Päivi Tahkokallio elected to BEDA Board

In the picture from left to right Audrone DRUNGILAITE, Anna JANKO, Isabelle VERHILHAC (Treasurer), Martin FÖßLEITNER, Päivi Tahkokallio (Vice President), Anna WHICHER, Cyrielle DOUTREWE, Bart Ahsmann (President), Deborah DAWTON (Secretary). Missing from the picture Karen HENNESSY and Fabrizio PIERANDREI.

BEDA members met this week in Thessaloniki, Greece, to appoint the new Board and confirm the strategy of design representation in Europe leading up to, and beyond, 2020. Päivi Tahkokallio was elected as Vice President to BEDA Board. She will also be a future President for 2019–2021.

Tahkokallio is the CEO of Tahkokallio Design+ Oy and one of the founders of the Arctic Design School. Päivi, who lives in Lapland, is a specialist in strategic design. She developed the concept of Arctic design, as she wanted to make sure that design is part of the sustainable development of the Arctic region.

The Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA) is a not-for-profit made up of 50 members across 28 European countries, all with a focus on promoting design nationally or regionally. As a collective, the organisations represent some 400,000 designers from across Europe in every discipline of work from industrial design and interiors to digital design and branding. It is run by a board of members elected by its membership at the General Assembly every two years.

“With BEDA’s vision for design to be embraced in Europe as a driver of growth and prosperity and, an overall strategy focused on influencing the political agenda in the European Commission and member countries, the election of our 2018-2020 Board means we are well-placed with committed leaders to continue building on the implementation reality of Innovation Union 2020 ensuring design is at the heart of innovation and education policies across Europe.” says BEDA President, Bart Ahsmann. He continues: “Design is a tool for industrial and societal innovation and an area we need to keep promoting to ensure it continues to lead initiatives.”

Tahkokallio has been appointed to the Board by fellow members to jointly drive BEDA’s key objectives forward over the next two years.

The key objectives are to:

Create shared knowledge and synergy
Create opportunities for design and,
Champion designers

through connecting with BEDA members, Europe and, global partners.

Full 2018-2020 Board:

Deborah DAWTON, CEO, Design Business Association, UK

Audrone DRUNGILAITE, CEO, Lithuanian Design Forum, Lithuania

Isabelle VERHILHAC, Head of Business & Innovation, Cité du Design St Etienne, France

Anna WHICHER, Head of Design Policy, PDR, Wales

Cyrielle DOUTREWE, Wallonie Design, Belgium

Martin FÖßLEITNER, Board Member of Design Austria, Austria

Karen HENNESSY, CEO, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland, Ireland

Anna JANKO, Project Manager, Hungarian Design Council, Hungary

Fabrizio PIERANDREI, Member of Executive Board and Steering Council of ADI, Italy

President

Bart Ahsmann, CEO, CLICKNL, NL

Vice President

Päivi Tahkokallio, VP, Ornamo, FI

BEDA is a not-for-profit organisation funded in its entirety by its members. It is run by a board of directors elected by its membership every two years. It also elects a President and Vice President every two years. BEDA is headquartered in Brussels.

Founded in 1969, it’s members are a collection of design promotion centres, trade associations for designers and, other publicly funded organisations that promote design.