We hereby proudly present the first public annual report of Dutch Design Foundation (DDF) as a BIS institution.
How happy we were when we learned in mid-2020 that our BIS application had been honoured! That news triggered a wave of energy that caused us to roll up our sleeves above the elbows with the aim of going full steam ahead with what we had set out in our activity plan. After the euphoria of the BIS allocation in the summer of 2020, only 2.5 weeks before the start of Dutch Design Week (DDW) 2020, we had to swallow a very bitter pill when the Municipality of Eindhoven had to decide -because of corona- that DDW20 could only take place online. This decision meant that a line was drawn through a 19-year-old process in which DDF, together with the design community, partners and friends, had been working on DDW for months with complete dedication and devotion. A decision that had a huge impact on all designers, partners and DDF’s wide chain of suppliers involved, and not least on DDW’s loyal visitors.
In 2021, our focus was therefore largely on creating an impactful DDW. Impactful in the first place for the design community who could use the attention and relevant meetings and assignments more than ever. They were eager, side by side with us, to show the world, not only through DDW but through all our projects, how design power can contribute to offering new perspectives. This report shows that we succeeded in outlining this perspective.
As far as we are concerned, the first months of 2022 confirm that there is so much going on in the world that we need the perspective and inspiration of designers more than ever. They are a vanguard of conscientious future builders who, from the general interest, come up with solution directions for challenges such as the nitrogen issue, for example. Designers can help us chart a course that leads us towards a sustainable, more social and more just future. We want to contribute to that course by strengthening design power with everything we have in us now and in the future.
Read the full public annual report here! Please note the report is in Dutch.