New U.K. design fund: a model for growth?
During turbulent economic times, can investing in design pay off?
The Design Council U.K., an organization that works with British policy makers, business leaders, and designers with the goal of giving design a role in national innovation policy, believes so. 
Last week, the Design Council announced the new Design for Growth Fund, which will support five initiatives by regional and national groups in the U.K. between October 2011 and March 2012. The organization will accept applications through September 2. Each of the five chosen recipients will receive up to £20,000 and marketing support. The Fund is structured differently from the grants the Design Council awarded last year, which were for smaller amounts and spread across 18 recipient organizations.
The change in funding strategy is to allow for programs with larger reach and possibly more visibility than those supported in the past, according to a press release.
What types of initiatives does the Design Council support? Last year's grant winners are now making their proposals a reality. Next month, Design Council grants will help fund and promote an event titled "DesigningScience" at the London Design Festival that will bring together scientists and designers to discuss how their two fields can more effectively cross-pollinate, as well as a class on improving client relationships for designers in the publicity and advertising fields in Newcastle. This October, last year's grants will support networking events that will focus on design management and other topics throughout the U.K.
The Design Council's most recent survey on the impact of design on the British economy found that more than half (54%) of the U.K. businesses polled believed design could give them a "competitive edge" in a downturn, and that 53% also believed "design is integral to the country's future economic performance."
Will the Design for Growth Fund become a model for other organizations around the world, including the United States, looking to stimulate business growth by investing in design during challenging times? While that is hard to predict, the Design for Growth Fund will in the meantime provide some stimulus for its recipients.
Photo: Richard Croft/Wikimedia Commons
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com