01/04/25

BEDA at the Cultural Compass Stakeholder Meeting: Advocating for Design-Driven Policy

We’re excited to share our active participation in the recent Cultural Compass Stakeholder Meeting in Brussels at Berlaymont, on 20 March 2025 where we advocated for the critical role of design in shaping EU cultural policy. The Stakeholder meeting, with roughly 70 Stakeholder groups representing the Creative Cultural Sector, was led and moderated by

• Commissioner Glenn Micaleff
• Dirécteur General Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen
• Deputy Dirécteur General Normunds Popens
• Mme Chair o.t. Committee on Culture and Education, E.P, Nela Riehl
• Director of Culture, Creativity and Sport, DG EAC, Georg Häusler

Commissioner Glenn Micaleff and Dirécteur General Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen pointed out that the values on which Europe is built are threatened and that the creative cultural sector must play a vital role in countering such developments. Glenn Micaleff’s perspective highlighted that intergenerational justice, inclusivity, and competitiveness have to be vital parts of the cultural compass.

The Cultural Compass is a policy framework of the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. It will shape cultural policy in the next five years. Prof. Regina Hanke, Secretary, represented BEDA and spoke up for Design.

We emphasised the need for a shift towards integrating design and methodologies into broader strategic frameworks.

Our key points included:

• Smart Metrics: Advocating for including Key Behaviour Indicators (KBIs) alongside Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to better capture the qualitative impacts of design and cultural interventions.
• Culture, Design, and Democracy in an Age of Uncertainty: Stressing the importance of design methods in building democratic resilience, countering misinformation, and bridging the gap between research and real-world application.
• Strengthening Design’s Role: Highlighting the necessity of policy support for design-driven innovation, addressing regulatory burdens, reforming IP frameworks, and updating NACE codes to reflect the modern design economy.

We also provided specific policy recommendations, such as tailoring legislation to support Micro-SMEs and SMEs, integrating design methods into policy development, and strengthening design’s position within the EU Industrial Ecosystem. We aim to ensure that design is not just an element in the policy portfolio but a structural component of democratic and economic life.

At BEDA, we believe design is a vital pillar of the EU Industrial Ecosystem, fostering innovation, sustainability, and social cohesion. We are committed to working with policymakers to create an environment where design thrives and contributes to a more inclusive and prosperous Europe.

To further advocate for our perspective and demands, we publish a position paper about the Cultural Compass to stress our arguments. This Cultural Compass Position Paper is distributed to the responsible EU bodies. In case you want to read BEDA’s Position, check here.

Stay tuned for more updates on our advocacy efforts and how you can get involved. See you at the BEDA Design Forum and the BEDA General Assembly – members can register here.