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KIDS EU project consortium visits Copenhagen’s innovation ecosystem on a transnational mission twelve European children’s companies

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  • The trip took place within the European KIDS project led by KID’S CLUSTER, the Catalan cluster of the children’s industry in consortium with NovaCHILD (France), CEIV – Cluster del Valle del Juguete (Spain) and Lifestyle & Design Cluster (Denmark)
  • The companies, all members of the four clusters, participated in a three-day program designed to learn about international trends in children’s product design, delve deeper into internationalisation strategies, and explore new forms of retail that are proliferating in the Danish market

Key Internationalisation Activities for the European ChilDren’s Sector (KIDS) is a 36-month project led by KID’S CLUSTER in consortium with three European clusters representing different approaches to the child and family industry in the EU: NovaCHILD, the French children’s cluster, CEIV, the Alicante cluster of the toy sector, and Lifestyle & Design Cluster, the ecosystem of Danish design, fashion and habitat companies. The KIDS project, funded by the European Commission under the COSME program, offers a transnational value-added proposal in several business sectors, most of them key drivers of growth for the European Union economy. For the first time, SMEs in the child and family segment and in different sectors of the circular economy have in this framework an environment conducive to expanding cross-sectoral cooperation, exploring new value chains and strengthening their management capacities to participate in processes. internationalisation beyond the borders of the European Union.

One of the actions planned under the KIDS project is to carry out grouped transnational missions to markets inside and outside Europe. This April, twelve companies from KID’S CLUSTER, CEIV, NovaCHILD and LDC took part in the first of these trips along with the four clusters’ teams. In total, a delegation representing organisations from Spain, Denmark and France visited the Copenhagen innovation ecosystem.

The aim of the trip was to learn about the latest international trends in children’s product design, delve into internationalisation strategies and share both the challenges and opportunities that arise, and explore the new forms of retail that are proliferating in the Danish market to inspire the children’s industry to innovate. Thus, the companies have participated in a three-day agenda in which the following activities have taken place:

Retail walk to visit locally produced products’ shops specialising in sustainable items, circularity, and community building.

Visit to Censuum, an innovative experiential retail experience based on the promotion of local brands with a strong digital presence and a strong sustainable positioning

Conference attendance on the generation of synergies between complementary value chains to facilitate innovation and cross-border collaboration by Martin Rune, representative of the Danish Innovation Center in Shanghai.

Visit to the Danish Architecture Centre (DAC) and presentation by Tanya Lindkvist, Program Manager of the museum, to learn about a cultural experience that puts the expectations and preferences of families at the centre.

Guided tour of the “Living Sustainable” exhibition within the DAC, which provides new perspectives on how to build more environmentally friendly cities and homes integrated into the natural environment.

Panel with Danish brands in the children’s sector on new ways to sell children’s products through webshops, livestream, and own second-hand product platforms.

Workshop on digitisation, circularity and gender equity as pillars of the internationalisation strategies of the European children’s industry.

Visit to the Showroom of the Danish brand of furniture design and home accessories Ferm, one of the most relevant brands in the sector.

Pitch by Nikolina Olsen-Rule, Director of Communications at the Danish Design Museum, on how they have transformed the museum’s educational program into an immersive learning experience for all family members.

Visit to the most experiential store of BR, a leading retailer in the world of games and toys, designed as a shopping space where you can play, explore and spend time with your family.

“The main goal of the KIDS project is to design and implement a joint internationalisation strategy for companies in the child and family sector in Europe. It is an innovative and ambitious proposal, which is why we seek for the complicity and leadership of KID’S CLUSTER companies to define the needs and challenges they face when positioning their brands in other markets. We also ask them to agree on which are the markets that currently and in the medium term can offer them more opportunities to expand to” explains Anna Lopez, director of KID’S CLUSTER, and adds: “Proposals that finance the participation of our companies in trips such as this, which we will no doubt repeat inside and outside Europe, helps us to weave the network of trust and collaboration that a large project like this needs to sustain itself ”.

“Having the opportunity to see and learn first-hand about the retail approach, the point-of-sale experience, the circular economy, social responsibility, the importance of collaboration and future trends in a city like Copenhagen has, has certainly been a very enriching experience” explains Ariadna Lloret, Export Area Manager of Jovi, the Catalan company for the manufacture of artistic materials and handicrafts for children. “The proposed agenda, with special emphasis on the visit to Censuum, has been very diverse and well-structured; What I take away from the trip is the experience, which has been very motivating, and the fact of meeting new contacts “, she added.

Sonia Gimeno, Product Manager of Abacus Cooperativa, reflects on the importance of leaving the domestic market to understand other realities: “a trip like this, surrounded by companies from other countries and designed to know different approaches to It is a children’s and family market, for us to look up from day to day and reflect on the options we have for doing things differently”.

The trip also served to align the companies and organisations in the clusters with the objectives of the project, aligning their needs and challenges with the next steps that the consortium will take in its implementation.[i]

 

 

 

[i] The content of this publication represents the views of the author only and is their sole responsibility it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.