part of the new story of the entire Valencian territory, an internationally recognized milestone.
To all this, in addition, has been added a constant collaboration with tourist, cultural or economic projection entities of the Valencian administration, as well as professional organizations at the local, national and international level. Consolidated and highly recognized entities that, thanks to the positioning work throughout 2022, understood the value of design as an asset capable of projecting their image, as well as that of our territory as a whole. And the fact is that design and local creativity have been key in the promotion and international recognition of Valencia as the main interests when visiting the city.
The attractiveness of the Valencian Community has allowed us to weave networks with various international delegations, interested in the positioning strategy developed in recent years. It has also allowed to be a national speaker for projects linked to creativity, open the discipline to a general public eager for cultural programming or as well as give continuity to the collaboration agreements of those schools that have managed to elevate Valencian design in the educational panorama, among other actions.
Referring to the most tangible: the number of people reached thanks to the media impacts achieved has exceeded 615 million users. At the same time, these different appearances in the press—both local, national and international—translate into an editorial value of €799,539.
In total, 20 collaboration agreements have been signed with different entities such as professional associations and colleges, design schools, technological institutes, trade fair events affiliated to the sector or organizations for the conservation and preservation of creative heritage.
Hiring of professionals with direct links to the design sector has reached a total of 62: 10 international, 52 national, and 36 from the Valencian Community. Among them you can find speakers, publishing labels, independent professionals and creative studios, curatorial figures and communication agencies.
At the same time, thank every contribution made in the form of content or trust in economic terms. To the support of public institutions such as the Valencia City Council, the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) of the Generalitat Valenciana, the València Activa Foundation, Feria Valencia and Visit València, as well as the General Directorate of Cultural Industries of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda. From the private sphere, we have received financial support from Andreu World, APE Grupo, Padima, JISO Iluminación, LZF Lamps, Punt, Readymag and Simon.
We thus say goodbye to a memorable 2023 where, between milestones, recognitions and projects, we experienced how the Valencian design scene has expanded to accommodate a true emergence of promoters and new collaborators.
From the Fundació del Disseny, as an entity for the promotion and promotion of design, we will continue with the mission of encouraging institutions, industry and companies to incorporate this discipline into their strategies through our action plan for 2024. Likewise, we commit to continue working with our network of collaborating entities and other aligned organizations, with the desire to continue building, adding and disseminating the culture of design to our society.
