commissioned by the ministry of foreign affairs - rvo.nl for architecture urbanism... ·...

Fact-finding mission to Colombia on opportunities for architecture, urbanism and design

Commissioned by the ministry of Foreign Affairs

FACT-FINDING MISSION TO COLOMBIA ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARCHITECTURE, URBANISM AND DESIGN

Commissioned by: Netherlands Enterprise Agency Transition Facility Colombia

Authors:

URBANOS sustainable urbanism Camila Pinzon Cortes and Pepijn Verpaalen www.urbanos.nl t: +31204218331 m: [email protected]

SimonJJ / SEVEN Innovation Simon Jimenez Jaramillo www.simonjj.com / www.seveninnovation.com t: +310614380771 m: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:www.seveninnovation.comhttp:www.simonjj.commailto:[email protected]:www.urbanos.nl

Fact-finding mission on opportunities for Dutch architecture, urbanism and design in Colombia

CONTENTS

Abbreviations and definitions.................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Management summary ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Resumen ejecutivo ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7

Chapter 1. Introduction, research questions and approach............................................................................................11

1.1. Introduction and research question ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

1.2 Approach and structure of the report ................................................................................................................................................... 11

Chapter 2. Dutch offer in the sectors of urbanism, architecture and design ............................................................13

2.1 Creative industries in the Netherlands................................................................................................................................................. 13

2.2 Organization of the sector ........................................................................................................................................................................... 14

2.3 Dutch offer in the specific sectors .......................................................................................................................................................... 15

2.4 Trends........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 16

2.5 The Dutch sector in an international perspective ......................................................................................................................... 17

Chapter 3. Introduction to Colombia ...................................................................................................................................18

3.1 Country, departments, metropolitan regions and municipalities ........................................................................................ 18

3.2 Economy and urbanization.......................................................................................................................................................................... 18

3.3 Where to start? .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

3.4 Stakeholders Creative Industries.............................................................................................................................................................. 21

3.5 Public assignments ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 21

3.6 Events and competitions ............................................................................................................................................................................... 22

3.7 Business, knowledge exchange and collaboration ......................................................................................................................... 23

Chapter 4. Design in Colombia ..............................................................................................................................................24

4.1 Design in Colombia.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 24

4.2 Industrial Design ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 25

4.2.1 Stakeholders for the Industrial Design Sector........................................................................................................................ 26

4.3 Graphic Design.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26

4.3.1 Stakeholders for the Graphic Design Sector............................................................................................................................ 27

4.4 Potential clients Design ................................................................................................................................................................................. 27

4.5 Leads for business and knowledge exchange .................................................................................................................................... 28

Chapter 5. Architecture in Colombia ....................................................................................................................................30

5.1 Architecture .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 30

5.2 Stakeholders for the Architecture sector ............................................................................................................................................ 32

5.3 Potential clients architecture ..................................................................................................................................................................... 32

5.4 Leads for Business and knowledge exhange ...................................................................................................................................... 33

Chapter 6. Urbanism in Colombia .........................................................................................................................................35

6.1 Urbanism: urban planning and design .................................................................................................................................................. 35

6.2 Stakeholders for the Urbanism sector................................................................................................................................................... 37

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6.3 Potential clients Urbanism........................................................................................................................................................................... 39

6.4 Leads for Business and knowledge exchange.................................................................................................................................... 39

Chapter 7. Challenges and strategy........................................................................................................................................42

7.1 Challenges .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 42

7.2 Strategy .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 45

Appendices ....................................................................................................................................................................................47

Appendix1. Interviews in the Netherlands and Colombia............................................................................................................... 47

Appendix 2: Relevant Stakeholders ................................................................................................................................................................ 59

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ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS ACFA Asociacin Colombiana de Facultades de Arquitectura ADGORA Asociacin Colombiana de la Industria Publicitaria ACIUR Asociacin Colombiana de Investigadores Urbano Regionales. ADGCO Asociacin de Diseadores Grficos de Colombia ANDIGRAF Asociacin Colombiana de la Industria de le Comunicacin Grfica BIM Building Information Modeling BNA Branchevereniging van architectenbureaus BNO Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers BoP Base of the Pyramid BRT Bus Rapid Transit CAF Development Bank of Latin America ERU Empresa de Renovacin Urbana (Bogot) EMRU Empresa Municipal de Renovacin Urbana (Cali) EDUBAR Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano de Barranquilla EDU Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano (Medellin) Cajas de Compensacin: non-profit private organizations responsible for the administration of the social

benefits in Colombia. Employers (public and private) companies pay to these organizations social security per employee and these companies provide health, education, recreation services to the employees.

CAMACOL Cmara Colombiana de la Construccin CCB Cmara de Comercio de Bogot CONPES Consejo Nacional de Poltica Econmica y Social. The CONPES documents are the technical

and coordination support to the generation of public policies CPNAA Consejo Profesional Nacional de Arquitectura y sus Profesiones Auxiliares DANE Departemento Administrativo Nacional de Estadsitca Decreto Ordinance DNP Departamento Nacional de Planeacin IABD Inter American Development Bank IDE Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at the University of Technology Delft JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency GTZ Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit Ley law MVO maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen NAMA Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions POP Point of Purchase POT Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial PPP Public private partnership (in Spanish is APP Asociacin Pblico Privada) RAD Red Acadmica de Diseo TOD Transit Oriented Developments USAID United States Agency for International Development VNG Association of Netherlands Municipalities

Fact finding mission on opportunities for Dutch architecture, urbanism and design in Colombia

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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

This report presents the results and general description of a Fact-finding Mission intended to find opportunities and develop a strategy to stimulate business, knowledge exchange or collaborations in the fields of Architecture, Urbanism, Industrial and Graphic design between Colombia and the Netherlands. The project was commissioned by The Netherlands Enterprise Agency Transition Facility Colombia (RVO), and it is based on desk research and expert interviews with stakeholders in both countries.

Colombia and the Netherlands Colombia was part of the countries within the transition category. Until half way 2015 a transition is made

from development cooperation towards economical collaboration between both countries. Colombia is internationally considered to have great potential because of its relatively good investment climate, sound economic policies, well-developed financial sector, rapidly growing middle class, relatively young population, growth of cities and stable political situation.

Colombia has the 39th largest economy in the world, and it is divided in 32 departments with a population of about 48,6 million inhabitants. For this mission, and because of the topic on creative industries, the focus was put on four main cities: Bogota, Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla.

Creative industries in the Netherlands The Netherlands focuses on 9 "top sectors" to keep the Dutch economy vital and in which

internationalization is a priority. One of these sectors is the Creative Industries of which design, architecture and urbanism are disciplines.

Key characteristics of Dutch design, in general: pragmatic, open-minded, conceptual, out of the box and adhering to the less-is-more principle. Dutch design also fuses innovation, creativity and business. The Dutch creative sector has a good reputation and image in Colombia.

Dutch architects are strong in complex multi-use buildings and public buildings. Dutch urbanism is wellknown for its approach in which stakeholders actively work together on integrated solutions.

Dutch designers are strong in processes, integrated solutions and design management. Some fields are particularly well-known in the Dutch design field: Service design, packaging design, signage design, user experience research (UX), Interaction design, and sustainability.

Creative industries in Colombia The Creative Industries in Colombia are a maturing sector. Proper government policy for the creative

industries is in general missing. However, the academic offer is comparable to that of European and American universities, which creates a good climate for knowledge exchange.

The general public still believes design is a luxury good and not a necessity. This leads to a poor understanding of what the role of design as a business accelerator might be. Besides, there is not much innovation happening in the fields of design, urbanism and architecture.

Design publications, contests and events are starting to appear in Colombia and these seem to have more importance for the industry, which could have created opportunities for young offices to appear. This seems to have led to several international organizations to start businesses and collaborations with Colombian partners.

Demand and market outlook Most work in Design in Colombia is done for private organizations that do not house designers, or that

wish to diversify their portfolio and do not have the specific knowledge needed for their particular cases. Private developers, Cajas de Compensacin and public parties are the main contractors for architecture and

urbanism. Regulation for public contracting in Colombia is very strict due to prevention from corruption and joining tenders asks for a good preparation because of the short response period and administrative burden.


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Summary of leads that were identified during the mission for all sectors: o Sustainable design for housing and sustainable solutions for urban planning. Half way 2016 a

new law will be effective to make housing more sustainable. Also at neighbourhood scale Colombia seeks solutions for sustainability.

o The national government has education as one of its main priorities. In the coming years many schools will be built or renovated.

o Tourism is growing and Colombia is in need for a better-equipped tourism and air travelling infrastructure. Building of hotels and resorts is booming, thanks to fiscal benefits offered by the government, and airports will be upgraded.

o Urban renewal and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in the existing cities. Especially related to the stations of Bus Rapid Systems that many cities are constructing and around the metro stations in Medelln and in the future in Bogot.

o Between academics and some public servants and private developers there is a wish for more human friendly cities. More effort will be put to stimulate walking and biking and high quality public space design.

o Territorial and integral regional planning are topics that national and departmental governments are interested in to have a more coordinated and competitive development of urban regions.

o The growth of public transport systems, airports and public facilities asks for wayfinding solutions and signage design.

o Service design is a topic widely mentioned by everyone in the design industry. This branch of design is becoming more relevant for any industry that wishes to become more competitive in the market.

o Many luxury brands are entering the market, which asks for new techniques and propositions in Packaging and POP material.

o Visual thinking and creative facilitation are topics that are starting to gain importance in the academic field in Colombia. Several companies are asking for this kind of expertise to improve their innovation processes.

o The process of design in many cases demands for appropriate and rigorous Design Research. With a growing digital and servitized world, design research plays a key role in organizations that are growing in these directions.

o Leads for government-to-government collaboration in many fields that aren't mature for doing business.

Challenges Colombia is not well-known or even mentioned by designers and architects that would like to work abroad. The Colombian culture is distinctly different from the Dutch culture. Colombians ask for concrete and

proven products, warm relationships, communications in Spanish and with the right means. Larger firms in the field of industrial design, urban design and architecture seem the most promising ones

to do business in Colombia. However, most companies in the Creative Industries are rather small. Colombians seem hesitant about possible collaborations. Effective collaboration with local offices is

essential for Dutch offices to enter a new market successfully. Creative offices lack strong business development. They could enter the market through existing clients or

by joining tenders and competitions. Working in Colombia needs preparation: administrative duties need to be organized and a local

representative, for example a registered architect, is essential during the process. Trade fairs aren't the right place to do business. Specific events, aimed at the sectors, are the appropriate

place to show the companies work, find a network or a local partner. Most collaboration between universities happens at a university level (instead of at a faculty level, for

instance). Knowledge exchange works the best between faculties or (governmental) departments on topics that have the interest of both institutions.


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Strategy Easy steps: Connect Colombia and its opportunities need to be promoted inside the Dutch Creative sector. Start with culture and end with business. Groups or individuals participating in cultural events and/or fairs

have a good chance to meet potential clients and design agencies for collaboration. Spread the word. Many designers that work abroad are asked by their current clients about their

experiences. Let your clients know that you are interested in working abroad and tell them about the opportunities in Colombia.

More difficult steps: Learn and work together Exchanges between faculties in which researchers and students can participate could favour business

relations between both countries. If designers could join these exchanges, then it could open their market because Colombian universities might be a good starting point for doing business with the industry.

Dutch offices need a local partner to do projects, build up a local portfolio and demonstrate the added value of integrated solutions. This could be achieved by collaborations between Dutch and Colombian offices and with other Dutch entrepreneurs to make crossover between the sectors.

Some topics aren't mature enough for doing businesses. Government-to-Government cooperation could help to overcome this gap and could help to position Dutch designers with relevant stakeholders.

Seeing is believing. If influential people in these fields came to the Netherlands, they could experience Dutch design and its strengths.

Harder: Long term presence Information about tenders, work and activities in both countries should be shared. An iconic project to demonstrate the Dutch skills could help to enter the Colombian market.

RESUMEN EJECUTIVO

Este informe presenta los resultados y descripcin general de la misin de reconocimiento destinada a encontrar oportunidades y desarrollar una estrategia para estimular negocios, intercambio de conocimiento o colaboracin en los campos de Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Diseo (Industrial y Grfico) entre Colombia y los Pases Bajos. El proyecto fue encargado por la Netherlands Enterprise Agency Transition Facility Colombia (RVO), y est basado en investigacin documental y en entrevistas a profundidad en ambos pases.

Colombia y los Pases Bajos: Colombia haca parte de los pases dentro de la categora de transicin. Hasta mediados de 2015 se realiza

una transicin de cooperacin para el desarrollo hacia la colaboracin econmica entre ambos pases. Colombia es considerada a nivel internacional como un pas con un gran potencial debido a su clima de inversin relativamente bueno, a sus polticas econmicas slidas, a un sector financiero bien desarrollado, a un rpido crecimiento de la clase media, a su poblacin relativamente joven, al crecimiento de las ciudades y a su situacin poltica estable.

Colombia ocupa el puesto 39 en la economa mundial. El pas est dividido en 32 departamentos y tiene una poblacin de alrededor de 48,6 millones de habitantes. Para esta misin, y por la relacin con el tema de las industrias creativas, se hizo un enfoque en cuatro ciudades principales: Bogot, Medelln, Cali y Barranquilla.

Las industrias creativas en los Pases Bajos: Los Pases Bajos se centra en 9 sectores top para mantener la economa holandesa vital y en los que la

internacionalizacin es una prioridad. Uno de estos sectores es las industrias creativas', del cual hacen parte el diseo, la arquitectura y el urbanismo.


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Las principales caractersticas de diseo holands, en general: pragmtico, de mentalidad abierta, conceptual, out of the box y adherido al principio 'menos es ms'. El diseo holands tambin fusiona la innovacin, la creatividad y los negocios. El sector creativo holands tiene una buena reputacin e imagen en Colombia.

Los arquitectos holandeses demuestran fortalezas en el diseo y construccin de edificios complejos de usos mltiples y en edificios pblicos. El urbanismo holands es bien conocido por su enfoque en el que las partes trabajan juntas y activamente en soluciones integradas.

Los diseadores holandeses son fuertes en los procesos, en las soluciones integradas y en la gestin del diseo. Algunos campos son particularmente bien conocidos en el campo del diseo holands: El diseo de servicios, el diseo de empaques, wayfinding, la investigacin en la experiencia de usuario (UX), el diseo de interaccin, y la sostenibilidad.

Las industrias creativas en Colombia: Las industrias creativas en Colombia son un sector en proceso de maduracin. En general, no existen

polticas gubernamentales adecuadas para las industrias creativas. Sin embargo, la oferta acadmica es comparable a la de las universidades europeas y americanas, lo que crea un buen clima para el intercambio de conocimientos.

El pblico en general todava considera al diseo como un "bien de lujo" y no como una necesidad. Esto conduce a una mala comprensin del papel que podra desempear el diseo como un acelerador de negocios. Adems, no existe mucha innovacin en los campos del diseo, el urbanismo y la arquitectura.

Publicaciones de diseo, concursos y eventos estn comenzando a aparecer en Colombia, y parecieran tener ms importancia para la industria, lo que podra haber generado oportunidades para oficinas nacientes. Esto parece haber dado lugar a la apertura de oficinas y a la bsqueda de colaboraciones por parte de agencias internacionales en el pas junto a socios colombianos.

El mercado y la demanda La mayora del trabajo de diseo en Colombia se realiza para organizaciones privadas que no tienen equipos

de diseo in-house, o que desean diversificar su portafolio y no tienen el conocimiento especfico necesario para sus casos particulares. Sin embargo, solo algunas de estas organizaciones parecen reconocer el valor real del diseo no hay una 'cultura del diseo' contundente en el pas.

La empresa privada, las Cajas de Compensaciones y las entidades pblicas son los principales contratistas en temas de arquitectura y urbanismo. La regulacin de la contratacin pblica en Colombia es muy estricta debido a la prevencin de la corrupcin, y hacer parte de licitaciones requiere de preparacin debido a los cortos plazos de entrega y a la carga administrativa respectiva.

Resumen de las posibles directrices (leads) que fueron identificadas durante la misin para todos los sectores:

o Diseo sostenible para viviendas y soluciones sostenibles para la planificacin urbana. A mediados de 2016 una nueva ley se har efectiva para hacer las viviendas ms sostenibles. Tambin en los barrios se estn buscando soluciones para la sostenibilidad.

o El gobierno nacional tiene la educacin como una de sus principales prioridades. En los prximos aos, muchas escuelas sern construidas o renovadas.

o El turismo en Colombia est creciendo y existe la necesidad de una infraestructura de turismo mejor equipada. La construccin de hoteles y centros tursticos est en auge, gracias a los beneficios fiscales ofrecidos por el gobierno. Adems, los aeropuertos estn siendo mejorados.

o La Renovacin Urbana y el Desarrollo Orientado al Trnsito (TOD) en las ciudades existentes. Especialmente en relacin con las estaciones de Bus Rapid Systems que en muchas ciudades se estn construyendo y alrededor de las estaciones del metro de Medelln y en el futuro en Bogot.

o Entre acadmicos, algunos servidores pblicos y los promotores privados hay un deseo de ciudades mas amigables con los seres humanos. Se pondr un mayor esfuerzo para estimular el caminar y el andar en bicicleta y el diseo de espacio pblico de alta calidad.


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o La planificacin regional territorial e integral son temas que los gobiernos nacionales y departamentales estn interesados para tener un desarrollo ms coordinado y competitivo de las regiones urbanas.

o El crecimiento de los sistemas de transporte pblico, aeropuertos e instalaciones pblicas, pide soluciones de wayfinding y diseo de sealizacin.

o El Diseo de Servicios es un tema ampliamente mencionado por todo el mundo en la industria del diseo. Esta rama del diseo es cada vez ms relevante para cualquier industria que desea llegar a ser ms competitiva en el mercado.

o Muchas marcas de lujo estn entrando en el mercado, que piden nuevas tcnicas y proposiciones en el diseo de empaques y material POP.

o El pensamiento visual (visual thinking) y la facilitacin creativa (creative facilitation) son temas que estn empezando a cobrar importancia en el campo acadmico en Colombia. Varias compaas estn pidiendo este tipo de experiencia para mejorar sus procesos de innovacin.

o El proceso de diseo en muchos casos exige una Investigacin en Diseo adecuada y rigurosa. Con un mundo digital y de servicios en crecimiento, la investigacin del diseo juega un papel clave en las organizaciones que estn creciendo en estas direcciones.

o Las directrices de colaboracin de gobierno a gobierno en muchos campos no estn lo suficientemente maduras para hacer negocios.

Desafos: Colombia no es conocida ni mencionada frecuentemente por diseadores o arquitectos holandeses que

buscan trabajar en el exterior. La cultura colombiana es claramente diferente a la cultura holandesa. Los Colombianos esperan resultados

concretos y probados, relaciones clidas, que las comunicaciones sean en espaol y por los medios adecuados.

Las empresas ms grandes en el campo del diseo industrial, el diseo urbano y la arquitectura parecen tener el mayor potencial para hacer negocios en Colombia. Sin embargo, la mayora de las empresas en las industrias creativas son bastante pequeas.

Los colombianos parecen tener dudas acerca de posibles colaboraciones. Sin embargo, la colaboracin efectiva con oficinas locales es esencial para que las oficinas holandesas puedan entrar en un nuevo mercado exitosamente.

Las oficinas creativas carecen de un desarrollo significativo en el tema de los negocios. Estas podran entrar en el mercado a travs de clientes existentes o unindose a concursos y licitaciones.

Trabajar en Colombia requiere de mucha preparacin: las tareas administrativas deben estar organizadas a tiempo, y un representante local, por ejemplo un arquitecto registrado, es esencial durante el proceso.

Las ferias no son el lugar adecuado para hacer negocios. Eventos especficos, dirigidos a cada uno de los sectores, son el lugar adecuado para mostrar el trabajo de las empresas, encontrar una red o un socio local.

La mayora de las colaboraciones entre universidades suceden a nivel universitario (y no a nivel de facultad, por ejemplo). El intercambio de conocimientos es ms efectivo entre facultades o departamentos (gubernamentales) sobre temas de inters para ambas partes.

Estrategia Pasos sencillos: Conectar Colombia y sus oportunidades deben ser promovidos dentro del sector creativo holands. Comenzar con la cultura y terminar con los negocios. Grupos o individuos que participan en eventos

culturales y / o ferias tienen una buena oportunidad de conocer a clientes potenciales y agencias de diseo para promover posibles alianzas.

Spread the word. Los clientes actuales de muchos diseadores que trabajan en el extranjero les preguntan acerca de sus experiencias. Hgale saber a sus clientes que usted est interesado en trabajar en el extranjero y cunteles acerca de las oportunidades en Colombia.


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Pasos ms difciles: Aprender y trabajar juntos Los intercambios entre facultades, en los que investigadores y estudiantes participan, podran favorecer las

relaciones comerciales entre ambos pases. Si los diseadores pudieran unirse a estos intercambios, esto podra abrir nuevos mercados ya que las universidades colombianas podran ser un buen punto de partida para hacer negocios con la industria.

Las oficinas holandeses necesitan un socio local para hacer proyectos, crear un portafolio y demostrar el valor agregado de las soluciones integradas. Esto podra lograrse mediante la colaboracin entre las oficinas de Holanda y Colombia y con otros empresarios holandeses para hacer crossovers entre estos sectores.

Algunos temas no estn lo suficientemente desarrollados para hacer negocios. La cooperacin gobierno a gobierno podra ayudar a superar esta brecha y adems podra ayudar a posicionar los diseadores holandeses en la industria colombiana.

Ver es creer'. Si personas influyentes en estos campos visitaran los Pases Bajos, podran experimentar el diseo holands y conocer sus fortalezas.

Ms difcil: Presencia a largo plazo La informacin sobre las licitaciones, el trabajo y las actividades de ambos pases debe ser compartida. Un proyecto emblemtico para demostrar las habilidades de los holandeses podra ayudar en la penetracin

del mercado colombiano.


Source: ProColombia www.colombia.travel

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION, RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND APPROACH

1.1. INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTION Colombia's marketing slogan is Magical Realism. This fact-finding mission researched the magic that the Colombian market offers for Dutch architecture, urbanism and design companies and how to make that magic real. Research on the Colombian offer was conducted, not only for businesses, but also for possibilities of knowledge exchange and collaboration between governments and NGO's in these fields.

Colombia was part of the countries with the transition category. Until half way 2015 a transition is made from development cooperation towards economical collaboration. "The transition countries of Colombia, Vietnam and South Africa are part of the CIVETS group of countries (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) that are internationally considered to have great potential because of their relatively good investment climate, sound economic policies, well

developed financial sector, rapidly growing middle class, relatively young population, growth of cities and stable political situation 1". This special status could turn Colombia into a promising market for Dutch designers, which led to the following research questions for this mission.

"What is the demand of Colombia in the fields of urbanism, architecture and design; which opportunities offer this demand for Dutch institutions to do business, to

exchange knowledge or to collaborate with their Colombian counterparts; and what are the challenges and strategies to seize these opportunities"

In this research, the term design is used to refer to graphic and product design, and urbanism as urban planning and urban design.

1.2 APPROACH AND STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT

Approach This fact-finding mission started by identifying the Dutch offer by private and public parties and the Colombian demand in the aforementioned sectors. Next, the gap between the Dutch offer and the Colombian demand was defined, in order to formulate a coherent strategy to overcome this gap. This approach was chosen because the existence of a Colombian demand does not necessarily mean that it can be satisfied by the Dutch expertise. For instance, regional planning might be needed in Colombia, and the Netherlands has the expertise to tackle this. However, some in-between steps would be necessary before it could be implemented or tendered and a strategy for knowledge exchange and collaboration could be more effective to start with.

The Dutch offer is defined based on interviews with relevant stakeholders in the sector as well as on desk research. This research provided insights about the strong and weak points of the sectors, the main questions designers have before investing in a specific country, and also how some Dutch designers have experienced

1 Vietnam and South Africa In transition from aid to investment. Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 2012

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working in Colombia. The Colombian demand is researched in the same way, a desk research carried out in the Netherlands and several interviews with relevant stakeholders in Colombia. At the end, a strategy is defined to bridge the gap between supply and demand.

Structure of the report After the introduction, research questions and approach, the following chapter (2) presents the Dutch offer. The chapter starts with a general introduction to the sectors and the way they are organised, finalizing with a general overview of strong and weak points of the Dutch offer. Dutch designers that work abroad have already some general questions before entering a new market. These questions are listed. Finally, some Dutch designers that have worked in Colombia shared their experience in order to understand better the positive and negative aspects of working in Colombia.

Chapter 3 is about Colombia. The chapter presents some general information about the country, the sectors, and the reason why four cities were selected for an in-depth research. In these four cities, relevant stakeholders were asked about the policies, the way they work and assign projects, their plans for the coming years, what they think is missing and their willingness to collaborate with Dutch public and private parties. Chapter 4 up to 6 are respectively about Design, Architecture and Urbanism in Colombia, the relevant stakeholders, possible clients and the leads for doing business and exchange knowledge. The last chapter (7) define the challenges that Dutch and Colombian parties could experience and an integrated strategy to enter the Colombian market.

Finally, the attachments give background information about the interviews and links to the sources and institutions for more information about the Colombian market.

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CHAPTER 2. DUTCH OFFER IN THE SECTORS OF URBANISM, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

The Netherlands has a specific offer in the sectors of urbanism, architecture and design. This chapter presents an overview of the sectors, different products offered in them, and strengths and weaknesses at an international level. Besides, some information about experiences of Dutch creative firms working in Colombia is provided.

Markthal Rotterdam designed by MVRDV. Source: www.flickr.com/photos/mattingham/16138878237.jpg

2.1 CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE NETHERLANDS The Netherlands focuses on 9 "top sectors" to keep the Dutch economy vital. The creative industries are one of these top sectors. In the top sectors, smart collaboration between entrepreneurs, researchers and the public sector is necessary in order to promote innovation and exports. The creative industries are divided in media and entertainment, the arts and heritage sector, and the creative business services sector. What these three have in common is that their economic activity depends on the ability to innovate, to imagine, to create meaningful products or services and to subsequently sell these to other businesses or to consumers. The creative business sector differs from the other two in that the relevant firms work mainly for other businesses and public parties. Specifically, they specialise in communications and advertising, architecture, urbanism and the various design disciplines2.

2 Designing a country, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2014

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www.flickr.com/photos/mattingham/16138878237.jpg


Some data about the creative industry: According to the Martin Prosperity Institute3, the Netherlands ranks in the top 10 of the creative industries in the world. Leading countries globally are Australia, United States and New Zealand. In Europe, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland have the lead. Colombia is in place 71 of the total 139 countries. The position is based on indicators for Talent, Technology and Tolerance.

With regard to trade figures, job opportunities or registrations of brands and patents, Holland ranks consistently between the fourth and tenth place internationally. For example, on the global ranking of creative exporters, the Netherlands is eighth. The annual turnover of Dutch creative industries is about 7.1 billion, representing 1.9% of the Dutch economy.

The total amount of people working in the creative industries in the Netherlands reaches the 179.000 4. Of this total, the creative business sector offers the following jobs to 47.808 graphic and interaction designers, 6.048 product designers, 3.744 interior designers and 10.500 architects (including urban planners and designers).

In the creative sector 66% of the 179,000 people are self-employed, being the highest percentage compared to other sectors. The average size of firms is therefore relatively small.

2.2 ORGANIZATION OF THE SECTOR As mentioned before, the Creative Industries is considered one of the 9 top sectors with economic potentials for the future. At national level, the top sector Creative industries has four goals: Knowledge and Innovation, Human Capital, Finance and Internationalization. The team of top sectors started for example, the Dutch Creative Council, the Federation of Dutch Creative Industries, Creative Holland and ClickNL.

The Dutch creative council is an independent advisory board for the Creative Industries. The Council is the contact office and coordinates the execution of the agenda of the top sector. The Council decides for example, which countries, fairs and exhibitions are most promising for internationalization of the sector.

The Federation of Dutch Creative Industries is a collaboration between eight associations. Aiming at internationalization; the Federation launched together with the ministries of Economy, Foreign affairs and Culture the platform "Creative Holland". This platform helps creative organizations to expand abroad and is the contact point for international organization interested in the Dutch creative sector.

ClickNL is the knowledge and innovation network of the top sector. In the coming years (2016-2019), their agenda focuses on: societal challenges regarding Inclusive and innovative society, sustainable energy and circular economy, and living longer healthier. These challenges should be approached through cross sector collaboration and public private partnerships.

Internationalization is a priority for each top sector. Therefore, cross sector approaches are stimulated such as Sustainable Urban Delta, initiated by the top sector Energy and now part of the Holland branding.

Each field of design has its own association: BNA represents architecture, BNSP is meant for urbanism and BNO unites designers. BNO and BNA give special attention to internationalization. BNA, for example, has two groups of offices working abroad, (with branch office abroad or working experience abroad). These groups share strategies and experiences. BNSP does not give special attention to internationalization.

The Creative Industries fund subsidizes projects and programs of the design sector. They have subsidy for international collaboration, market expansion, and to promote the Dutch creative sector.

The New Institute exhibits, researches, publishes and discusses the fields of architecture, design and e-culture through a large exhibition space in Rotterdam. According to the website of www.creatieveindustrieinbeeld.nl

3 http://martinprosperity.org/media/Global-Creativity-Index-2015.pdf 4 Monitor Topsectoren, CBS, 2015

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http://martinprosperity.org/media/Global-Creativity-Index-2015.pdfhttp:www.creatieveindustrieinbeeld.nl


the Institute will start a coordination point at the end of 2015 and it will receive extra funds starting in 2017 for the internationalization of the design discipline.

The figure below shows the way all these organizations are related:

Source: Designing a country, creative industries in the Netherlands (2014, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science)5

Many cities have their own organization and programs for the creative industries, like the Taskforce Innovation region Utrecht, and platforms for debate such as Casa in Arnhem and Mediamatic in Amsterdam.

In the field of research, education and knowledge, the Universities of Delft, Eindhoven and Twente are the best known. Delft and Eindhoven offer bachelor, master and PhD programs in design, attracting many foreign students and researchers. They all have a large network of collaboration with universities abroad.

Several NGO's or public private collaborations are currently dealing with the issue of internationalization; such as "Grensverleggers" from the CSR of the Netherlands (MVO Nederland), "the Dutch Urban Approach", " Netherlands Water Partnership" and "Dutch Cycling Embassy".

For an overview of the most relevant Dutch organizations in the creative industries see Appendix 2.

2.3 DUTCH OFFER IN THE SPECIFIC SECTORS This subsection introduces the disciplines that were researched for this fact-finding mission.

Architecture: Design of new buildings and transformation of existing buildings from the first concept up to the final design and construction drawings. Dutch architects are particularly known for qualities and specialisations such as thinking out-of-the-box, their pragmatic approach and cost containment. The offer is generally divided into:

Residential, such as individual housing, villa's and apartment buildings; and

5 Publication can be downloaded from http://dutchcreativeindustries.nl/wp-content/uploads/Designing-a-Country-CreativeIndustries-in-the-Netherlands_EN.pdf

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http://dutchcreativeindustries.nl/wp-content/uploads/Designing-a-Country-Creative


Non-residential building, for public utilities such as health care, educational facilities, culture and commercial services such as shopping malls, offices and leisure.

Dutch architects are strong in complex multi-use buildings and public buildings; for example, a housing block including sports and health facilities or a new market hall with housing on top such as the Markthal in Rotterdam.

Urbanism: Spatial and functional design of living and working environments. Urbanism has a strong relation with policymaking and long term planning, starting from visions for the spatial development of the whole country up to detailed designs for streets. Urbanism is:

Design at multiple scales, from street level, to neighbourhood, city, region and up to the national scale. Focus at quality of life and work in existing cities (urban renewal) or in urban expansions. Design for different functions, such as living areas, industrial zones, campuses, leisure areas, public spaces,

landscapes, parks and mobility.

Dutch urbanism is well-known for its approach in which different stakeholders actively work together on integrated solutions. For example, the design and planning of transit-oriented developments that enable the use of different transport modalities in a high quality urban environment.

Industrial design: discipline that makes reference to the design of products (and services) for serial or mass industrial production. It is about synergy between aesthetics, functionality, price and production, materials and manufacturing methods. Dutch Design refers to the design aesthetics that all Dutch designers seem to have: minimalistic, experimental, innovative and unconventional, plus a sense of humour6. Design is divided into:

Consumer products. For example household supplies such as vacuum cleaners and tables. Industrial products. For example for the agro, healthcare and sports industries. Service and inclusive design in which processes and services are the final product.

The Dutch are strong in packaging and service design, for example the design of how a customer experiences a purchase process.

Graphic design: Visualization and illustration of ideas and information into diagrams, pictograms, maps and data. It is about making brand design and styling books, advertisements, magazines, websites, etc. Some fields of expertise are:

Typography and calligraphy; designing letters, words and texts. Web design, designing accessible and stylish websites. Wayfinding, designing routes and signs at for example airports.

Dutch are well-known for their concepts and the 'less is more' principle. A famous reference is the wayfinding at Schiphol airport that has been used as an example for many airports in the world.

2.4 TRENDS In general, for all the design disciplines the trends are similar and are about putting the user first, and adding quality to the products by applying new techniques:

Sustainability: energy efficiency, use of materials and the use of the products by applying methods, theories and concepts such as Breeam, cradle2cradle and circular economy. A strong focus is at reuse, recycling of products and/or transformation of existing buildings and areas.

Smart: using data to make products, buildings and cities that are more responsive.

6 www.creativeholland.com

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(Building) Information Model (BIM) for access to information and chain co-operation. Integrated and cross over approaches with other sectors such as water, energy, health and mobility. Participation of stakeholders and inclusive design. Integrated contracts in which design, building, maintenance and finance are combined; and Clients focus less on technical requirements and more on quality criteria to use the knowledge of designers,

consultants and constructors.

2.5 THE DUTCH SECTOR IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Strong points The strengths of Dutch design: pragmatic, open-minded, conceptual and out of the box thinking, and adhering to the less is more principle. Dutch design also fuses innovation, creativity and business. Dutch creativity proves that creativity makes businesses more innovative, competitive and prosperous (fact sheet Creative Industries Nuffic)7. Dutch adapt easy, blend into the local scene, and are trustworthy and structured.

The Netherlands is strong in processes and design management. Designers are not separated from the rest of the process, but involved from the beginning and take part in interdisciplinary approaches to create integrated designs8. This is considered a specific asset of Dutch designers.

Dutch universities and knowledge institutions are well-known. Especially the universities of Delft, Twente en Eindhoven attract many foreigners for their masters programs and PhD opportunities.

Points of attention The role of design: the Netherlands has a strong focus on conceptual thinking, experiments and aesthetics, but these aspects are often less important abroad where functionality is leading. "Out of the box thinking" and experiments are often appreciated in the design and cultural sector, but other sectors do not fall for these approaches.

Dutch designers are strong in processes and integrated solutions. Foreigners often underestimate the time involved in design processes and the costs that are involved in hiring Dutch designers. Many designers offer a process with a product at the end, while foreigners are more interested in a concrete product.

Designers often join tenders and competitions to enter a market but in general the sector lacks a strong international business development.

The sector consists mainly of small- and medium-sized offices and these offices often do not have the time and money to invest in internationalization.

Challenges for working abroad BNA international has researched the challenges for offices that would like to work abroad. Most often mentioned are:

Legislation and liability. Obligation to collaborate with local architects and to find the right partner. This also relates to the

willingness of local designers and associations to collaborate with foreigners. Cultural differences in doing business, the appreciation and role of design and "taste". The effort for doing business is too high. It takes too much time, it is too expensive, and keeping relations

warm takes too much effort.

7 https://www.hollandalumni.nl/files/documents/career/factsheets-key-sectors/factsheet-creative-industries 8 Kansen op de Duitse markt, Hogeschool Inholland Rotterdam, september 2011

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CHAPTER 3. INTRODUCTION TO COLOMBIA

This chapter introduces Colombia by giving information about political boundaries, the economy and the rate of urbanization. Because of the size of the country, in subsection 4.3 the reasons for the selection of four cities to start the exploration for business opportunities are explained. The last section of the chapter is about the Creative Industries in Colombia.

3.1 COUNTRY, DEPARTMENTS, METROPOLITAN REGIONS AND MUNICIPALITIES The republic of Colombia is the fourth largest country in South-America after Brazil, Argentina and Peru and it is 27,5 times larger than the Netherlands. Colombia has an estimated population of 48.6 million (2015) mainly living along the Caribbean coast and the Andean highlands. The main language is Spanish. Colombia has thirtytwo departments with a chosen council and governor.

In the country, 6 metropolitan areas are constituted around the cities of Medellin, Pereira, Valledupar, Bucaramanga, Barranquilla and Cucuta. The metropolitan authorities are responsible for transport, environment and planning.

Colombia has, according to DANE, 1123 municipalities including 5 districts. The largest city and capital of Colombia is Bogot, which has a population of 7.9 million, but the greater metropolitan area around Bogot has a population of more than 12 million. Other major cities are Medellin (2.5 million), Cali (2.4 million) and Barranquilla (1.2 million). Each city had a chosen a new mayor at the end of 2015.

3.2 ECONOMY AND URBANIZATION Colombia has the worlds 39th largest economy, ahead of Finland, Chile and just after Denmark (274 billion USD in 2015 according to the World Economic Outlook, October 2015). Due to the oil price, the panorama for the Colombian economy in 2016 seems more complicated than in 2015. However, Colombia stands up above other economies in the region with a planned growth of 3%, low compared with previous years but high in relation to other medium and large economies in South-America. The main export industries are oil, mining and coffee; the price for these products fluctuates and this has an effect on the growth of the economy, the exchange rate of the Peso and balance of the government because 20% is oil-related income9. Colombia ranks 54th out of 189 countries on the World Banks Doing Business Index (the Netherlands ranks 28th).

The Netherlands focuses on Colombia in the sectors of water, agro industry, and waste and biomass. A Dutch chamber of commerce (Holland house) was opened in 2013 to promote and help trading, imports and exports.

Political map of Colombia. Source: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas of Colombia

9 source: https://insights.abnamro.nl/2016/01/colombia-focus-olieprijs-gooit-roet-in-het-eten/

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_ _ _ _


Urbanization and growth Colombia is highly urbanized. According to the World Bank, 76% of the population lives in urbanized areas (2014) with this percentage rising (72% in 2000). The Netherlands is 90% urbanized (2014). In the construction sector, growth is expected. As stated by the president of CAMACOL, a growth of 11,7% in sales of new housing is expected, while the construction sector will contribute to 5,2 % of the National Gross Product (NGP). The national policies to stimulate building and purchase of housing will add to this to achieve around 9,7% of the NGP.10

The growth is larger in the small and medium sized cities. While the large cities have reached their city limits and are not able to expand, smaller cities around absorb the growth. In other parts of the country the average income has increased and this makes the smaller cities attractive for shopping malls, housing, offices, etc 11.

3.3 WHERE TO START? Where to start in a country with more than 1000 municipalities? For this Fact-finding four cities were selected. Bogot and Cali are researched for all the sectors, while in Medellin the focus was given on design and in Barranquilla on urbanism and architecture. In general, the main cities offer more opportunities for designers, while smaller cities are for urban planners and architects.

Bogot, Antioquia (capital city Medellin) and Valle del Cauca (capital city Cali) are the top three in the indicators of the participation in the National Gross Product (Percentage of NGP Bogot: 25%; Antioquia 13%; Valle 9%), in the population growth rate 2000-201012

which includes Barranquilla in number 4, and in the formation of urban households in 201513 in which Cundinamarca has number 4 and Barranquilla number 5. In relation to the creative industries, the three cities have the best conditions in terms of human capital since they have the highest rate of graduates in fields related to the creative industries14

and Barranquilla is number 5 (according to Invest in Bogot).

Furthermore, a study about the competitiveness of regions by the CEPAL shows that Cundinamarca/Bogot scores the highest followed by the regions of: Antioquia (Medellin), Caldas, Santander, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca (Cali) with a large difference from the following departments in the ranking15. It is important to consider not only the capital cities (Bogot, Medellin and Cali) but also the regions as a whole, in many cases growing at higher rates than the capital city. The study by the IABD about intermediate cities identifies as cities within the agglomerations of Bogot: Chia,

10 Source: http://www.elcolombiano.com/2016-un-ano-de-turbulencia-economica-CC3352703 11 Source: http://m.portafolio.co/economia/colombia-pasa-el-%E2%80%98boom%E2%80%99-las-ciudadespequenas/?tamano=pequena 12 Rate of population growth 2000-2010: Bogot 1,6%, Medelln 1,3%, Cali 1,2%, Barranquilla 0,7% Source: DANE 13 Estudios Econmicos, CAMACOL, No. 69; Julio de 2015; ISSN 2011 - 7444 14 Graduated in higher education from creative industries in the region: Bogot: 55,093; Antioquia 14,228; Valle del cauca 9,979. Source: Invest in Bogota 15 Las ciudades intermedias con mayor potencial en Colombia. Un sistema de identificacin; Patricia Torres Arzays, Carlos Jorge Caicedo Cuervo; BID 2015

PROJECT IN COLOMBIA

In the Rio Cali project, designed by West8 in which a group of companies and citizens of Cali commissioned together the design of the lineal park along the Ro Cali. According to West 8 s description of the project: they worked together with the Municipality of Cali intensively on the design of the park which is intended to create a safe and well connected urban realm and catalyze the renewal of the urban centre. The project was given to West 8 because a landscape approach was desired, understanding the costs involved in hiring foreigners. The urban designer of West8 felt a positive vibe during the design of the project and noticed a strong believe in the fact that after the peace process the country has to be built together. Problems that were experienced are the unawareness of the necessity of urban design, the sector approaches while integrated ones are necessary, bureaucracy, lack of skilled constructors, and the methodology of construction logistics. West8 thinks Colombia offers opportunity for design for public spaces and feels a necessity for integrated neighbourhood planning. The first part of the construction on the park started in July2015 and is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2016.

source: http://www.cali.gov.co/publicaciones/parque lineal rio_cali se vuel ve_realidad_alcalde_guerrero_dio_inicio_al_primer_tramo_pub

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http://www.cali.gov.co/publicaciones/parquehttp://m.portafolio.co/economia/colombia-pasa-el-%E2%80%98boom%E2%80%99-las-ciudadeshttp://www.elcolombiano.com/2016-un-ano-de-turbulencia-economica-CC3352703


Soacha and Zipaquira; of Medellin: Bello and Envigado; and of Cali: Yumbo16 and Barranquilla in the category of highest potential.

Panoramic picture of Bogota. Source www.flickr.com/photos/robertocontrer/19263920981

Bogot Besides being the strongest region in economical terms, Bogot hosts all the governmental entities at national level, the associations in the sectors and representatives of international organizations. Bogot houses the main public and private entities that regulate and promote good practices in the fields of Industrial and Graphic design in Colombia. Bogot is the second destination in Latin America for foreign investment in the sector of Creative Industries.

Cali According to the departmental competitiveness index 2013, Valle del Cauca is the 4th most innovative Region in Colombia, with Cali housing the majority of companies in the Creative Industries Sector. Cali's cultural industries make a contribution that is located between 1.01% and 1.22% of the GDP of the city. Also, its share in the Nationals Culture GDP has been between 3.3% and 4.0%, being its biggest contribution in the fields of design, architecture and advertisement. According to data of CAMACOL (Colombian Chamber of Construction) on jobs generated by construction, Cali scores the highest in the period oct-2014-oct 2015 with Bogot in second position17.

Medellin Medellin, named most innovative city in 2013, is according to a recent study by The Chamber of Commerce the most competitive city in Colombia (even more so than Bogot). It has a business density of 25 companies per 1000 inhabitants. Medellin is promoting design. The fourth Feria de Diseo (design fair) takes place and as part of this fair Medellin organized in 2015 the first Design Week (www.medellindesignweek.com).

Barranquilla While in the main cities, the administration is of high quality and they are in less need of knowledge from abroad, the international competition is also larger and therefore entering the market is more difficult. Small-and medium-sized cities deal with many problems but do not have the right staff and knowledge to solve them. Therefore, a secondary city with a growing economy, namely Barranquilla, is researched. Particularly for Urbanism, the city and metropolitan area face large challenges. These challenges deal with public space, the relation to the river, the expansion of the city and the relation to the natural surroundings and to the economical activity of the harbour. Most of these challenges are in the agenda of the local authorities, but there is not enough technical capacity to deal with them.

16 Escalafn de la competitividad de los departamentos de Colombia, 2015; Juan Carlos Ramrez J. Johan Manuel de Aguas P.; Serie Estudios y Perspectivas, CEPAL 17 Source: http://www.camacol.co/sites/default/files/revista_urbana/Urbana64/Urbana64.html#p=28

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3.4 STAKEHOLDERS CREATIVE INDUSTRIES The Creative Industries is often grouped together with Cultural Industries, which covers dance, theatre, performances, etc. For each sector the relevant stakeholders are written down in the following chapters, but few organizations represent the whole sector and limit attention is given to the sector at a national level.

The Chambers of Commerce in each city conceive, plan and carry out projects related to the Creative Industries. For instance in Bogot there is the Cluster de Industrias Creativas (Creative Industries cluster), which has specific projects to grow the industry in the city. Similarly, they are involved in themes of urban and regional development. The local chamber of commerce often collaborates with regional and local governments in terms of urban and regional planning, mobility and innovation. They also organize events and promote publications around topical themes in these fields.

In Bogot, Bogot Innova gives support to companies involved in projects related to the creative industries. Similar to this organization, Ruta N in Medellin gives support to the Creative Industries in the city and, most importantly, supports international companies in the landing process, which is mainly a program for (international) companies in the creative sector to start their businesses in the city.

3.5 PUBLIC ASSIGNMENTS Regulation for public contracting in Colombia is very strict due to the prevention of corruption. There are different forms of contracting that go from a complete public tender to direct contracting. The difference between a public tender and direct contracting has relation to several aspects in which one important is the price of the contract (larger contracts will be assigned by open tenders). Direct contracting is generally for one consultant and a smaller project. Between these there are other varieties that include concurso de mritos in which consultants are selected on bases of their CVs, and seleccion abreviada which is a shorter process than the open tender.

All tenders from the public sector are published in the SECOP Sistema Electrnico de Contratacin Pblica18.

Tenders which are financed by international funding like the World Bank have a different procedure; usually there is a call for an expression of interest. In this case, procedures and papers required are less complex than with fully public funded tenders. The calls for expression of interest are also published in SECOP.

If there is international cooperation money by a countrys development agency, like in the case of Findeter, the country providing the financial help defines the way the tender can be developed. In many cases, consultancy companies from that specific country need to be hired for the projects. When this is not required by the development agency, a selection by invitation takes place.

Public assignments involving architectural design are generally assigned via an open design competition organized in collaboration with the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos.

For architects or urban planners/designers to join a tender or a design competition it is necessary to have a local partner or representative (apoderado). This person should be a registered local architect that represents the foreign office in Colombia.

Tenders in Design Public tenders in design are rare. The interviewees expressed that design is mostly considered inside a bigger tender. For instance, if the design of a hotel includes the interior design and the design of furniture pieces, then the person that gets the tender hires designers for this purpose.

Tenders in Architecture Last year, important tenders/design competitions for architects dealt particularly with design for social infrastructure like the design of police stations, community centres, schools and healthcare facilities.

18 http://www.colombiacompra.gov.co/es/secop

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In public tenders, the architectural design is only a part of what the tender asks for. For example, in the tender for the studies and design of a police station and the tenders for schools in Bogot, it is asked the soil and topographic studies, the architectural, urban and landscape design under criteria of bioclimatic and sustainability, the structural design the sanitation, water, electrical and gas plans, the plan for environmental managing, the consecution of licenses and permits. Other tenders for architectural design include even the construction of the building and the financial calculations, like the tenders for several educational buildings by Findeter or the hospital of Gramalote by the Fondo Adaptacin. Only architectural design competitions, which are often organized in collaboration with the SCA, ask exclusively for the architectural design.

Tenders in urban design and planning The recent tenders and competitions in urban projects show a tendency to projects of public space and landscape design. The last open competition for urban design dealt with the design for the green corridor in Cali, a design competition in two rounds (oct-nov 2015). Previous tenders dealt with designs of parks in different cities. In urban design and planning there were barely any tenders; the last one found was at the end of 2014 for the urban design and the management plan of a historical node and its surroundings in Bogot.

3.6 EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS Apart from more academic initiatives from within the universities, the following coming events and competitions are the most widely known and mentioned in the studied sectors in Colombia. For each event, it is indicated the sectors for which it is interesting: ID industrial design, GD graphic design, A architecture, and/or U urbanism.

1. Medellin Design Week (ID GD) Medellin Design Week is a yearly event that showcases good design practices from Colombian designers, and aims at bringing knowledge from abroad for their event. In 2016 it will be held from the 18th till the 24th of June.

2. Bogot Design Festival (ID GD) This event follows the model that started in 2003 at the United Kingdom known as the London Design Festival. It is meant to promote the creative industries in the country and to showcase good practices of creativity in any domain (e.g. interior design, graphic design, digital design, product design, food design, etc.).

3. Festival internacional de la imagen (International Image Festival) (ID GD) The International Image Festival, conducted by the Department of Visual Design at the University of Caldas, is a meeting and debate on issues related to interactive design, media arts, audiovisual creation and electroacoustic soundscapes, and in general, the new relationships between arts, design, science and technology.

4. Premio Lpiz de Acero (ID GD A U) The ceremony to award the Lpiz de Acero is held since 1998. In all its versions, it has aimed at promoting Colombian design in six main areas: (1) Product, (2) Costume, (3) Digital, (4) Graphic, (5) Space, and (6) Concept. To date, this award is the most widely recognized prize given to Colombian designers.

5. ExpoCamacol 2016 (A U) Event organized in Medellin every two years around construction, considered one of the most important fairs about construction materials from Latin America. It has an academic event with seminars and an exhibition area. Facts from the 2014 version: 440 exhibitors, 95 international from 20 countries, 53.970 visitors from which 1.317 were international.

6. Expo Construccin y expo Diseo (A U ID) It is a fair hold in Corferias in Bogot around construction, architecture, infrastructure and design. It is criticised for being too commercial and missing discussion and proposition around the role of architecture and design. Last time it attracted over 60.000 visitors.

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7. Bienal de arquitectura, bienal iberoamericana de arquitectura, BIAU (A U) These are the events hold every two years where the best projects of Colombian architecture and Iberoamerican architecture are highlighted. It has different categories from regional planning, urban design to interior architecture. It also awards research and publications. The BIAU is organized by Spain but it has a reach and it is recognized as important in all South and Central American countries.

8. Construverde (A U) This yearly event by the Colombian green council (CCCS), hold in May, is small in numbers (700 assistants last year) but due to the increasing importance of sustainability in the country, it is a good showplace.

3.7 BUSINESS, KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND COLLABORATION During the desk research and interviews in Colombia many leads were identified that match the Dutch expertise. Some of the identified leads are directed to businesses. That means they are more likely to generate tenders or commissions in the near future. While other subjects that show a clear need (also expressed in the interviews) are not yet considered a priority, or the existing possibilities are not known in Colombia. These subjects might need to be first approached at governmental and knowledge exchange levels. The identified leads per discipline are therefore split here in those that have a clearer client and in which the assignments are more defined and those in which there is a clear need but not yet clear assignments.

When asked about interest for collaboration with Dutch institutions there is always positive response. As part of professionalization of universities and with competition and international rankings, Colombian universities aim at establishing more international cooperation and start to consolidate research groups that look for recognition at Colciencias, the national institution dedicated to sciences. This might be interesting for Dutch universities that are research-oriented and are interested in partnering up with similar institutions. Though there is not as much money for research in Colombia as in the Netherlands, this does not mean that there is a growing interest in doing it.

The topics which can be more interesting for collaboration and knowledge exchange are those subjects which are not mature enough for businesses and which the country lacks. The most effective way of collaboration is by preparing joint programs with Colombian Universities and work in concrete, actual cases. An example is Help Manuel, which was a joint program between TU Delft and EAFIT in which students of both universities collaborated to design for the BoP communities of the country. This program was so successful, that there are still yearly programs that repeat the same model.

In relation to architecture and urbanism, there are interesting examples by universities in other European countries through the IABD emergent and sustainable cities project. In these examples, Colombian and foreign students work together in a concrete project for one of the cities in the program. For example, the University of Vienna worked together with Colombian students in the design of the transformation of the old market in the centre of Monteria. Similarly, students from UniNorte worked together with students from the ETH Zurich in low costs solutions for the communities in the centre of Barranquilla.

In the following chapters for each discipline a distinction is made between leads for business and the ones that are more suitable to start with knowledge exchange.

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CHAPTER 4. DESIGN IN COLOMBIA

Solar Car Primavera By EAFIT. Source: www.flickr.com/photos/eafit/18242048690

This chapter gives an overview on the current state of the design discipline, the most relevant stakeholders, possible clients and the leads for business and knowledge exchange.

4.1 DESIGN IN COLOMBIA Design in Colombia was primarily conceived as an academic discipline formalized in the sixties, for the case of Graphic Design, and in the seventies, for the case of Industrial Design. Since then, both disciplines and its branches (e.g. web design, design of POP material, packaging design) developed in parallel and acquired continuing relevance for the productive sectors in Colombia.

In the seventies, the discipline started to gain some momentum because of the intention of turning it into a relevant factor for the development of an industrialized economy, as well as a key discipline to improve products. This happened within the program of export promotion, with entities such as Proexpo, which, for instance, facilitated knowledge exchange with experts from abroad. Furthermore, in this same period, specialized publications about the sector were born, and the first design associations were created.

In the nineties, the government of Cesar Gaviria liberalised the economy and this gave a boost to the design discipline in the productive sector, and helped to legally establish it as a profession (particularly Industrial Design ley 157 de 1994). In this period, companies became more aware of the relevance of design for their business models, and therefore started to hire designers more actively to complement their production and development teams.

With the advent of the new millennium and the globalization, the discipline of design started to grow progressively both academically and in the productive sector. For instance, awards such as Lpiz de Acero started to recognize the value of Colombian design in several categories (since 1998), Universities such as Los

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Andes and EAFIT started design programmes with international collaborations, and design PROJECT IN COLOMBIA firms from abroad landed in the country to

The Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) of the Delft offer their specialised services (e.g. A Piece of University of Technology (TU Delft) and EAFIT in Medellin have Pie, Leo Burnett, Designit, Creable). From been collaborating for several years. This includes exchange

2001 to 2014 it is estimated that there were programs between their students, and international projects such as some 4.000 graduates of (professional) design- Help Manuel. In general, it was mentioned that students from related disciplines in Antioquia (capital city Colombia are appreciated for their flexibility, their knowledge and Medellin), 14.000 in Bogot, and 5500 in Valle their capabilities to cooperate in different projects.

del Cauca (Capital City Cali)19. Other initiatives worth mentioning in the recent past are the National Design System by the Professional Commission of Industrial Design20, and the initiative by the British Council to characterize and map the creative industries in Colombia21.

Nevertheless, many obstacles still persist for the development of the discipline as such, and especially in its relation with the production industry. The lack of governmental support and of a design culture22 in Colombia are still evident both in the academic sector and, particularly, in the productive sector. These issues will be discussed in detail later in this report.

Stakeholders At national scale, there aren't any organizations that control and monitor the design discipline, and particularly its professional practice. There is however, one organization that clusters the main academic programs in design (graphic, industrial, costume, digital) called RAD (Red Acadmica de Diseo). This organization promotes the discipline in the country, and gives support to its members for National and International collaborations. Besides, they arrange academic events in which they aim at improving the design education in the country. They cluster around 46 design programs in 29 universities.

4.2 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Industrial Design in Colombia was born without a particular demand from the market (yet needing it). This explains why the gap between the academic development of the profession and the real practice of design in the industry just started to become smaller in the late nineties. There are at least 17 institutions that offer the program, including several bachelors and masters programmes and one Doctorate Programme in Design at Universidad de Caldas in Manizales.

Policies In Industrial Design, the law 157 of 1994 legally recognizes the discipline in the country. Since then, the Professional Commission of Industrial Design (part of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism) controls, monitors and promotes the discipline in the country. This commission is also responsible for issuing the professional licence for Industrial Designers. This requirement is mainly valid for those working in public entities. In relation to authors rights, there are regulations for the protection of Industrial Design (www.sic.gov.co/drupal/disenos-industriales) and for copyright processes (www.derechodeautor.gov.co). Apart from this, there are no other relevant policies related to the practice of design in Colombia unless it is for specific cases e.g. the design of food packaging, which is regulated in the use of materials that are allowed to be in contact with food.

Strong points The academic offer is comparable to that of European and American universities and universities have

many exchange programmes and agreement collaboration with foreign institutions.

19 http://bi.mineducacion.gov.co:8380/eportal/web/guest 20 http://www.mincit.gov.co/publicaciones.php?id=17751 21 www.britishcouncil.org.co/mapeo.pdf 22 The lack of a Design Culture in the country is mentioned several times during our visit. This mainly refers to the lack of understanding by the general public of the importance of design in the productive sector. In Colombia, many stakeholders argued, there is not recognition of the real value of design and what it can do for the economy.

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www.britishcouncil.org.co/mapeo.pdfhttp://www.mincit.gov.co/publicaciones.php?id=17751http://bi.mineducacion.gov.co:8380/eportal/web/guestwww.derechodeautor.gov.cowww.sic.gov.co/drupal/disenos-industriales


Colombia has many production facilities to develop different kinds of products. This allows a connection between design and production, which is not common in many European countries that produce mainly in Asia.

Even though many technologies arrive late in Colombia, in general companies have leading-edge equipment to develop their products and prototypes.

The workforce in Colombia is reasonably priced (but higher than in most Asian countries).

Points of attention The gap with academic institution and the industry is still big. Designers do not generally apply what they

learn during their studies. Design research, both academic and in the industry, is not very strong. Companies do not pay for it. In general, Industrial Designers work on the design of industrial products and are not yet immersed in the

new trends of design (e.g. service design). The general public still believes design is a luxury good and not a necessity. Design agencies are almost non-existent. This could be explained by the before mentioned points of

attention.

4.2.1 STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN SECTOR

Associations and clusters The Comisin Profesional Colombiana de Diseo Industrial is the entity, part of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, designed by the national government to promote, control and monitor the exercise of the profession in Colombia. In order to (officially) practice the Industrial Design profession a professional card is necessary. This commission is in charge of issuing this card that certificates the professional in its practice.

Educational Institutions There are many educational institutions in the country offering Industrial Design and related programs (e.g. Product Design Engineering). Universidad Nacional, Universidad de Los Andes in Bogot and AEFIT in Medellin are the most well-known and actively collaborated with foreign universities in events, academic exchange and research.

4.3 GRAPHIC DESIGN Unlike Industrial Design, Graphic Design in Colombia (and generally in the world) stems from a long-standing culture of graphic arts, editorial services and advertisement (later on including branding). This profession has therefore been more in contact with the industry, mainly because of the development of corporate images and branding of companies. The profession of Graphic Designer as such was formalized in the sixties, and to date there are over 20 Universities offering the program in Colombia (including Visual Design). It is estimated that there are some 30.000 graphic designers in Colombia to date.

The activities of Graphic Design in Colombia are mainly developed within the sector of the Graphic Communication Industry. This sector is mainly composed by five subsectors:

PROJECT IN COLOMBIA

The Design and Emotion conference 2015 named The Colours of Care , was organized in collaboration with several universities in Colombia (Los Andes, ICESI and EAFIT), and the Design and Emotion Society of the Netherlands. This conference included the participation of private organizations such as Solutions Group in Bogota.

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(1) Editorial printing, (2) Advertising, (3) Packaging, (4) POP material, and (5) Branding (new subsector). In Colombia there are about 10.000 companies in the sector, with over 60.000 direct employees and 100.000 indirect ones. Furthermore, it is estimated that the exports in this industry are rapidly growing, with a growth of 24% from 2013 to 2014. In Bogot, it is produced 52% of all production in the sector. 23

Although all these numbers give an optimistic outlook, during the interviews it was repeatedly mentioned that, in general, companies do not see graphic design as a competitive advantage when they sell or buy their products. As one interviewee said: Graphic Design is included in the process, but it is not the most relevant part.

Strong points Growth of exports mainly in packaging and labelling. Quality of products. During the interviews with different stakeholders, it was suggested that the

Colombian graphic industries are at the forefront of innovation in Latin America. State-of-the-art technologies mainly imported. Good academic offer in many regions of Colombia.

Points of attention There are many new trends in the industry that still need to be adopted (e.g. web-based design). 85% of equipment is imported, while there is a possibility to develop innovative products and equipment in

Colombia. The Chinese exports are a considerable threat for the market because of the aggressive marketing strategies

and their low prices.

4.3.1 STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE GRAPHIC DESIGN SECTOR

ADGCO (Asociacin de Diseadores Grficos de Colombia) is the biggest association of graphic designers in the country. It is in charge of clustering the professionals, to support the development of the discipline, and to represent their interests.

Andigraf is the biggest association of companies in the graphic and printing sectors in Colombia. They cluster companies that design graphic material, and that produce it. They are the bridge between the organizations and the government, and therefore represent the interests of the industry.

ADGORA clusters the advertisement agencies and industries in the country, and represents their interests.

4.4 POTENTIAL CLIENTS DESIGN

Private clients Most work in Industrial Design in Colombia is done for private organizations that do not house designers, or that want to diversify their portfolio and do not have the specific knowledge needed for their particular cases. Private investment in Colombia is growing, and designers are needed to contribute to this growth in a strategic and prag

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