A Proposal for a Regional Design Policy in the Canary Islands: Design System Mapping, Strategies and Challenges

Abstract

In the Canary Islands (CI), despite some tenuous attempts, there is no regional public design policy as such, yet. This article presents a research contribution to help revert this lack. It incorporates the Design System concept to identify and map the actors and their interrelationships in order to raise the sector’s own consciousness and needs, thus setting up the foundations for a policy adapted to the context. One of the greatest barriers to the strategic implementation of design is the lack of understanding of its potential among policy-makers. Academics have provided evidence of the impact of design on socioeconomic and cultural performance; however design, unlike innovation, is not well integrated into policy. The formulation of the Canary Islands Design System (cids) model included literature review on the theoretical Design System models and documentary study of cases of other territories. The proposal was tested and refined through a publicly funded workshop, where a wide range of stakeholders representative of the different sub-sectors met for the first time. This allowed us to have a diagnosis, to know the state of the art of design in the region. Finally, policy recommendations were co-proposed and published in a report, awaiting a second phase of further developments.