Signing of partnership agreement between the World Design Organization and Métropole Européenne de Lille and launch of the Lille Metropole 2020 World Design Capital Organizing Committee
Lille, 5 June 2018 – Today, the Lille Metropole World Design Capital 2020 project was officially launched in the presence of Luisa Bocchietto, President of the World Design Organization (WDO)™ and Damien Castelain, President of Métropole Européenne de Lille and the Lille Metropole World Design Capital 2020 Organizing Committee.
Being designated World Design Capital® (WDC) by the World Design Organization, is an opportunity to be part of an international network and reinforce the influence of the metropolis. Through this partnership, the World Design Organization pledges to promote Lille Metropole and its design community on the international stage, but also to improve Métropole Européenne de Lille’s international visibility by 2020 through eight jointly developed Signature events.
Damien Castelain, President of Métropole Européenne de Lille and the Lille Metropole World Design Capital 2020 Organizing Committee and Luisa Bocchietto, President of WDO
“As we officially launch the seventh cycle of the World Design Capital, we at the World Design Organization, are proud to welcome Lille Metropole in our global movement. For the first time, a community of cities – 90 communes – receives that title. We look forward to seeing an even stronger programming throughout 2020 that reflects the diversity and dynamism of design projects in the region. This is a unique opportunity for the WDC programming to reach an even wider community”, explained Luisa Bocchietto, President of WDO.
“Design is an accelerator for economic, ecological and social transformation, and Lille Metropole needed that badly. I also knew that Métropole Européenne de Lille – with its diversity, cultural wealth and entrepreneurism, the involvement of public and private stakeholders and citizens – could provide ideal conditions for experimentation. Here in our region, practices, objects, policies and solidarity can be invented and form the very core of the cities of tomorrow. We thus built our project and our application on experimentation”, added Damien Castelain, President of Métropole Européenne de Lille and the Lille Metropole World Design Capital 2020 Organizing Committee.
Inauguration of the Lille Metropole 2020 World Design Capital Organizing Committee
Today was also a chance for Métropole Européenne de Lille to officially inaugurate its Organizing Committee dedicated to the event. Its purpose is to create and implement the major events of 2020 but also to organize the largest-scale design experiment ever conducted, by 2020, by mobilizing a region of 1.2 million inhabitants, 90 municipalities and all its stakeholders (companies, public authorities, the academic, cultural and sporting communities, citizens, etc.) with monitoring through the creation of POC (proof of concept). As part of its bid to the World Design Organization, Métropole Européenne de Lille succeeded in standing out by proposing a process aimed at implementing design throughout the region rather than demonstrating results already achieved. 2020 will be a year of implementation, sharing and showcasing. Between now and then, the organizing committee will be responsible for liaising between innovative project promoters, designers and for coordinating, providing guidance for and documenting the trials. These trials – solution prototypes – will be known as proofs of concept (POCs), proving the feasibility of an idea or solution.
To join in the largest scale design experiment ever and thus be part of the Republic of Design, send your POC ideas to contactpoc@worlddesigncapital2020.com.
Let’s POC together
Interested in developing a project within the framework of Lille Metropole World Design Capital 2020?
Please download the POC I.D on www.lillemetropoleworlddesigncapital2020.com, describe your project and send the completed application form to contactpoc@worlddesigncapital2020.com
The POC I.D is the first step of your project deployment before 2020. Provided information will in no way bring your POC to a standstill, they will serve as a sharing process with our team and designers.
About the World Design Organization
The World Design Organization (WDO)™, formerly the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1957 to promote the profession of industrial design. WDO advocates industrial design driven innovation that creates a better world, engaging more than 150 member organizations in collaborative efforts and carrying out international programming—World Design Capital®, World Design Talks™, World Design Impact Prize, World Industrial Design Day™, and Interdesign™. WDO has United Nations Special Consultative Status.
About World Design Capital®
World Design Capital® (WDC), designated every two years by the World Design Organization (WDO)™, recognizes cities for their effective use of design to drive economic, social, cultural, and environmental development. Through a year-long programme of events, the designated city showcases best practices in sustainable design-led urban policy and innovation that improve quality of life. Previous WDCs include Torino (Italy) in 2008, followed by Seoul (South Korea) in 2010, Helsinki (Finland) in 2012, Cape Town (South Africa) in 2014, and Taipei (Taiwan, Chinese Taipei) in 2016. Mexico City (Mexico) holds the title for 2018 and Lille (France) has been awarded the designation for 2020.
About Métropole Européenne de Lille
Métropole Européenne de Lille, or Lille Métropole, is situated in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France, on the border with Belgium. It was created in 2015 replacing the previous Communauté urbaine de Lille, and covers the part of the Lille metropolitan area that lies in France. Every day, the Métropole Européenne de Lille works to serve 1.2 million inhabitants from 90 municipalities. It is responsible for the following key areas: transport, energy, housing, economy, public spaces and roads, planning and town planning, city policy, water, living environment, culture, sport, tourism, etc. The Lille Metropole’s council, chaired by Damien Castelain since 18 April 2014, comprises 184 members directly elected by the people to serve a mandate of 6 years.
Press contacts:
Lille Métropole 2020, Capitale Mondiale du Design
Emilie Green-Leduc
PR officer
T +33 (0)3 20 21 26 60
M eleduc@lillemetropole.fr
World Design Organization
Khatidja Kassam
WDO Communications Officer
T +1 514 448 4949
M khatidja@wdo.org
