Back in April of this year The Service Design Programme hosted a launch event/workshop with the Ordnance Survey to support a call for projects and enterprises that would encourage greater and more diverse use of the new Wales Coastal Path. These open innovation calls are run through a platform called Geovation that works with public and third sector organisations to stimulate new ideas around mapping and the British landscape.
Our aim in running this workshop was to make the design community aware of new models of funding (£125k) coming from different organisations that may not be engaging with the design sector. These calls also allow agencies to work on innovative, personal and risky projects that clients wouldn’t usually be commissioning i.e. ‘get that little idea you have in your head up and off the ground’.
So, following the workshop in Cardiff this April ideas have been submitted and published online and then discussed in a vibrant online forum and now a short list has been drawn up. I’m really pleased to say that one of the agencies (Rose-Innes Designs) that attended our workshop is one of those and wish them all the best in the final stages of their application.
Another new addition to our programme Laura Sorvala was also short listed to a previous Geovation Neighbourhood Challenge and will take part in the final pitch on 20th June.
