Barcelona (Spain) - Thanks to an initiative led by Barcelona Design Center (BCD), Barcelona has been selected to kick off the European Innovation Festivals, a project launched by the European Commission as part of the PRO INNO Europe® initiative, whose objective is to promote and encourage excellence and innovation in different European regions. 
 
The Catalan capital will start things off from 22 October - 22 November by hosting the Innovation Festival Barcelona (IF Barcelona), organised by BCD. This is the first of six such events that will take place in various European cities up to 2011. As the project continues, Milan (Italy), Lisbon (Portugal), Tallinn (Estonia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Kortrijk (Belgium) will take over from Barcelona, promoting their own international profiles as creative and innovative cities.  
 
Organised with the goal of fostering creativity and innovation and attracting new talent, IF Barcelona includes a programme of activities aimed at demonstrating that creativity and innovation can respond to present needs and to the challenges facing society today, highlighting the key role played by design in driving innovation. 
 
To this end, over a whole month, Barcelona will host a wide range of activities, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, congresses, prizes, routes, etc., aimed at bringing creativity and innovation to the widest possible audiences. The goal is to involve the public in general, as well as companies, entrepreneurs and public corporations, raising their awareness about the crucial role that creativity, design and innovation can play in the progress and development of society and in enhancing competitiveness in business and in the economy as a whole. 
 
The varied activities and events at IF Barcelona are aimed at:
• Raising awareness amongst the general public and the business sector about the importance of creativity and innovation.   
• Familiarising children and young people with creativity and innovation as crucial factors in the market today.   
• Promoting design as a creative activity that plays a crucial role in innovation processes. 
• Fostering Barcelona's international standing as a creative, innovative city. 
• Encouraging cooperation amongst different public and private stakeholders with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of our economy.  
 
Other partners in the initiative include Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Barcelona City Council and ACC1Ó, who all provide BCD with their support, and 22@Barcelona and Barcelona Activa, which organise specific activities on the IF Barcelona programme, including creativity workshops for young people and such events as the InterACC1Ó Forum and the Cambra Prize for Design Management.
 
Amongst the highlights is BCN Design Week 2009, staged this year as part of IF Barcelona. The programme for this fourth Design Week includes sessions on particular themes aimed at seeking responses to the main challenges explored as part of the European initiative. At Design Week 2009, companies from different production and service sectors, as well as professionals and experts from the world of design, will come together to engage in exchanges of experience and know-how enabling them to explore in-depth such themes as Design Thinking & Creativity, Design Management, Family Businesses and Creativity and Mobile Phone Design, amongst many others. 
 
Moreover, we should not forget that leading stakeholders from the spheres of design, creativity and innovation, culture, business and the professions will also organise parallel activities that will add to the scope and impact of IF Barcelona and broaden the initiative's appeal. 
 
The selection of Barcelona to host one of the six Innovation Festivals and as the inaugural venue for the project overall is the fruit of the candidature submitted by BCD to the European Commission. Besides organising IF Barcelona, BCD will also act as a partner in this European project until it closes in 2011. 
 
2009, European Year of Creativity and Innovation 
2009 has been designated European Year of Creativity and Innovation. Staged under the slogan "Imagine. Create. Innovate", this is an initiative whose objective is to raise awareness about the importance of creativity and innovation as strategic elements in personal, social and economic development. 
 
The celebration of the Innovation Festival Barcelona as part of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation provides a matchless frame for organising activities and events related to the themes of creativity, design, innovation and knowledge.  
Wednesday, 14 October: press conference and presentation of IF Barcelona 
A press conference to present IF Barcelona will take place at 12:00 on 14 October at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, one of the city's most outstanding architectural icons. The guests will include representatives from local institutions and the European Commission, as well as from the organisations taking part in the initiative. Amongst other news of interest, the press call will serve to announce the IF Barcelona programme. 
 
Moreover, the IF Barcelona communication plan also includes a promotional campaign in the streets of Barcelona, with advertisements on public buses and banners in the main thoroughfares, seeking to reach and involve the broad audiences at whom the festival is addressed. 

For further information about the Innovation Festival Barcelona, visit: www.ifbarcelona.com
About Barcelona Design Centre
BCD Barcelona Design Centre is a design resource and promotion centre established in 1973 whose mission is to foster the use of design in business as a strategic tool for innovation and competitiveness, and to promote Barcelona as a design capital. BCD is supported by Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Catalan Government, Barcelona City Council, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade and the Ministry of Science and Innovation. 

BCD Barcelona Design Centre 
Press and Communication Department 
Carles Barbero 
t: +34 932 182 822
m: +34 609 507 491  
e: comunicacio@bcd.es 
w: www.bcd.es